#AND there already was a One True God in Roman times?????

[sugar-grigri]

Pochita, if you can read, why don't you speak ?

Wouldn't it be humane to protect humanity and demonic to protect the underworld? And what if... it was actually the other way around.

The interweaving of questions and answers is exactly what this chapter does.

While Yoru sordidly states that children are nothing more than the property of their parents, the one who can't speak, instead of devouring a human as he did with all those demons, decides to go to the blood drive.

Pochita understood what the sign meant. He knows how to talk. But he'd rather hold up that sign and roar than make any demands.

Worse still, he does not decide to give any orders.

It's not words that symbolise order, it's that raised index finger that already in Roman times expressed command.

In the United States, arms are a constitutional right (as recently reiterated by the Supreme Court, which does not admit of any restrictions), a fundamental freedom but also a means of preserving one's freedom, allowing organised militias to fight and protect the State.

You can see how it's all a construction, the weapons are a technological creation, the State is an administrative and political creation.

And that's where things get interesting. First of all, this chapter is highly symbolic and has a very strong political message (oh my god, political interpretation in a manga, impossible..........)

Yoru has sliced off the index fingers of those who support the right to bear arms in the United States. Or campaign for that freedom. But what Yoru is doing. In fact, it's taking it away from them. How can I shoot without this index finger? You can't do it.

It's by taking weapons away from men that they actually regain their freedom.

But it goes even further than that. Why does Yoru sacrifice these fingers? Because it reinforces the fear of weapons. Let's say I point a gun at you (sorry). You'd be less scared if you were as armed as I am. Especially when you're trained, know how to defend yourself and aren't afraid to shoot.

Yoru makes those who thought they were invincible with weapons vulnerable. She strengthens the Gun Devil's power. She contracts with them through her sacrificed child.

Weapons,

freedom,

deprivation of childhood,

of loved ones,

obsession with a mentor,

To think that a god created them.

Remind you of anyone?

Infanticide is what makes you immortal.

The sacrificed demons become weapons, lost between humanity and the demons. Not being human, nor demon, because they have no parents. Even artificial weapons like Reze and Katana display these characteristics. Isn't loneliness one of the ingredients?

Humanity sacrifices its children. As Fujimoto confirmed, they were prepared to do it for eternal youth.

And now you're going to say to me. NOOOO! Yoru too! Just as Makima wouldn't hesitate to do. The demons are also ready to do it.

Yes, because they are influenced by men.

Yoru speaks, uniting with humanity to say horrible things. Whereas Pochita doesn't speak. Worse still, he has chosen not to speak. Worst of the worst, even worse. He'd rather be a dog than a human. That's his choice.

Pochita fights for those he loves, he doesn't sacrifice them.

The demon of birth, it swallows but can spit out. Suspending existence, giving it new life, denying none of it.

Wasn't Makima devoured by Denji proof of this?

Nayuta is the symbol of this rebirth. A perpetual love that surpasses hate.

Pochita loves demons. He also loves those who mean something to him, like Denji. But he also knows that when we become too human, we can end up sacrificing ourselves out of vanity rather than love.

Pochita has sacrificed himself for love, without expecting anything in return as he waits permanently for Denji's dreams.

He is also Denji's lock, preventing him from fully adapting to men.

That's why killing Black CSM was Denji's wish come true. Because Pochita is preventing Denji from becoming normal.

Because he wants to protect him from humanity. Pochita has never been for humanity.

He is simply the guardian of the underworld, all those demons whose existence he guards, a supreme mother. Humanity must endure in order to continue to be afraid. But if humanity is prepared to overcome the ultimate fear of losing its child, then fear is scorned.

So Pochita tried to wipe out the weapons' existence, to devour them. But they still existed. Why? Because they are already the result of infanticide.

being devoured by the demon of birth, mother of the underworld, actually reinforces their existence.

Being devoured by their mother is the reason for their nature.

Whereas weapons are beings born because their mother has killed them.

Denji is the result of the death of the Supreme Mother.

It's not a weapon.

He's a wall.

Hero of the underworld.

A hero of the underworld who has been fighting from the start for the victory of love, sacrificing himself for those he loves and not sacrificing them. So he asks for blood.

And I'm sorry. If weapons really are born like that, they have to look human, and I think this is the last possessed human.

Someone's been ringing the doorbell.....for 100 chapters… it's time to answer it, isn't it?

[mrthology]

you know what i've been so obsessed with lately is like, gods being gods in ancient greece, right? and it's these same gods, in their roman forms, that were in the roman empire then too. so imagine some colonizers coming along and killing people to convert and talking about this One True God and calling them fakes and ???? i feel like in the ancient times that's a great way to bring the wrath of the gods upon you, they would not have stood for that.

idk i just keep thinking of a world where the gods showed up and rained destruction on the colonizers trying to enforce their religion and thus the monotheistic religion never becoming as dominant and "default" as it is now. what do you think that world would be like?

My wife told me I couldn't post the massive rant regarding syncretism, faith, and historical accuracy I went on in response to this for my own sanity and mental health

I DO appreciate what you’re (I think) trying to say, and very much parts could be interesting to explore. I just have studied and obsessed over this period too often :/

[heauxvibez]

Dipsea

warning: smut (18+)

The cool, freshly laundered sheets clung to your skin as you slipped into bed after a much-needed, steamy shower. The day's stress seemed to evaporate with the rising steam, but now it was truly time to unwind and let go of all the tension that had built up over a long, demanding day. You reached for your earphones, knowing that the only thing more rewarding than this moment of solitude would be indulging in some erotic audio. Like a private hotline tailored just for you, it allowed you to surrender to the sultry, seductive voices of your favorite narrators. They whispered pure, unfiltered filth into your ears, drawing you deeper into a world of pleasure without the need for any awkward human interaction—just you, the intimate soundscape, and the fantasies unfolding in your mind.

Your panties were already pooled around your ankles, your right hand delicately nestled between your thighs, teasing and circling your sensitive pearl as you prepared yourself for an evening of pure release. In your left hand, your phone displayed the app you had come to depend on for these moments. With each swipe, the screen revealed a lineup of male voice actors, their deep tones and sultry narrations making your toes curl. Some of the voices even belonged to celebrities, their allure amplified by the forbidden thrill of hearing them narrate explicit fantasies.

One in particular, Sarunas from Insecure, had become a favorite—his smooth, husky voice bringing his character, Malcolm, the app's most beloved character to life. His words were like honey, you lost count of how many times his verbal seduction had left you trembling with need. His low, rumbling tones reached directly into your mind, conjuring vivid images of the scenarios he described. It felt as though he was speaking just to you, his tongue effortlessly fucking your ear with each erotic monologue, leaving you and countless other fans in a state of delicious delirium.

"Oh my God..." you whispered, halting your endless scrolling as something new caught your eye. The app had just unveiled a new character, and you couldn't believe what you were seeing. This was going to be the app's biggest money grab yet, and you knew it.

Introducing Joe, voiced by Roman Reigns.

"No the FUCK they didn’t..." you gasped, your jaw practically hitting the floor. Was this a dream come true? The mere idea of having Roman Reigns' voice—deep, commanding, and intoxicating—whispering in your ear was almost too much to comprehend. He wasn’t your man, but in this moment, with your AirPods snug in your ears, it was close enough to feel real.

Your fingers trembled slightly as you clicked on the tab, and a thrill ran through you as you were taken to a selection of audio stories. There were ten in total, but only one was unlocked—the rest dangled out of reach, locked behind a paywall. The silhouette of Joe’s character dominated the top of the page, a shadowy figure that perfectly outlined the familiar, muscular physique you admired. His broad shoulders, sculpted arms, and chiseled abs were rendered in perfect detail, making your mouth water.

You were tempted, so tempted to splurge and unlock the rest, but you needed to be smart. What if the voice you imagined didn’t live up to the fantasy? The economy was too tight for reckless spending, even for someone like Joe. You needed to know if he could deliver—if his voice would be as commanding and seductive as you hoped. After all, you wouldn’t buy a car without a test drive first, right? Right. You’d sample the free audio, and if it sent shivers down your spine, you’d gladly pay for the rest. But if not... well, better to be cautious than disappointed.

You clicked on the only unlocked audio titled "Watch Part 1 " and quickly scanned the description.

What happens when Joe doesn't want to touch, but simply wants to watch. Click here to find out...

Your heart raced as you took a deep breath, anxiety curled in your belly. With excitement and curiosity, you pressed the small play button, and the screen transformed into a familiar sound display, reminiscent of Spotify or Apple Music. In the center was a cartooned image of Joe, his piercing eyes and chiseled features staring back at you, commanding your attention. Below, the familiar controls—rewind, skip, play, and fast forward—were neatly lined up, ready for you to take control, though you had a feeling Joe would be the one in control tonight.

As the audio began, the first sound that filled your ears was the gentle rustling of sheets, intimate and close, as if he was right there with you. The realism sent a shiver down your spine, making it easy to imagine those same sheets you were currently nestled in being part of the scene. Your eyes fluttered shut, the world around you fading as you became fully immersed in the experience. The gentle movements of your fingers on your clit stilled as you surrendered to the moment, deciding that tonight, you would let Joe guide you. His voice began to weave its magic, and you knew you were in for a night of pure pleasure, letting him tell you exactly what to do.

He took a deep breath through his nose, the sound so close and intimate that you instinctively mirrored the action, inhaling deeply yourself. The connection was immediate, and before you could process it, his voice smooth as silk—filled your ears, weaving its spell around you, nearly hypnotizing you in ways you hadn’t thought possible.

"Mmm, glad you could make it. How was your day baby? Exhausting and stressful? Well, I'm here to relieve all that stress for you tonight. Lay back, relax, and allow me to talk you through it."

"Keep those legs open, baby... yeah, just like that. Daddy's going to sit right across from the bed and watch you make yourself cum."

His words were a dark temptation, drawing you deeper into his world. The sheer power in his voice was pulling you under.

"No. I don’t want to touch, I just want to watch."

"I wanna watch you slide those fingers up and down that sweet slit of yours, the same way my tongue does when it slowly glides up and down that clit, chasing after every drop of nectar that might escape and fall onto the sheets,"

"I can almost taste you on my tongue right now, just thinking about it. I could take a sip of you, but I won’t. I'm just here to watch."

Slowly, you slid your finger down as he described, but his voice quickly stopped you in your tracks.

"Not yet, baby. Daddy will tell you when... I promise we'll get there. But first, let me get comfortable."

The sounds of his feet shuffling against the wooden floor reached your ears. You could hear the subtle shift of his clothing as he moved, the soft rustle of fabric making the scene all the more vivid in your mind. The leather of the chair squeaked slightly as he settled in, the noise unmistakable. You could easily imagine him leaning back, relaxed yet in control, one arm draped over the armrest while his right hand lazily stroked through his beard. You were certain of it—he was playing with his beard, the subtle rasp of his fingers combing through the coarse hairs confirming your suspicion. The imagery, paired with his voice, was almost too much to bear.

"I'm drinking every inch of you in right now, that soft melanin skin and the curves of your body are being softly traced by my eyes. Yeah. you are one hell of a sight to see."

"Slip your palms over your breasts, feel those nipples get hard over your fingertips. Yeah, sweetheart. Fuck, just like that. How does that feel? Just like when I caress you, huh? My calloused hands, roaming over those sensitive buds of yours. Remember when I made you cum just from sucking on them? When I had your hands pinned above your head, listening to you whimper, whine and beg me to stop while I sucked and slurped on them? Mmm, I always enjoy how weak you can get for me."

He moaned softly into your ears as you obediently followed his instructions. For a fleeting moment, you considered reaching for your phone to pause the audio, to gather your scattered thoughts and remind yourself that this was just a recording. But the question lingered in your mind—who was this man talking to? How had this app managed to not only secure such an iconic voice but also craft such a sensual, sex-filled script that he delivered with such raw, intimate power?

It was as if he had been in your bedroom for years, learning every secret, every desire, and now he was laying them bare with every word. The way he spoke made it impossible to believe this was just a performance. He was so convincing, so achingly real, that for a moment, you almost believed this was a private call—a direct line from him to you. The fantasy he spun was so vivid, so personal, that it fed into your most delusional thoughts. The line between fantasy and reality blurred, and you found yourself willingly surrendering to the illusion, allowing yourself to believe that he was speaking to you and only you as if he knew exactly what you needed to hear.

"Now trail your hands real slowly from your breast down your belly slowly and draw light circles with your fingers. The same way I do when I want to watch you suffer. There you go baby girl. I know, I know. It's driving you insane to tease yourself so slowly. But I promise, listening to me..you'll cum harder than you ever have,"

"Now go ahead and play with that pussy for me, but take your time. I don't want our fun to end so soon."

Just as you were about to dive deeper into the fantasy, the sound abruptly paused, pulling you out of the seductive trance you had been sinking into. Your eyes snapped open and you quickly turned your head to the side, your gaze darting toward your phone, where the screen glowed faintly in the dim light. A small notification had popped up, breaking the seamless flow of the experience. The sight of it snapped you back to reality,

End of Watch Part 1

Would you like to subscribe to our app to listen to "Watch Part 2"?

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

Lolololol sorry ya'll, I like to be a tease too! If ya'll like the little audiobook oneshot idea, the next one I can make longer :) Bye!

Tags: @harmshake @southerngirl41 @sortudademais @empressdede @alichesmi

@msbigredmachine @theninthwonder @blacst4r @wrestlingprincess80 @headoftheetable

@trashbin-nie @tshepisho @saintmagx

[harrysfolklore]

idk if you’re still taking requests but you should do actress!yn who’s been a long time fan of harry since 1d and a fellow solo harrie and they’re the stars of this movie (maybe a romcom 🤔) and then y/n is so nervous around harry and he teases her?? then they realize they have so much in common and it’s just fluff everywhere 🥲

this is honestly one of my favorite blurbs i’ve ever done and i hope you love it as much as i do! enjoy and thank youuu for the request

MASTERLIST | MY PATREON

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yourinstagram The Bear has been out for a week and you can watch it on Hulu if you haven’t already ok we love u and goodbye!!

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TWITTER

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yourinstagram SEASON FINALE OF THE BEAR AIRS TODAY 🥲 thank you for all the love u all have my heart

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harryupdates Harry and YN out in London today !

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theharrytea guysss deuxmoi posted this !! i think it might be about harry omg. thoughts ?

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harryfan1 OOOOHHH

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yourinstagram scripts coming in and i’m like:

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TWITTER

TEXT BETWEEN HARRY AND YN

//

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yourinstagram first day of filming check !! hiyaaaa costar ⭐️ @harrystyles

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harrystyles Which Brings Me to You. Coming Soon.

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harryupdates Harry and YN on set of Which Brings Me to You!

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yourinstagram today is the day !!! world premiere of which brings me to you 🥲🥲 love u all thanks for the support

picture by the costar, awkward pose by meeee

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harrystyles Which Brings Me to You World Premiere. October, 2023.

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INTERVIEWS

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yourinstagram press day ! be ready because tons of content from me and @harrystyles annoying you about our movie is coming sooooooon 🥰

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harrystyles We took a Lie Detector Test. The results were pretty interesting. You can watching it in Vanity Fair’s Youtube channel now.

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FANS VIA TWITTER

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yourinstagram in words of taylor swift: you’re my lover

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[wolfy1298]

Don’t you ever wonder what kind of secrets and plot points Venti keeps hidden? He claims to be the weakest amongst the Seven-and that could be true given his whole 500 year slumber and poison and all- but he’s still a god. AND one of the original Seven. You gotta be good at SOMETHING to survive for this long…

He’s also the only archon so far that doesn’t have a second story quest so what is he hiding?! We have accounts of him literally shaping the land with ease from both the Golden Apple Archipelago events and his character stories. We know that he has close relationships with the Hexenzirkel and somehow managed to avoid conflict with them??? And there’s also the fact from the skyward sword series that he was originally a catalyst user before picking up the bow in honor of Amos. He’s pulling a Childe when it comes to weapons he currently uses and the ones he’s proficient in.

And don’t even get me started on his connection with Istharoth and Celestia! Mondstadt already has the Thousands Winds Temple AND the nameless island where both Venti and Istharoth were once worshipped. And from Before Sun and Moon, we know that the Thousand Winds (which Venti IS A PART OF) were once called the Thousand Winds of TIME, all of whom were created and controlled by Istharoth. AND THEN you have Venti suspiciously appearing in the right place at the right time again and again and again. He even self proclaimed knowing every song: past, present, and future. Hell he’s probably one of the only few beings in Teyvat who can naturally bypass Irminsul because of his songs: Nahida already shown it’s possible to save deleted info if rearranged into fiction so the same should work for songs and poetry. And there’s also what the hydro fungus in Nahida’s second story quest said about changing forms. That you need time for growth to occur. And Nahida - an ARCHON- had trouble maintaining her fungus form for even the short period of time. She was even told that to do so for longer, one would need to bypass time itself which is near impossible. AND YET VENTI CHANGED INTO THE FORM OF HIS FRIEND IMMEDIATELY AFTER RECEIVING HIS GNOSIS AND HAS YET TO CHANGE BACK OR TIRE FROM FATIGUE (as we know it). HOW STRONG IS HE. Sure, the yokai in Inazuma and Adepti in Liyue can all change into a human form, but we know in game that it takes a long time and steady energy to take on a human shape, and the Adepti all seem to have that ability naturally: there’s no bending the laws of nature if it’s already natural to them. So what’s Venti’s excuse?!

As for Celestia: there’s already written in the statue of Barbatos “the gateway to Celestia” and what not. And Khanreia! In the chasm AND in the Caribert quest, Barbatos and Mondstadt keep getting named dropped. According to Dainself, the city in the chasm is supposedly OLDER than Khanreia and possibly the Seven, yet BARBATOS of all beings is mentioned in the records you find??? And in Caribert, it’s a Mondstadtian woman who that one bloke had a child with. Never mind that Mondstadt is where Kaeya and Albedo - the two characters with confirmed Khanreian origins- end up! There’s also the fact that Khanreia seems to base its gods and names and whatever around Norse mythology….which has strong ties to GERMANIC HISTORY. WHICH MONDSTADT IS BASED OFF OF. And Enkanomiya, which was once ruled by Istaroth, is Greek origin. Suspicious considering all the connections to HERMES Venti keeps portraying. (And then there’s also a connection to all three places with the hexenzerkel with their Chinese names? Like I think I read somewhere that Alice is Aries(?)/Eris(?) and Nicole is actually Nike in the Chinese version? Which are very much based in Roman/Greek origins)

Oh and something I forgot to mention earlier with the whole Istharoth connection. Mondstadt’s saying “seeds of stories, brought by the wind, and cultivated through time”. SUSPICIOUS

Anyways, this has been my nonsensical Venti theory rant

And you’re stuck with me @worldsokayestmagicalgirl

[anyarose011]

You're a Mean One, Miss Hunham {Angus Tully x Reader}

Summary: Four days into being stuck in an all boy's school for Christmas break, and you're on the brink of insanity. If it's not because of Angus Tully still trying to one up you in history lessons, then it's Teddy Kountze getting a hand on something personal of yours (prick).

Part 2 of ?? (Masterlist)

Warnings: Swearing, period typical sexism, mentions of pornography, blackmail, minor physical assault, and as always, Teddy Kountze.

You guys don't get to escape being an awkward af teenager just because it's fanfiction, so enjoy! Also, thank you all so much for the love already shown just from the first part alone!

Word Count: 5.0k

You always knew to put a pillow over your head when you heard your father get up from his bed.

“All right you fetid layabouts, it’s daylight in the swamp!” He smacked two metal basins against each other, waking the boys up if they weren’t already, groaning. “Arise!”

It was funny the first day, but by the fourth, it was unbearable. Still, a part of you was grateful for your father; you never had to get up early and run with the boys in the cold, Massachusetts air. Call it nepotism, call it sexism, you were just glad he didn’t want you to interact with them (physically, that is).

The second day you were there, he called you in during afternoon study hall (leaving you on a minor cliff hanger in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre; forget that it was your third time reading it, it pissed you off). Just like he had done months ago, Paul Hunham hosted a trivia game (whether that was to show you off, or get them to study, you had no idea).

What idea you did have, was beating every single one of them.

For Alex and Ye-Joon, they were babies in your eyes, so you would give them more time to think on their answers whenever they were up. Alex got close on one, but overall, they didn’t do so well.

Oh, the boys your age? Yeah, you didn’t show mercy, even towards Jason.

“When was the last king overthrown?” Your father questioned.

You smacked the desk before Jason could even process the question. “509 B.C.”

“What planets are named after Roman gods?”

“Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.” You recited it perfectly.

Teddy scrunched his eyes. “Jesus Christ.”

Your father pursed his lips. “That was the easiest one I have, Mr. Kountze.”

Angus Tully…Angus. Fucking. Tully.

“What emperor temporarily restored peace to Rome and the cost of-?”

Angus hit the desk before your father could finish the question. “-Diocletian.”

“At its peak,” your father eyed you. “how large was the Roman Empi-?”

“2.3 million square miles.” You answered, keeping your eyes trained on Tully.

“Nero had five spouses in total, what was the name of the slave boy he-?”

“-Castrated and married,” you finished for him. “Sporus.”

Back and forth you both went like that, rapid fire at first, and your own levels of exhaustion were catching up to you. After perhaps five minutes of this (maybe ten, twenty, who gives a shit, you were tired), it was one damning question that would haunt you.

“True or false, the Pantheon was built before the Coliseum.”

“True.” You said, slapping the desk with the confidence of a mediocre man.

There was silence in the room, and your father sighed. “False.”

It wasn’t a big deal, it shouldn’t have been a big deal; to literally everyone else but you, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

But it was.

Oh, it was.

It was the second time you lost to Angus Tully overall, the first time from an easy question. Still, while Kountze’s grin made you want to rip out his teeth, it was Tully’s outstretched hand that caused you to snap out of it.

“Good job.”

Two of the most hurtful words in academia, whether it meant for it to be or not. Still, swallowing your pride, you shook his hand, and left the room gracefully.

Then started crying as you walked down the darkened hallway.

It wasn’t like you were weeping, you were just frustrated. Thankfully, by the time your friend Elise came to pick you up, you were fine and had a fun day simply walking around town with her.

You bought cigarettes and chocolate at the drug store, then spent the rest of the day at her house, laying on the floor and listening to records in her room while answering her prodding questions.

“Who’s the cutest one?”

“None, they’re men.”

“Okay,” she rolled her eyes, smiling. “I know that, but if you had to choose.”

“Like, ‘if we were the last man and woman on earth’ I had to choose?”

“Sure.”

“A very tall bridge.”

She laughed, shoving you playfully. “I’m serious!”

“So am I.”

“Really.”

Sighing heavily, you thought for a moment, before smiling. “He’s a football player.”

“What?!” She sat herself up. “You and a football player?!”

“Shut up!” You laughed with her, sitting up.

Elise shook her head. “What about the one you went head-to-head with in trivia today?”

“Ew,” was your immediate reaction. “he’s maybe your type, but not mine.”

“So, you don’t want a smart one?” She questioned. “And that’s mean of you.”

“I’m mean to everyone.” You laid back down on the floor. “And yes, of course I want someone who’s smart, but not smarter than me.”

She mirrored you, laying down and leaning her head against yours. “So, he’s out for the count?”

“One hundred percent.”

��If you say so.” Elise reached up onto her nightstand and handed you a letter. “Also, my aunt left something back at the faculty housing and said she found this in you and your dad’s mailbox.”

You looked at your name in the center of it, and then at the stamp: a toy train.

It took everything within you not to sit up in shock. All you did was smile, say thank you, and slip it into your coat pocket.

You gave Tully his chocolates and cigarettes and didn’t have a problem. It was the fourth day when your father had given them just another ounce of freedom outside of the school, allowing them to walk around the wooded area of campus. You still had your books, but you were also feeling lonesome (the only time you really interacted with any of them was during mealtimes, except for Teddy…fuck Teddy), and you had talked about almost every single thing you wanted to talk about with Mary (God bless that women for letting you read to her too).

So, on December 20th, you laced up your boots (not too tightly), pulled on your mittens, and zipped up your jacket to go on a miniature adventure with the five boys.

“I’m gonna teach you how to play football.” Jason teased you as the six of you walked two by two (you and him at the front).

Shaking your head, you smiled more so at the thought of what you’d look like than his obvious flirting (was he even flirting or just being nice? Decades pass, and you still aren’t sure). “Please no.”

“Come on, it’s easy.”

“Roman history is easy.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s not; you’re just smart.”

“It’s easy to me. Football is easy to you, see what I’m getting at?”

Jason shrugged. “Suit yourself, Teddy?”

“Say no more.” He responded, brushing past you and running up ahead as Jason threw the football to him and he caught it.

That left you by yourself for just a moment before seeing Angus walk beside you. You turned your head over your shoulder to see Ye-Joon and Alex lagging behind as they talked.

“Boys,” you called them. “try and keep up!”

They responded with a chorus of ‘Yeah’s and ‘Sorry’s.

“So what, you’re like their mother now?” The second most irritating voice belonging to a boy asked.

You looked over at Angus, hands in his pockets as he gazed down at you. “You’re not exactly the nurturing type.”

“You don’t know that.”

Humming, you stepped over a log in the middle of the path. “So, what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Jason’s here because of his hair, Alex and Ye-Joon’s family are in other continents, I don’t care nor want to know about Teddy, why are you here?”

He didn’t respond right away, before then saying. “I was supposed to go to St. Kitt’s with my mom and stepfather, but then they decided to say it was their honeymoon and ditch me.”

Your gaze turned to him and saw him pick up a stick, dragging it behind him to make a line in the snow. Even just from his profile, you could see the anger withing his eyes; bubbling more violently than a volcano about to erupt.

“That’s despicable.” You stated plainly.

“That’s one way to put it.” He scoffed.

You didn’t know exactly how to follow up such a personal conversation, but you wanted to make him feel better (at this point during the break, only because it was the decent thing to do), so you just said.

“You beat me fair and square both times.”

Angus looked at you. “Did I? At your dad’s bullshit trivia?”

“You did. Well actually, it was just me versus five of you, and I do believe the more I talk to Kountze, the more braincells I lose, so-.”

“-Don’t sell yourself short.”

You gave him a quizzical look. “I know, I was just telling you why I lost to you both times.”

He shrugged. “The first time you had to go against fifteen of us.”

“I’m sorry,” you chuckled, genuinely not believing it. “are you suddenly saying that you think I’m smart?”

“I never said you weren’t.” He gave you a look.

“Last time, you looked me in the eye and said you knew more than me.”

That’s what silenced him, and when he nor you said anything after that, you simply walked ahead of him. Hell yeah, you had the last word and made him feel like an asshole (you honestly didn’t know that was possible).

The six of you all caught up with one another, and you spoke with the freshmen boys more about meaningless things (but perhaps that’s what made it so meaningful). Angus, still carrying the stick like he was a child, and it was his favorite toy, said to Jason after talking about if there was anything else to do in Barton.

“What about your car? We could take it, go somewhere, Boston maybe?”

“Nah, we’d get in so much trouble.” He shook his head, nudging you. “Little miss perfect here would snitch on us.”

You rolled your eyes at the nickname. “I would not. Besides, it’d be easier to say you all kidnapped me, and everyone would believe me.”

“Face it,” Jason passed the football back to Teddy. “we’re stuck.”

 “If we just had some way to get out of here.” Angus kicked a patch of snow. “Just split.”

Jason pointed towards the quad. “Well, you could put a chopper down right in the quad.”

“A what?” Angus furrowed his brow.

“Helicopter, dumbass.” Teddy mocked. “His old man’s the CEO of Pratt and Whitney.”

Jason nodded. “Yeah, he’s go his own bird. He takes it from Stamford to the city every morning. Lands right in our back yard. Pilot’s name is Wild Bill.”

“Wild Bill?” Ye-Joon asked, amused.

“Yeah, flew to Haystack with it. Took the presents and everything. Minus me.”

“Flying with presents,” Alex spoke up. “like Santa Claus.”

That was perhaps the first time you smiled out of geniuses that day.

“Yeah. Just like Santa Claus.”

Jason whistled, and Teddy immediately dashed ahead of him and caught the ball once Jason threw it. The two drifted off playing catch, leaving you and Angus with the freshmen. Alex spoke just as whimsically as he did about Santa.

“If I was back home right now back in Provo, it would be really warm inside, and my mom would be making baked apples, and the whole house would smell like cinnamon and brown sugar.”

Ye-Joon smiled. “That sounds really nice.”

You nodded. “During finals week, I helped Mary and the other cooks bake cookies for you guys. I still think that’s one of my favorite smells of all time.”

“You helped out with that?” Angus asked.

Dropping your smile, you said. “Yeah, and if I knew which one you’d have taken I would’ve spat in it.”

Before he could even come up with a response, Teddy ran up to Alex and yanked the glove off his right hand. “Hey!”

“That’s what you get for ratting me out, you little Mormon!” He laughed before throwing it into the river.

You marched up to him immediately. “What the fuck is wrong with you?! Like, what the actual fuck?”

Teddy only stuck his tongue out like a child before running back to catch up with Jason. A part of you (somehow) foolishly believed he would’ve berated Teddy for the obviously asshole act; but he didn’t.

Rolling your eyes, you went down to the river with Alex, hopefully trying to find the glove and be able to fish it out. Though, to no avail, you couldn’t find it.

“It’s gone!” He yelled back up to Angus and Ye-Joon. “My glove’s gone!”

“Twisted fucker orphaned that glove on purpose!” Angus responded. “Left you with one so the loss would sting that much more.”

Alex looked down at his hands before tugging off the other glove and throwing it into the river as well. You glared at Teddy as he had a fun time, still laughing and throwing the ball with Jason. Sighing, you looked back down at Alex and pulled off your mittens, handing them to him.

“Here.”

He glanced up at you before staring back out at the water, rubbing his nose. “I don’t need them.”

“Your fingers are frailer than mine.” You continued even when he gave you a look. “That’s not an insult, that’s a fact. It’s alright, I have pockets.”

Alex, after a moment of debating, took them from you and slipped them on, smiling. “Thanks.”

The six of you were on your way back to school when you felt someone slip their hand into your coat pocket.

“Now what do we have here?”

You turned on your heel, seeing Teddy’s face light up as he waved the letter in his hand. Your face dropped, along with your voice.

“No!”

Immediately, you began to chase him around the small, snowy clearing as if you were a dog and he was a car.

“Theodore fucking Kountze, give that back!” You commanded.

He ripped open the envelope. “Or what, Hunham? You’re gonna tell your dad on me?”

“Just give her the letter, idiot.” Angus rolled his eyes.

Of course, Kountze ignored him, taking the letter out, and money falling from the paper. That’s when he stopped in his tracks and so did you. For the first time since…a while, you were frozen, and you had no idea why.

The rest of the boys caught up to you two, and Teddy picked up the money that fell from the letter; a twenty, a ten, and a five-dollar bill. After the initial shock wore off, he read the letter aloud to everyone.  

“‘My dearest girl, how are you? It’s been a while, and I just want to know what you’ve been up to. Merry Christmas, here’s my gift to you. From, Daniel. P.S. Please send another picture of you if you could.’”

Shame crept in like a shaking animal from the cold, and you couldn’t even look at any of them. Still, that didn’t stop Teddy from taunting you; hell, it probably spurred him on.

“The hell kind of business are you running if you got a someone paying you thirty-five bucks?” He laughed, looking back at the guys. “You think she’s in a skin mag or something?”

“Hey, man, shut up.” Jason rebuked.

“No, I’m serious. They take pictures without showing the face sometimes.” He looked at you now. “Which one is it? Penthouse? Modern Man?”

“Leave it, Kountze.” You hissed, not looking at him.

Teddy laughed. “Don’t tell me it’s Playboy; you?”

 “Are you fucking deaf?” Angus asked. “She told you to cut it out.”

“Piss off Tully, you probably saw her tits this morning in study hall.”

You whipped your head around and couldn’t control the face you made; to this day, you still have no idea if it was pure rage, a form of betrayal, or both at once. Still, you watched as how Angus avoided your gaze like he’d done something wrong; he did, but still. Teddy opened his disgusting mouth to speak again.

“Shit, if I were to line up every girl in Barton, you would’ve been the very last one I-.”

“-I’ll let you take the picture.”

All eyes were back on you, and you looked right at Teddy’s; once confident and sly, now widened with surprise. Who knew it would take just six words for him to shut up?

“What?” Was all he responded.

You swallowed thickly, clutching your hands into fists to keep yourself calm (and to not cry). “I’ll let you take the picture of me, but we have to be alone, and you need to promise me you won’t tell anyone else; especially my father.”

This was not what you had envisioned or wanted to happen on your first outing with them away from the adults in your life. You prayed to whatever god above, Christian, Roman, Greek, Buddhist, it didn’t matter, you prayed that Teddy would grow a brain and take the deal.

“Alright.” Was all he said, shrugging with an excited smile on his face that made your skin crawl.

You nodded. “I’ll take my letter and money now.”

He tilted his head, walking closer to you. “Please.”

Taking a deep breath, you said. “Please.”

Teddy’s grin only deepened, then handed you your things. “You know, Hunham, maybe you’re not a total prude after-.”

Your fist met his eye, and the both of you stumbled backwards; him clutching his face, you your hand. Needless to say, you were both cursing. Still, you managed to gather your bearings and push him over.

“Fucking bastard.” You spat before trying to make a run for it.

Teddy grabbed your left foot, causing you to fall into the snow, your teeth sinking into your lip once you hit your chin on impact of the ground. You struggled, then managed to quickly wiggle out of your boot before getting back up and running like a girl (anyone would run like a girl if they were being chased by a man like Teddy Kountze).

You honestly have no idea how he didn’t catch up to you at the time, but you were on the steps of the main building when you turned back. There they were, just five, not-so-little specks that stood out across the valley of pure white snow. It was only when you slowed down did you notice how cold your left foot was. Your sock was dripping wet from the snow, and you then pulled off your other boot, leaving it on the stairs before entering the school.

Taking a deep breath once you closed the door, you wiped your mouth; specks of blood colored your hand, but thankfully, not that much. Sighing, you walked through the halls of the school, trying to make your way back to the infirmary and hoping that your father wasn’t there.

You ran into Mary instead (a fate worse than death).

“Where are your shoes?” Was the first thing she asked once she saw you in the main hall (you got lost; hey, you’d only been there a few times in the past, don’t be too hard on yourself).

You shrugged, smiling. “We were playing a game.”

“What kind of game?”

“Hide and seek tag.” you leaned against the wall, hands in your coat pockets. “First one to get to the school wins, I hid my shoes under a bush, so they thought I was there, and I made a run for it.”

“You take a fall then? Your mouth’s bleeding.”

“You’re telling me you’ve never slipped on ice?” You managed to joke.

She arched her brow, placing her hands on her hips. “Do you know how long I’ve known you?”

It actually took you a few moments to think back on it; it felt like you’ve known her longer, but no. “Since I was nine?”

“And do you think, in the last eight years, I haven’t been able to tell if you’re a bad liar or not?”

“…Well, am I?”

“Did one of those boys put their hands on you?” She asked the question you both knew was coming. “Was it that shitass Kountze?”

Even with it being a serious question, you laughed (both from surprise and discomfort). “Well like, you should see the hands I put on him. Mary, we were just playing, it’s fine.”

The main door opened before she could say anything else, and you saw the same five boys walk in; Ye-Joon holding your boots. You smiled, approaching them as if nothing was wrong, and you took your shoes. “Thank you.”

He nodded, quickly looking away.

“You all should be ashamed of yourselves.” Mary spoke up behind you, and your heart dropped for a moment as well as all of their faces. “I get that you were playing a game, but you don’t need to be so competitive.”

They turned to one another, obviously confused about the whole thing (you were as well). Still, she continued. “Yeah, little miss Hunahm told me everything. Hide and seek, tag, I don’t care what it was, you all need to be just careful with each other. Poor girl over here took a fall, and I see you did too, mister Kountze.”

At his name, Teddy turned away. Angus spoke up. “We’ll be careful next time, miss Lamb.”

“Please, we’re on vacation; just Mary.” She looked at you. “You’re gonna help me with dinner later, right?”

“I will.”

“Good, stay out of trouble.”

“No promises.”

With that, Mary left through one of the doors leading to the teacher’s lounge. The moment she did, Teddy hissed at you.

“What the hell was that?!”

Rolling your eyes you said. “Didn’t you hear? We were playing a stupid game.”

“You mean you punched me in the face.”

“You blackmailed me into doing something I wouldn’t have wanted to do; we can keep going.”

“It’s not my fault you’re a-.”

“-A what?”

He stopped to your surprise, then changed his tone. “I just don’t think your father would be proud of the choices you’ve made.”

On one hand, damn, those words cut deep enough to almost make you bleed; but on the other hand…

“Are you gonna tell him?” You asked, trying not to sound like you gave a shit.

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “I mean, unless you’re gonna say sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” You laughed. “Beating the shit out of you? You started it. Besides, who’s he going to believe?”

Silence was what you were met with. Even at the sight of his face, you only continued to grin. “Teddy, come on, you start ‘not fights’, we all know. It’s not a hard question, I thought you were smarter than this?”

He sighed. “You.”

“Exactly; you’re my bitch, Kountze.” You walked backwards, a little skip in your step. “Don’t you forget that.”

Turning away, you retreated to the infirmary, grabbing your books and escaping to the library in hopes of not having to see any of them for the rest of the day.

Men…so exhausting.

You managed to disappear into the world of The Yellow Wallpaper (not necessarily lighthearted reading, but it was still interesting) and a chapter of The Two Towers before Mary called you down to help with dinner.

After another strange but not so subtle comment from her (“You know you can be honest with me, right? I am with you.”), it was quiet between the both of you. That’s what you always loved with cooking and baking; the quietness, even if you were with one other person. You both just worked in tandem and it was almost frightening how you would both know to move out of the way of each other without saying a word.

Dinner was uneventful; somehow, your father hadn’t noticed the slight bruising on your lip, or Teddy’s eye (the color would probably start to show as days went on, but that was a future problem for you). Not one of the boys your age talked to you; even then, the freshmen kept to themselves a lot too.

So, it was quite a surprise to you, as there was “supervised leisure time” in the library, when Jason Smith sat across from you at the table.

“Hey.” He said softly.

You looked up from Jane Eyre. “Hello.”

“So…” He almost looked nervous (initially about what, you will never know). “you really gave Teddy shit today.”

Tilting your head to the side, you went. “Yeah? Well…he kind of threatened me.”

“No of course. Just…wow.” He chuckled. “You really held him off.”

Nodding, you honestly had no idea what to think. Was he complementing you? In shock? All you were doing was staying silent at this awkward exchange when he asked. “You okay?”

“Huh?”

“Just that, I can’t really read you right now. Did I say something weird?”

“No.” You shook your head, then said. “Well, yes. Sorry, I just…” You tried again. “Thank you, I think? But um…do you want me to be honest?”

“Sure.”

“I’m kind of…no, I am mad none of you stepped in. Maybe not mad but…I don’t know.”

“Well,” he began. “we told him to stop.”

“So did I, but he didn’t.” You wanted to say, but you only knew saying something true would make it worse (this is why you couldn’t be outnumbered by men; it’d make you scared). Instead, you settled on.

“I know, and thanks, but it still would’ve been nice for some help.”

He shrugged. “You seemed to have it handled.”

Six words you thought (and prayed) you’d never hear again; and he said them with a nonchalant shrug. As if, by now, he was already bored and annoyed with a conversation he had started. Perhaps you were reading too much into that last part, perhaps he didn’t mean to come off as callous; but he was still oblivious at the end of the day.

“Look,” he interrupted your overflowing mind when he saw how much it was affecting you. “if it helps, he tried to run after you when you punched him, but Tully and I held him back.”

You took a deep breath as his words sunk in. Then, you chuckled bitterly. “How nice of you to not let him beat me to a pulp.”

He shook his head. “Come on, don’t be like that.”

“Angry? Pissed off?”

“Irritational.”

Your jaw actually dropped. “What?”

He said your name, shaking his head and lowering his voice as if you both hadn’t been quiet already. “Look, Kountze is a dick, we know that. But come on, he said some horrible stuff, and you punched him. That doesn’t really add up.”

“…He threatened me.”

“You basically invited him to take a picture of you alone. I mean, yeah it was to bate him, but still.”

No further questions, you picked up your book and your jacket. Without another word and ignoring how he tried to call you back with a soft tone of voice as he said your name, you walked out of the library without another thought.

Your father asked you about it of course, but all you said was that Jason spoiled a book you were looking forward to reading. He believed you and wished you goodnight, leaving you to lie in your bed and be stuck in your thoughts until snoring reached your ears.

You waited a few more minutes before you stood up, gathering your blanket to wrap around you. As you walked down the hall, the nagging thought of ‘Do I even feel safe in there?’ invaded your mind when you only realized that you were going to be in a room with both Jason and Teddy. You were outside of the hall for longer than you would imagine, when you heard quiet voices on the other side of the wall.

“…I had an accident.”

“Yeah, you did. Shh, stop crying. If they hear you, they’ll crucify you. Which would be ironic, since you’re Buddhist.”

You had to cover your mouth from the unexpected line. How…strange it was to hear Angus Tully be this comforting. You heard the smaller voice again and heard that it was Ye-Joon.

“I know it’s an excellent school, and my brothers went here. But I miss my family, and I have no friends.” His voice broke at the end, and so did a piece of your heart.

Then, Angus with his words of wisdom, said. “Yeah, well, friends are overrated. I’ll help you hide the sheets in the morning, all right? In the meantime, find a dry spot, and try to get some sleep.”

“Thank you.”

You gave it a few moments, still reeling over the gentleness of it all, before entering into the light of the infirmary room. You knocked lightly on the door frame not to frighten anyone.

Angus turned over his shoulder, and somehow didn’t jump when he saw you.

“Hi.” You greeted.

“Hey.” He responded, trying to act like his common, moody self.

You wanted to acknowledge what you heard; tease him (but not in an unkind way) about him being nice, ask him why, in the dead of night, was he like this and not in the daytime? Still, all you could manage was the basic.

“Is everything alright?”

He nodded. “Yeah, just nightmares, you know.”

“No,” you shook your head, deciding to lighten and grace the room with your sarcasm. “I’ve never had one in my life.”

Angus seemed to catch on, and it surprised you greatly to see him actually smile. “Nobody likes a bragger.”

“So that’s why you don’t have any friends.”

…Too much; too much sarcasm.

Both of your smiles fell, and you wanted nothing more than to shrivel up like a leaf and die in front of him, then have someone sweep out the crumbs of your body and then them on fire in the snow before burying the ashes.

You still can’t believe you came up with that metaphor quicker before you could say. “I’m just gonna…”

He nodded. “Yep.”

“Goodnight.”

“’Night.”

You scurried into the other room and under the covers of the bed. The fear of Teddy and Jason no longer was the thing keeping you up at night in that room; it was the worst possible thing you could’ve said to Angus Tully of all people.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

[pumpkinbxtch]

a request please, jaosn x reader, how do percy, poseidon, hera and tyson react if jason apologizes to them because the adorable blonde superman dreamed that he kissed the reader without permission (he hasn't confessed yet) and thinks he's a pervert :D

I dreamed about that today, my younger sister was scared because apparently I laughed very hard in my dreams at dawn.

guilty ๑⁠´ blurb

— jason grace x daughter of poseidon!reader

summary: practically what is above. Jason being a silly in love

warnings: none, maybe swearing.

a/n: heyy. dessert is served. hope you like it. Jason asking for forgiveness and taking responsibility for everything is the most roman thing. so sweet too. i love him. 😭

—I made a big mistake.

Everyone's expressions changed completely. Coming from Jason, a confession like that couldn't be taken lightly.

“What would he have done to bring two gods?” Percy wondered as he looked at Tyson. And why did he want them to be there too?

Hera cleared her throat and straightened her posture.

—Jason... what are you talking about?

— was not my intention.

His voice sounded shaky and his cheeks struggled not to turn red.

— what wasn't your intention, boy? Should we call my brother? — Poseidon stabbed his trident into the grass and looked askance at Percy for an explanation, but he was just as confused.

Jason's skin crawled and he shook his head.

— I don't want to put my father in disgrace.

Hera touched her chest and encouraged Jason to continue as he took a seat at one of those dining tables at Camp Half-Blood. What would her champion have done so wrong that he sought refuge in her first rather than her father?

— Nept... Poseidon.— Jason bowed before him. Then he bowed to Tyson and Percy too. The brothers saw each other out of the corner of their eyes. Totally confused.—I dreamed of her daughter, desecrating her lips with a kiss.

Nobody said anything for a few seconds, those sounds of nature became more intense in the dining room, but the air was filled with disbelief.

The tension disappeared from the god's shoulders and he looked at Hera confused. She let out a whimper and rested his forehead on the palm of her hand as she shook her head. If he was right in his suspicions, that action indicated an "Oh, not again."

Jason deepened his reverence before the god.

— I beg your forgiveness. Although I know I don't deserve any after committing such an atrocity.

Gods, what?

Poseidon held back the urge to laugh but Percy, his son, didn't help him when he burst into laughter. Tyson imitated his brother without knowing why he did it, but he seemed funny. That's when the sea god let out a laugh, still very polite.

Hera scowled at him but she couldn't deny it, it was a complete joke.

Jason looked at them with his eyebrow slightly raised as the three of them laughed and Hera sagged in embarrassment.

What had he done wrong?

—boy, have you already told my daughter that you like her?

Jason's cheeks flushed, his pale skin not helping him hide it at all.

—No sir. That is why-

— Do it. Stop the nonsense. — He pointed the trident at him and Percy looked cautiously at his father, taking care that he didn't overdo it with his friend — And if you do anything to my baby... you'll die.

—Poseidon! — Hera screeched.

He laughed — No, it's not true. But be careful boy. You almost gave us a... again, what's that phrase?

— A heart attack— Percy said, rolling his eyes.

— Heart attacks are not fun — Tyson muttered and Poseidon agreed.

—They're not fun — he repeated and gave Hera a look. —Your boy has a very tough sense of responsibility.

— He is Roman, Poseidon — Hera said, moving her hands with disdain and giving Jason a longing look. — My champion is in love.

His expression immediately changed to a serious one.

—Jason, I already told you that you don't have to apologize for everything.

—But it's the rig-

— The right thing, yes. But this time it was a dream about kissing Poseidon's daughter. We don't care, even less if you can have other types of dreams... — she raised her eyebrow and Jason felt like he was going to explode at that moment. Even some hairs rose with electricity.

Hera waving her hands to calm him down.

— Ew! She is my sister! — Percy screeched with a disgusted face. Jason smiled.

—Jason is in love with our little sister—Tyson said between giggles.

[jaebeomsbitch]

Out Of Control (R.R.)

Summary: After years of working for Roman you're finally fed up by the late night calls and verbal abuse. You put Roman in his rightful place.

Warnings: SMUT MINORS DNI, humiliation kink, degradation, verbal abuse, dryhumping,

A/N: The stills of Kieran innocently looking up in the actors on actors really wrote this

You were Roman’s first personal assistant. He usually chose to run by himself whereas his siblings had their assistants two steps behind them. He’d joke that they were corporate slaves and you were lucky to be working under him with that knowing smirk on his face. He had a certain aversion to you, something about your presence rubbed him the wrong way. You couldn’t stand him either, always telling yourself it was only temporary while you paid off your loans. Only a year until you finish, you promised yourself. 

Only one more year of being antagonized by Roman. He has this annoying habit of calling you at two or three in the morning, demanding you hand deliver some documents to his penthouse. He threatens to fire you if you don’t comply. Only one more year… twelve more months with that insufferable bastard. You stomp toward the elevator, giving the doorman a nod. He’s all too used to seeing you come in pissed off, steam practically blowing out of your ears. As the door dings open you try to remind yourself to keep calm. Don’t snap at him, he’d probably find pleasure in it. 

“God no, they’re soulless. I think every time they're on their phone they’re spilling company secrets. Shut the fuck up, no- No. Let me fucking talk Jesus christ. I don’t fucking– Fuck you!” he hangs up his phone call, startled seeing you at the entrance. He motions for you to come in, doesn’t even bother to greet you. You huff, handing him the documents then turning away, prepared to leave. 

“Wait,” He says, hand up in the air. You can’t help but roll your eyes, god even his voice was annoying. It was like nails on a chalkboard. 

“Yes?” You respond, voice a little more aggressively than you liked. You wanted to appear collected in front of Roman. Knowing he’d use your weaknesses against you. 

“These are the wrong documents, I asked for 12-15. This– you’re fucking kidding me right?” He scoffs, his anger seeping through the room. 

“Okay,” You nod stiffly, he definitely didn’t ask for twelve through fifteen but you knew how he operated. He’d always try to push your buttons, ask for one thing and then demanding the other. You learned to keep a copy of anything that’s relevant to him at the time. You look through your bag, pulling out the new documents. 

“I also need the documents for the LA contract,” He says, knowing you won’t have those. He hasn’t dealt with the LA branch in almost a year. 

“Right now?” You ask, already knowing how he’s gonna reply. 

“No fuckin’ tomorrow, yes right now. I can’t sit around and wait for you,” He sneers, a facial expression you’re all too familiar with. 

“Give me an hour, need any other document?” You hold your tongue.  

“An hour! What type of assistant are you? Jess would’ve had those documents prepared yesterday. You’re fuckin’ useless, maybe I should fire you,” He taunts, his finger pointed at you. 

“You know what, fuck this! I fucking quit asshole,” You yell at him. Finally at your breaking point, the late night calls, the beratings, the sexual remarks all too much. His eyes widen, not expecting you to snap. You’re always so calm and collected it honestly scared him. He always wore his heart on his sleeve, unable to mask his true feelings. 

“Yeah good riddance,” He gives you a half wave, not looking at you. He pretends to study the documents you handed him, he tries to keep his fear down. Another person in his life gone. 

“No- that’s not how this is gonna work,” You enunciate every word, your anger pushing you forward. The years of holding in your pent up emotions finally spilling out. 

“You’re a selfish fucking brat, you call me at three in the fucking morning for documents I know you won’t fucking read because you’ll make me read them for you. You’re a fucking piece of shit Roman– Worse. You’re worse than a piece of shit, I think somewhere deep down inside you know you’re nothing. You’re just the cowardly little boy of a billionaire. If only another fucking sperm won huh? Maybe they’d be more fucking competent than you,” You deride. 

He looks at you mouth wide open, he’d only ever been spoken to like this by one other person. However, you were more vile and a whole lot less controlled. He notices the way you shake in anger, shit… why was this kind of hot? He clears his throat, trying to drop the documents in his hand on his lap inconspicuously.

“You’re fired, you can leave,” He tries to say in an even tone but his voice cracks a little. You take your time to study him, “No– I’ve taken and taken verbal abuse from you for fucking years now. The least you can do is the same. I’m fired anyway right? Call your security if you’re so scared,” you mock. 

“You are the worst type of human, Roman, for someone who talks about his dick all day he can’t fucking use it. I’ve heard the countless stories of scared little Roman pushing women off of him. If you can’t get hard then maybe stop fucking talking to me about your dick. God even your fucking cock is useless just like you,” You sigh, throwing your hands in the air in frustration. 

“You seem a little obsessed with my cock for someone who doesn’t want to hear about it,” He chuckles to himself. 

“Do you think I’m stupid or that I haven’t noticed? Take the fucking papers off your lap Roman,” You gibe. 

“Is this what you like? Can’t fuck your girlfriends because they don’t tell you how fucking disgusting you are? You’re a pathetic excuse for a man,” You take a few steps closer, hovering above him, your breath coming out in puffs. He sits there dumbfounded, at your confidence. You are right, he’s painfully hard under the papers, precum already spilling in his underwear. You forcefully take the documents out of his hand, throwing them on the table. 

“You like being reminded how you mean nothing to the world? If I killed you right now, you wouldn’t even make an ATN headline,” You snarl, pushing his shoulder into the seat. He pants, unable to form sentences, random syllables spilling out, he seems like he's under a spell. 

“God, what if someone found out hmm? They figured out how the ‘illusive’ Roman Roy likes to be pushed around in bed? That his little dick gets hard at people degrading him?” You push your fingers into his chest. His eyes are half-lidded, mouth open, breath rushing out. 

“Get on the floor,” You command, walking over to sit on his couch. He sits there dumbfounded for a second, blinking in confusion. 

“Are you fucking stupid? Get on the floor right now Roman,” you say more forcefully. He slowly climbs out of the seat, sitting on his knees. He looks down, embarrassed but he can’t fight your command, your voice has him under some sorcery. That familiar cadence in your voice brings him something he craved. 

“Crawl to me, like the disgusting fucking dog you are,” You order, crossing one leg over the other. There is a certain pleasure in watching your annoying boss crawl to you on all fours. His head unable to look up at you as he crowds your leg. He hangs his head in shame, his humiliation seeping in as his cock presses against the zipper on his slacks. He can’t help but shudder at the feeling. 

“Is this what you wanted, hmm?” You say sarcastically. 

“You acted like a spoiled fucking brat so I can treat you like this? If you wanted my attention you could’ve just asked, like a big boy. So tell me, is this what you wanted?” You ridicule. He can’t look up at you, the words stuck in his throat. It feels like he has honey in his mouth. 

“For someone so chatty you sure are quiet now,” You roll your eyes, uncrossing your legs, and leaning forward. You grab his chin in your hand, forcefully pulling him to look at you. His big hazel eyes are watery, he almost looks innocent, but you remember all those times he’s called you nasty names, all his insults. 

“Answer me moron,” You bare your teeth, face centimeters from his. 

“Y-yes,” He sighs, finally maintaining eye contact. 

“‘Yes’ Yes what?” You mock him. 

“Yes, I-I called you here to make you mad,” He admits, his eyebrows furrowing making his face look somehow even more innocent. 

“What did you want to happen Romulus?” You use his full-name knowing it’s only reserved for when his father is really mad at him. It feels foreign in your mouth and yet perfect. You feel powerful as he shivers under your piercing gaze. 

“I- d’know,” He slurs his words, trying to look away from you. His embarrassment hanging heavy as your prod. He truly didn’t know what he wanted… He just wanted to be dominated. You seemed like the perfect person. You were cool and collected with a sea of rage hiding underneath the surface. He was attracted to you the first time he saw you working for Kendall. Something about stealing his brother’s prized possession felt good.

You slip off your shoe, putting it on his couch not caring if it stains it. You press the bottom of your sole to his chest, pushing him deeper onto his knees until his ass hits the floor. 

“God you’re pathetic,” You scoff, looking at his big hazel eyes. You run your foot down his chest, he looks down following your path, you drop it to the bulge in his pants, lightly pressing against it. His breath quickens, eyes closing shut as you start moving your foot back and forth. He tries to ground himself, grabbing onto your calf, his nails digging into your skin. 

“Who said disgusting pieces of shit like you are allowed to touch me?” You push his hands away from you, his eyes opening. 

“Now, what do you want?” You ask him, crossing your arms over your chest, your foot stops, giving him a chance to think. His mouth opens and closes. 

“I- I– I–” he can’t form a full sentence as you start rubbing him through his slacks again. 

“ ‘I- I–’ Look at you, you’re all stupid already. Your underwear must be a mess, huh? Fucking useless pervert,” You smirk, enjoying the huffs of his breath filling the room. His hands twitching at his side, his cock throbbing at your words, he lets out a little sound. 

“What’s wrong? Already gonna cum? Gonna ruin your pants before you’ve even got your cock in me?” His hands grip the sides of his pants, his hips following your foot. He mewls when you stop, you drop your foot in between his thighs. 

“Be a good pup and get yourself off,” You command. He looks at you a little lost but scoots closer, he takes a tentative buck against your leg. He tilts his head back, eyes shutting at the friction, he can’t help but moan.. 

“Look at you, what would your dad think? What would think seeing his pathetic son humping his assitant’s leg like a fucking dog,” You say. 

“Ye- Yes, be so disappointed,” He moans, he bucks his hips faster, losing himself in the feeling.

“Look at you humping my leg like a bitch in heat. You’re fucking pathetic, you disgust me,” You snarl and it pushes him over the edge. His hips twitch, he bites down on your knee, his cum leaking all over his underwear, as he gasps trying to catch his breath, practically slobbering on your knee and inner thigh. 

“C’mon,” You pull him up by his armpit onto the couch. He’s shaking, this all was too much, his feelings overflowing. 

“Shh.. it’s okay,” You pull him close, rubbing his back as his emotions crash over him like a wave. He rocks himself back and forth in your arms as you soothe him, you pull him onto your lap. He nuzzles his face into your neck, breathing in your scent until he’s calmed down. Isn’t this a bitch? You have to calm him down. You’d feel much differently if this was a scene and he was your sub but he decided to take the difficult route.

“You okay?” You ask, breaking the awkward silence. He doesn’t know what to say, he needed the release, craved it but now that it’s over he’s left with that hole in his heart again. If only you both were different. If you weren’t his assistant and he wasn’t an asshole. 

“Yeah, I’m good. So good,” He scoffs, removing himself from your lap. He doesn’t look at you, walking into his bedroom and changing. After about twenty minutes of waiting you decide to leave, clearly he wasn’t emotionally mature to talk about whatever happened between the two of you. 

To your surprise you get a phone call in the morning, “Where the fuck are you, god you’re so incompetent!” Roman grumbles on the line. His words have no bite now that you know how to put him in his place. 

[curtwilde]

Henry vs Julian

I have been thinking about this a lot. While Henry clearly admires and models his scholar self on Julian, their essential difference is in how they perceive the Ancient Greeks.

Julian's interest in the Ancient Greeks is true interest, he admires their high and exalted values. For him, the Greeks were the highest point of human civilization, and the closer he comes to his own time the more his disdain increases - the Roman Catholic Church he holds in contempt but it's still a 'worthy enemy' not as bad as the Presbyterian Church. It isn't mentioned but he must hold modernism and it's philosophy with disdain - modernist moral vacousness being a direct contradiction of the idealist values loyalty, honor, chastity etc. that were so exalted by the Greeks. Which is why he is always cherry picks, sees only what he wants to see, and invents what he can't - both for himself (his ambiguous involvement with the Isrami government) or for his students (encouraging Richard to lie about his life in California). Since he can't time travel back to Greece himself, he must try to live that life as much as he can and believe himself a character in a Greek play. But it comes, not from a place of wanting to escape his current reality, but true admiration of the ancient Greek way of seeing and doing things.

Henry is a true modernist. The monologue about feeling dead is central to his understanding his character:

Maybe it stems from his near death experience but he sees the world as inherently meaningless, God is dead and heaven and hell have been revealed to be man-made constructs, there is no punishment for evil and since there is no moral line. I think he subconsciously realised all of this before coming to Hampden, but to truly accept it would have been soul-crushing. So he tries to escape it by immersing himself in the Greeks, I imagine the absolutist values, vague representational ideas pertaining to each god might have interested him but really, it could have been anything else, the Medieval Age or the Victorians, anything. He just needed something to be obsessed with, to give meaning to his existence which he subconsciously knew to be meaningless. So is his adoration of Julian, he admired and wanted Julian's ability to almost half-live in another time when, in his view, things mattered more (we have divinity in our midst). It also explains the Bacchanal which is otherwise so out of character for him. The appeal was to escape the soul crushing knowledge of meaninglessness - even if for a while. To worship and call on Dinosiyus with the blind belief of the Ancient Greeks, a kind of belief that simply cannot exist anymore in the postmodern, post-Neitzche world. His harebrained plans also came from the same impulse, including the poison plan, and the one way ticket to Argentina.

I suspect that what subconsciously drove him to murder bunny, aside from the obvious fear of getting caught - is the same thing that drove Mersault to murder the Arab - it's the old existentialist question, if good and bad are relative and there is no punishment for evil, how far can one go? Bunny's murder was Henry's existentialist experiment with himself. And, I think in a way it confirmed for him what he already knew, they escaped unscathed and he didn't feel any of the fear or remorse he expected to feel. While it did give him the momentary sense of power, the feeling that he could now do whatever he wanted if he can be clever enough to not get caught, since he won't be punished for it otherwise. While it gave him enough courage to go get the girl he always wanted - it did confirm for him the inherent meaninglessness of the world. Also, conversely, Camilla could have been another experiment - something must matter, was it love? Camilla was the only girl he knew and he was fond of her - he may not even have thought of her romantically before considering he never cared to act on it in all the time he had known her. But either way, Julian's abandonment broke him.

Coming back to Julian, Julian's abandonment omakes perfect sense to me - he was disgusted by the modernist moral vacousness in his students. He himself was a moral man, but his morals operated on his own standards. He based it on the Greek sense of Honour, not the more modern sense of Justice. His basic instinct was the preservation of his own purity - he couldn't possibly keep on as their teacher. But also, to turn them in would be against his sense of honour - he must have very little respect for the police and law enforcement as institutions being the kind of person he is. Not to mention it would mean his having to be in frequent contact with the police and court. From his point of view atleast, leaving is the only thing he could have done, really.

For Henry however, he sees that his obsession with the Greeks as well as his admiration for Julian as the sham that it really was, is disillusioned with the world, shattered. Except for his fondness for Camilla he didn't really have anyone he loved, he saw his friends as pawns, wasn't close to his family, didn't have any goals in life with everything in his reach with his father's money - the only person he had really loved was Julian, and there he was betrayed. His obsession with the ancient Greeks was also thus tainted with Julian's betrayal - since it wasn't true interest at all, only a disguised attempt at escapism - it wavered and fell apart, and he didn't have a reason to live anymore.

.

Side note : Richard falls between the two. Like Julian, he had a real interest in the ancient Greeks, but he didn't put them on a pedestal like Julian did. He realised that like his own time, and like all other times in history the Greek civilization too had its own good and bad aspects, and he wanted to learn about it for its own sake. But he doesn't make it his life, or use it to escape his own reality - outside of his classes he was very much rooted in his own time.

[outmakingmoonshine]

The Bear & Roman Mythology

After seeing this post by @thoughtfulchaos773 awhile ago I started looking into the myth of Venus and Mars and I'm now in a never ending rabbit hole of mythological conections in The Bear. If you haven't read the post above already I highly recommend checking it out before continuing with this. There are so many things that line up with characters and storylines in the show, even beyond the myth of V+M but it all still centers around the story of SydCarmy.

Thank you to @thoughtfulchaos773 for helping me structure and edit this post.

Disclaimer: There are many versions of mythological characters, sort of like different universes in Marvel & DC where the same characters appear in different stories, with different relationships and dynamics. Sometimes 2 characters are the same person but "split" into different aspects of broad concepts like love, war etc. There are also multiple different interpretations of those stories, relationships and dynamics by different philosophers, writers, artists etc. and of course this post is mixed with my own interpretation of the symbolism and priciples of the characters. Myths are heavily based on symbology and Roman myths are heavily based on the symbology of western astrology (or vice versa) so I'm mainly looking at the mythological and astrological symbols they're replicating in The Bear. This could be possible spoilers for the end of the show. Gifs that aren't credited are mine.

The table scene depicted Syd &Carmy as Venus & Mars but I think that was just the reveal of the mythological connections to their stories and they’ve been subtly showing us these (and other) mythological connections to multiple characters all along.

I debated putting this into parts but I think it needs to be understood all together so there is a lot of information and it's really long so it's under the cut.

Mars is the God of war and the spirit of battle who was immediately in awe of Venus's beauty, is attracted to her natural sexuality (not promiscuity) that matches his own and he quickly falls in love with her. (In astrology Mars also rules passion and lust.)

Carmy was practically in awe of Sydney’s beauty from the beginning

He openly sexually desires her from early on, his eyes basically magnetize to her lips whenever she's near and he can't help but flirt with her

He has fallen (or is falling) deeply in love with her

The overall tone of their myth together is Venus helps Mars find peace and balances out his war-like-nature so it doesn't consume him. He becomes a more evolved version of Mars from their relationship together. He's still the God of War but now with the wisdom of "being one" with love and peace. He can wage war in a noble and just way instead of like a savage because the true motive and purpose of war is to find peace.

Who is Carmy's motive/motivation for everything he's been doing?

Gifs by heardchef & thoughtfulchaos773 .

Who is a significant part of Carmy's purpose/dream?

Gifs by swannsways

And who does he desperately want to find a connection with? Syd, the source of his peace.

"Syd and Carmy do things for one another. She is a source of peace and focus for him and, at times, he can be a source of inspiration and dependability. Sometimes he can’t." - Jeremy Allen White

The overall tone of the show and Carmy's story so far is that he desperately needs to heal and find peace and Sydney is the one who brings that to him. Also Venus (Syd) is the only person in the entire Roman mythology (the show) that can get through to Mars (Carmy) and calm his anger and spirit of battle.

The actors and writers keep referring to Carmy as "like a baby" in interviews and we're watching him go through an evolution or "metamorphosis" on the show from being "like a baby" in dealing with his family situation, socialization, relationships, love etc, to being a man. Sydney was the catalyst for that change in Carmy like Venus was the catalyst for change in Mars.

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Venus was in a loveless marriage with the "God of the forge" aka the God of fire, Vulcan, and through her relationship with Mars finally gets to experience being with with someone who she truly loves and who loves her, someone who can match her nature with fiery passion.

The way I interpret the way the show plays with the symbology of Venus being "in a loveless marriage to the God of fire" is Sydney is the God of Fire (she's the one who represents fire in the show) but she has trouble believing in her own fire/passion and expressing it. Sydney loves cooking and she's excellent at it but she can't connect with her passion and make what she envisions. Sydney doesn't know how to express her loving nature either and that also keeps her from connecting with the fire inside her. Passion for something, creativity, cooking, love etc are all associated with fire. So Sydney is in a "loveless" marriage with her own fire. (Marriage is symbolic of being one with something/someone.)

Sydney also represents Ceres Goddess of agriculture, growth and motherly relationships. (I read a meta about this while ago but I can't find it now, if you know who wrote it please link it so I can add it here.) Syd is the reason for any growth of the restaurant and nearly everyone in it. She planted seeds of confidence, inspiration and motivation in so many of them and has nurtured their growth through the process. Carmy stopped letting her nurture the seeds she planted in him in 2x03.

Also Minerva (Goddess of Wisdom). The wisest people know they don't know everything so they spend a lot of time seeking more and more inspiration/knowledge/wisdom, symbolically they're all the same thing. Syd came to the restaurant to seek inspiration/wisdom in the culinary world from Carmy, he didn't deliver so turned to Coack K's book. Syd's always looking for ways to better her skills and knowledge even though she's already very skilled and knowledgable. Syd is usually the voice of reason for Carmy when he listens. She was a voice of reason for Richie in 1x07, although a very harsh one. Also in one version of myth Mars was in love with Minerva but she was annoyed by him and rejected his amourous advances and based on Syd's reaction to this amourous look from Carmy in 2x09

I think we might see Syd not being as open to these looks from him in S3.

I think Carmy also represents Neptune/Poseidon (God of the Sea). Blue, water, emotions, feelings etc all relate to water and to Carmy. Neptune had 2 main siblings, one was the God of the Heavens (Mikey), one was the God of the Earth (Nat, the Earth is symbolic of fertility) and Neptune (Carmy) was God of Freshwater and The Sea.

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Claire = Anna Perenna

Anna Perenna is the Goddess of Time and The Changing Of Years.

Time:

I still think the clocks in scenes with Claire relate to season 2's theme of time, “every second counts” and the fact Carmy was wasting time doing unproductive things with her instead of actually helping to build the restaurant. But I think another layer of meaning could be symbolism that she represents the Roman Goddess of time.

The changing of years - Anna Perenna is where the term "per annum" comes from, Anna symbolizes bringing in the new year but “the changing of years” can also be interpreted as metaphorically trying to "change" your past years, to make up for them, relive them or to right wrongs from them etc. That’s basically what Carmy was trying to do with Claire in S2, relive/"change" the negative effects of his past years. Carmy was trying to bring in a "new year" and new beginning but not with Claire, he wanted to start something new with Sydney.

The myth is Mars was in love with Minerva (Syd) and he went to Anna for advice but Anna wanted him for herself so she tricked/forced him into marrying her. Some versions don't mention a marriage between them and just say Anna disguised herself as Minerva to access Mars's bedchamber, either way their myth together revolves around her disguising herself as Minerva to force him into a relationship with her.

Carmy was imo very clearly attracted to Syd by 2x02. He ran into Claire and turned her down giving her a fake number but she wanted him anyway so she tracked him down and forced him to communicate with her which ultimately forced him into a relationship with her, even though that part wasn't really Claire's fault. I think Carmy gave in to Claire chasing him, one because he felt trapped and two, so he could learn through hanging out with Claire how to hang out with the woman he actually wants; Sydney. So he basically gave in to Claire to get a form of advice.

I'm not going to say much about the show's take on "disguising" Claire as Sydney, here are some posts that explain it very well. Carmy projecting his idea of Sydney onto Claire also plays into the concept of Anna being "disguised" as Minerva.

Anna and Mars do stay married (bc there's no divorce) in one version of myth but tricking Mars into marriage is basically all there is to the "love" part of their story which isn't really a love story because Mars was never in love with her and never chose to be with her. 

I think almost everyone in The Bear cast and the writers have said they want Carmy to end up happy, even Molly Gordon said it in a recent interview. Mars was not happy with Anna Perenna, he was trapped with her. Carmy isn't happy with Claire, he was basically cornered and trapped into that relationship. If Carmy is going to end up truly "happy", I don't see how that can be with Claire. They've done a lot of work with the script, the lighting, the directing, the music etc to show Carm is his happiest with Syd. It's ingrained so deeply in the narrative of the show now and they use Claire to contrast and highlight that fact. 

The show is about family, found family, love and connection with others. To be blunt, Carmy has shown zero signs he wants to genuinely connect with Claire on that level and every sign he wants to connect with Syd. He basicaly indirectly asked Syd to be his family multiple times. We haven't heard or seen that sentiment once with Claire. Everything the actors and writers have said on what the show is about and what they want for Carmy in the end isn't conducive to him ending up with Claire imo.

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Claire = Psyche

Psyche is a mortal who later becomes the Roman and Greek Goddess of the soul. She's a beautiful woman depicted as a pixie.

She’s portrayed as the “perfect-girl”, very beautiful...and that's about it for her personality traits. (Although later Psyche becomes a Goddess in her own right, the myths mostly present her as the male fantasy of the "ideal" beautiful woman with no distinct personality traits so men can project whatever idea they want on to her, much like how Claire is written.) She's a mortal who gains the attention of the Gods for her "otherworldly" beauty rivaling that of Aphrodite (the Greek version of the Roman, Venus). Considering most stories made today are retellings and twists of ancient epic tales, mythology, literature etc. I would bet the “manic pixie dream girl” trope is strongly influenced by Psyche.

One of the most well known novels including Psyche is “Metamorphoses”, alo known as “The Golden Ass” by Lucius Apuleius. It has 11 books but only 3 of them (books 4-6) are about Psyche and her love story with Cupid. 

**This might seem a bit confusing but it’s an important distinction to understand; Cupid is Venus & Mars’s “son” but not necessarily literally, everything in myth is symbolic. Figuratively V&M’s love “gave birth” or “created a new concept” that didn’t exist before, which is love and war combined as one. Cupid delivers love with a weapon so he’s the symbolic representation of V&M’s energies combined as one. Cupid is also known as Eros (God of erotic love) and Eros is the lust and passion aspect of Mars. Mars is not Eros/Cupid but Eros/Cupid is a singular aspect of Mars. In the show Carmy is not actually Cupid but Cupid is a version or aspect of who Carmy is. Similarly Psyche is a version or aspect of who Venus is so Claire is a version or aspect of Sydney. Psyche & Cupid are basically another rendition of Venus & Mars. Venus (the heart) becomes one with Mars (the ego/mind). Cupid (the heart) becomes one with Psyche (the mind). They're the same concepts just told from different perspectives for different cultures. 

The rest of the books in Metamorphoses are about the main character Lucius who is obsessed with “magic” and it follows his struggles, adventures and misfortunes on his personal journey of metamorphosis. Psyche & Cupid’s story shows up right in the middle of that as a kind of interruption to Lucius’s journey.

Here's Wikipedia's breakdown of the novel: 

Let's look at these story beats and see what’s recognizable in Carmy’s story in S2. But first:

Birds are symbols of freedom, hope, spirit, transition, new beginnings, strength, love, and joy. 

Donkey's are symbols of service, suffering, being servile, a beast of burden, a workhorse, being stubborn, stupid or just an “ass.”

“Lucius, dabbling in magic, attempts to turn into a bird”

I think "Magic" is symbolic of love here but to look a it from another angle, Carmy acted like he was put under a spell as soon as he met Claire in that freezer aisle. His focus has never been that great but it's like we entered into a different reality with Carmy's character in that scene and for most of S2. The same fiery man who doesn't mind being sassy, giving people attitude, who has no problem bossing anyone around, becomes a withdrawn shell of himself around Claire. Almost like he was a one-dimesional/singular aspect of himself with her. The whole airy fairy, fake deep, “stoner bro” way they were talking in that scene was also weird and unnatural imo, almost like they were portraying him as “under a spell” or “not fully himself” without bringing actual magic into the show. Tbf Carmy also seems like he's under a spell when he stares at Sydney so I think overall magic = love in this context. *Psyche & Cupid are still a love story and Carmy didn't know yet that he wasn't in love with Claire.

Through his relationship with Claire, Carmy was trying to be a bird; looking for freedom from his past, pain & trauma, hope, a new beginning, love & joy but he isn't looking for that with Claire, he’s looking for it with Sydney. He wants to transition into something new with Syd and was figuring out through Claire if/how he could do that. Claire was the cold prep.

Another layer of symbolism could be he was trying to be a bird by trying to be like Mikey (and Richie), be a “normal” guy, have a girlfriend, go to parties, be the “cool” guy etc. Trying to be what other people think freedom is because he has no idea how to make sense of it on his own.

“But after the spell goes wrong, turns himself into a donkey”

After “the spell” aka his relationship with Claire goes wrong, Carmy's been transforming into a "donkey" for most of S2.. His transition was complete in 2x10 in the walk-in when he stupidly and stubbornly came to the conclusion he can't be in a relationship and decided that reverting back to the mindset he was in at his worst in NY is the right thing to do. And judging by the trailers we're about to see him lean into being a “donkey” in S3. 

He's going to become a beast of burden, a workhorse, not just a burden for himself but for everyone else. Service is the nature of his job and he's going to work himself and everyone at The Bear to the bone. I think we all agree Carmy was stupid and “just an ass” regarding Syd in S2 and he's probably going to be an even bigger ass to her (unintentionally) in S3.

“And goes on a long journey where he is restored to human form by the Goddess Isis”

Isis is primarily known as the female matriarch in Egyptian mythology and is the basis of most, if not all, of the major female Gods created after her. Venus is the Roman version of Isis so Isis, Venus, Aphrodite etc are all different versions of the same concepts and principles just remixed and made more relatable for different cultures and time periods.

“Along the way, he hears many stories, including tales about Socrates and the endeavors of a group of bandits.”

I don't really know anything about the tales of Socrates but a quick Google gave me this:

I'm more interested in the unhighlighted part. It sounds like wisdom Carmy needs to think about and make useful if he's ever going to stop self-sabotaging and find peace. He needs to admit his ignorance and start listening to people instead of making up his own mind about what he thinks they mean, especially in regards to Syd. We're watching Carmy go through this continual questioning, his monologue scenes are one representation of that.

“The biggest, most notable story Lucius hears on his journey is about Psyche and Cupid's love story, spanning books 4-6.”

Psyche and Cupid's love story for the middle few books of the novel and Claire came into the show in the middle of the story. The story of C&P is a "side-story" and all Claire kept taking carmy on "side-missions" throughout their relationship.

The love story between Psyche and Cupid is long so I won't go into too much detail here but some brief relevant notes from it are; Venus was jealous of Psyche so she sent her “son”, Cupid (who’s really an aspect of Mars/Carmy) to make Psyche fall in love with a monster but Cupid accidentally hit himself with his own arrow and fell in love with her instead. I think Carmy “accidentally” falling into a relationship with Claire when he clearly didn’t see her as his girlfriend, represents that. When Psyche realizes she’s in love with a monster she runs away. Claire doesn’t really know who Carmy is and in 2x10 that “monster” side of him was revealed to her and she ran away.

I might make another post on Cupid & Psyche after I've seen S3 but here’s an interesting little preface of the story of Cupid & Psyche within Metamorphosis on Wikipedia:

“Lucius [...] finally regains human form by eating roses sacred to Isis.”  The end of the story is basically Lucius/Carmy stops being an ass and regains human form by eating roses sacred to Isis/Venus/Sydney.

I think Carmy is going to be “restored to human form”/ by Sydney at when he finally eats something she made, eats not tastes. Carmy will find love and peace, something he craves in another person, Syd is the only person he's shown he wants that with.

“As a structural mirror of the overarching plot, the tale is an example of mise en abyme. It occurs within a complex narrative frame, with Lucius recounting the tale as it in turn was told by an old woman”

Cupid and Psyche's story is a structural mirror of the overarching plot of The Golden Ass/Metamorphoses novel. Carmy, The Golden Ass, is going through a metamorphosis, the overarching plot of The Bear is about his journey. His story with Claire has been a mirror of his relationship with Sydney.

“Mise en abyme” is “the technique of placing a copy of an image within itself, often in a way that suggests an infinitely recurring sequence. In film theory and literary theory, it refers to the story within a story technique.” (Credit wikipedia)

Carmy & Claire are a smaller story within the overarching story of Carmy eventually finding love and peace with Sydney, that Carmy (Lucius) experiences on his journey of metamorphosis. Claire/Carmy is a copy of SydCarmy within the overall story.

Anyone who’s written a meta in this fandom knows how this show and sydcarmy “occurs with a complex narrative frame”. All the info in this post alone is barely scratching the surface of the mythological symbolism they’re using, let alone all the other works they’re using symbols and influences from.

“Although the tale resists explication as a strict allegory of a particular Platonic argument,”

Which basically means:

The story of The Golden Ass aka Carmy in The Bear, isn't easily explained as a clear example of a specific idea from Platonic (Plato's) philosophy. 

The use of the term “Platonic argument” here is very interesting imo, I know it has its own context here but what the showrunners and actors keep giving the audience is the “platonic argument”. Why do they keep repeating that word even after S2 when sydcarmy is clearly not just “platonic”?? These are cryptic clues imo, they want us to know what the show and story is about but they don’t want to tell us and ruin it. 

You can tell from all the different mythological connections to one character alone that this story doesn't come from a clear example of a specific idea, it's a hodgepodge of multiple stories and ideas but I think Apuleius’s “Metamorphoses aka The Golden Ass” may be the overall story the show is retelling. The Golden Ass is Carmy, (he’s the “star chef”, stars are gold. He never got any stars but he retained three of them, he’s like a “golden child/prodigy” in the culinary world.) The show in general is following his journey of metamorphoses. Venus & Mars are Psyche & Cupid, that’s why they keep parallelling carmy/claire with sydcarmy, blurring the lines between Syd & Claire and who Carmy’s thinking or talking about, flashing images of Syd in claire/carmy scenes etc.

Venus and Mars were only ever a secret love affair btw. They never got married or were officially together, the story of their romance is really based on speculation and interpretation. That’s basically how the show has deliberately portrayed sydcarmy as they continue to give their story so many romantic elements but still gaslight the audience so it stays a "secret love affair”.

I think The Bear is a modern retelling of the story of Venus & Mars and Cupid & Psyche via the story in Metamorphosis where V&M, one of the greatest love stories of all time, actually end up together in the end. Carmy experiences a love story with Psyche on his journey but the story ends with him being saved by Isis/Venus.

If you got this far, thank you for reading! I need to write another part about Richie (and possibly Nat if I find enough connections) but I want to wait until I’ve seen S3 first. Briefly, I think Richie might be Apollo who is Perceus in Greek mythology and the rival/brother of Ares/Mars. Apollo is the one who tells V&M’s husband about her affair with Mars and helps Vulcan catch and expose them. I also think Richie sees himself as Mars in a way, the leader of the army so to speak. Other than the mention earlier, I think Nat could represent another one of Neptune’s siblings too, Juno the Goddess of marriage.

[ancientcharm]

Nero: The end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (Part III)

The big fire of Rome (known in Latin as Incendium Magnum Romae) 18th July of 64 (Roman year 817)

From 'The Annals' by Tacitus:

Nero at this time was at Antium, and did not return to Rome until the fire approached his house, which he had built to connect the palace with the gardens of Maecenas. To relieve the homeless he opened the Campus Martius, the public buildings of Agrippa, and even his own gardens, and raised temporary structures to receive the destitute multitude. Supplies of food were brought up from Ostia and the neighbouring towns. After five days, an end was put to the conflagration at the foot of the Esquiline hill. But before people had laid aside their fears, the flames returned, with no less fury this second time, and especially in the spacious districts of the city. Although there was less loss of life, the temples of the gods, and the porticoes which were devoted to enjoyment, fell in a yet more widespread ruin. Rome, indeed, is divided into fourteen districts, four of which remained uninjured, three were levelled to the ground, while in the other seven were left only a few shattered, half-burnt relics of houses. Some people noticed that the beginning of this conflagration was on the 18th of July, the day on which the Senones (Gallic tribe) attacked Rome. Others have pushed a curious inquiry so far as to reduce the interval between these two conflagrations into equal numbers of years, months, and days.

Tacitus also writes that the favorable things that Nero did were soon nullified, for a rumor spread that he was singing and playing the lyre while Rome burned. Tacitus assures that it was such rumor caused another event in Rome.

'Nero's Torches' (detail) by Henryk Siemiradzk, 1876

"Therefore, to put an end to this rumor, Nero invented culprits and subjected to very refined punishments those whom the populace, detesting them for their atrocities, called Christians.

The origin of this name was the so-called Christus, who had been condemned to torture and crucifixion during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus; And a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the focus of this disease, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre.

At first those who confessed were arrested, then, after their denunciation, a huge crowd was condemned, not so much for the accusation of the fire, but for hatred of the human race.

In addition, the mockery of those who were going to die was added: covered in wild skins, they died torn to pieces by dogs, or were either crucified or condemned to the flames and to serve as torches when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle.

Although they were criminals, deserving of very severe punishments, a feeling of pity arose, since they were murdered not for the common good, but for the ferocity of a single man." (Tacitus)

About this issue

'A Christian Dirce' (detail) by Henryk Siemiradzki , 1897

First, let's see what Tacitus means by "criminals" hated for their "atrocities." The Christian community in Rome was small. They were mainly slaves, freedmen, and converted Jews of humble origins like their leader, the apostle Peter. The Roman plebs already knew from hearsay that Christians, in their meetings, drank and ate saying that it was "the body and blood", and "the one who gave himself as a sacrifice for all." Through misinterpretation, they believed that a Christian occasionally gave himself voluntarily as a sacrifice to a God, and the others then ate the flesh and drank the blood of that supposed victim.

By the middle of the second century such accusations were no longer made, and Christianity was frowned upon, and sometimes persecuted, only for its “ideas harmful to the State”.

Was this really the first persecution of Christianity?

It's true that those innocent people were accused because they were part of a misunderstood and hated minority, but Tacitus says that they were accused and executed for supposedly burning Rome not for believing in Christ; And he claims that they were not even executed for their "atrocities", that is, for their religious gatherings, so it was not a persecution against Christianity at all.

The Catholic Church, which keeps a rigorous record of all its martyrs, doesn't have the names of the Christians mentioned by Tacitus recorded. The only ones recognized are the apostles Peter and Paul, who were certainly imprisoned and executed, Saint Peter for being the Leader/Bishop of the Christians of Rome and Saint Paul for being very prominent. This is probably why Nero is considered the first enemy and persecutor of Christianity in history and became the paradigm of the Antichrist.

A doubt

'Nero at Baiae' by Jan Styka, circa 1900

Tacitus, who in addition to being a historian was an important Senator in an anti-Neronian atmosphere, writes subjective sentences and inevitably leads me to question some parts of his text.

When Tacitus writes "A huge crowd was condemned, not so much for the accusation of the fire, but for hatred of the human race", he's expressing an opinion about Nero; in the same way when he says that was "not for the common good but for the ferocity of a single man"; Are opinions, not facts. Undoubtedly there were public executions but the reasons for them arise from the opinion and feelings of Tacitus.

The subjectivity of this writer makes me think that he added details to the executions to make it clear to his contemporary readers that Nero had been a deranged ruler; Since he establishes (according to his personal opinion) that Nero was more interested in having fun killing "criminals" than in the misfortune of Rome after the fire.

Certainly there were crucifixions of slaves and foreigners, and beheadings of Christian Roman citizens, such as the apostle Paul who was beheaded for having Roman citizenship while apostle Peter was crucified for being a foreigner. And perhaps there have been people burned alive, although this was never the usual death penalty in the Roman world. it's really strange because for the ancient Romans fire was also related to the sacred: the fire of Vesta (one of the oldest deities, originally from Rome) in addition to cremating the bodies of the deceased. Condemning those they considered criminals to die in the fire would have been the same for them as it was for Christians in times of the Inquisition to see heretics crucified.

My biggest doubt: Was it really Nero who accused the Christians?

'Nero Views the Burning of Rome' by Carl Theodor von Piloty , 1861

Tacitus writes that emperor helped the victims of the fire, offering them their own properties, providing them with food and lodging: he was in charge of the reconstruction work, etc. But after being forced to mention something good for the only time, he disqualifies those actions by adding:

These acts, though popular, produced no effect, since a rumour had gone forth everywhere that, at the very time when the city was in flames, the emperor appeared on a private stage and sang of the destruction of Troy; comparing present misfortunes with the calamities of antiquity. (The Annals XV)

The historian claims that the emperor returned to the city to help in the disaster and many people benefited but then he says that a rumor claimed that emperor was singing on a private stage.

Is it possible that people in Rome who had seen Nero in action believed that? Or could it be that such a rumor never existed but was created by the historian when writing about that chapter of history?

Tacitus writes about a "rumor" but his contemporary Suetonius describes it as a historical fact :"For displeasure at the ugliness of the old buildings and the narrow, crooked streets, he set fire to the city" (..) "And exulting, as he said, in "the beauty of the flames," he sang in his regular stage costume."

"Therefore, to put an end to this rumor, Nero invented culprits." And so Tacitus begins to explain why those executions happened: what today we would call scapegoat, and also adds a second reason: "hatred of the human race."

In other words, according to Tacitus Nero he didn't act out of justice, or what he thought was justice, but out of a selfish reason and for fun. But Tacitus also says that Nero's scapegoat was those "detested by the populace."

So, isn't it more credible to think that someone among the immense populace could have accused the Christians of burning the city precisely because they was hated?

Is it possible that the false accusation reached Nero directly and that this was the true reason for the arrests and executions? Is it credible that Nero, having the vast majority of the people in his favor and a minority that was already hated without him saying or doing anything, acted in such a way that his people ultimately felt sorry for the condemned?

Perhaps someone or a group of people, out of prejudice or hatred, convinced the emperor that the fire was not accidental but caused by the Christians. The accusers before Nero, for example, may have been some of his praetorian guards; or a simple commoner who publicly accused a neighboring Christian and that's how it all started. Who knows.

It's important to ask questions, think and then draw conclusions, rather than accepting the official story without hesitation.

'The Fire of Rome, 18 July 64 AD ' by Hubert Robert, 18th century

Last Part

[10yrsyart]

possibly my favorite song of all time, “The Prodigal Son Suite” by Keith Green, tells the parable of the same name in Luke 15:11-32.  a man asked for his inheritance from his father before he’d even passed and then goes off to waste it all on worldly fun and fast friends. but when he runs out, he hits hard times and in his struggle, realizes his mistakes. he heads back home, hoping he will at least be allowed to work as a servant for his father. upon his arrival, his father rushes to meet him and the son confesses his sins and regrets. but the father is overjoyed to see him; he’s already forgiven him and throws a huge feast to celebrate his return to the family.

this parable is a beautiful picture of salvation and the heart of God the Father. the son didn’t deserve the celebration; he wronged his father and turned away from him. but the father still loved him and was ready and waiting to receive him back. the reconciliation only happened once the son acknowledged his mistakes and made the choice to return.

every one of us has sinned against God. and yet He still sent Jesus to die for us and pay for that sin in our place. He waits eagerly for us to repent (which means a change of mind) and turn to Him. His eternal gift of salvation is a gift of Grace, meaning it’s something we didn’t and can’t earn. like the father, Jesus waits with open arms to forgive us and receive us into His Heavenly family. and as Luke 15:7 says, “There is more joy in Heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God, than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” 

“We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty of sins.” (Romans 3:22-24)

(even greater than my love for the parable, is my love for the beginning and ending segments of music. it sounds so much like a Heavenly Homecoming to me, that i tried my best to incorporate that feeling into the ending.)

[marsprincess889]

NAKSHATRAS AS GODDESSES

2/27

👄🥀BHARANI🛶

DISCLAIMER: This is based solely on my research and the patterns that I saw. I can't promise that I'm gonna be sure in all the coorelations, but I'm going to attribute each nakshatra a goddess that I think fits it the closest. If you're dissapointed, to make up for it, I'm going to list some other deities in the end that I think also fit the nakshatra. Don't come for me if you think I'm wrong, be respectful in the comments if you think so and have fun 🤍

For Bharani I chose a goddess that I love personally and while I definitely see her connection to Bharani, I still hesistated when putting her here. Not much research was needed while writing as I had already researched almost everything that I could find about her and knew tons. Without further ado, let's start.

Freya

Pantheon: Norse

Name meaning: Lady, mistress

Associations: Love, sexuality, beauty, fate, death, war, magic, cats, gold and amber.

Symbols: Cats, swines, falcons, amber and gold, daisies, swords, romantic music, strawberries, aurora borealis(northern lights)

Freya is a strong, powerful Norse goddess of love, sex, war and death. She has a chariot pulled by gray cats, a loyal boar_ Hildisvíni, that she rides on when in battle, a cloak made of falcon feathers that allows her to shapeshift and the most beautiful piece of jewelry in the world: her necklace Brisingamen.

Her brother is Freyr (lord), god of fertility, agriculture and male virility. Her family comes from the tribe of gods called the Vanir. They're peaceful gods, connected to all civilised earthly matters. The other tribe- Aesir, are said to live in Asgard, away from them. A war broke out between the two tribes. Eventually, a peace negotiation was settled: Freya and Freyr would go to the Aesir as a gesture and would live with them. Despite being Vanir, Freya is debatably the highest standing Norse goddess, comparable in power only to Frigg- the queen of the gods. Some sources say that she taught the Aesir the magical art of seidr, the act of seeing and influencing the future.

Unfortunately, there are not many sources available that would desctibe Freya in greater detail, and this is true for all norse gods. Despite this, some key details about her have been preserved, enough for me to coorelate her to Bharani.

Despite being a love goddess and having a husband, she's very independent, having an iron will and being particular about her preferences. Like the Greek Aphrodite and Roman Venus, her origins are associated with the sea, but in a different way. She's not born from sea, but her father is the god of the sea, oceans and commerce- Njord. Despite this venus associations, she's also a maiden goddess (not unlike Persephone) associated with death and war.

It is known that viking warriors who died in battle had the privillege of entering Valhalla- a kind of heaven presided over by Odin, the chief Norse god. While that's true for half of the warriors, the other half went with Freya in Fólkvangr, where lies her hall- Sessrúmnir. Moreover, it was Freya who had the first pick, Odin had to be content being second.

Her husband, Odr, was frequently away. Missing him, she would cry tears that would turn gold when falling on the ground, and amber if they fell into the sea. She loved her husband, but also had untamed sexuality that was notorious. It was rare in those times as a woman to express yourself sexually and to do so with so much passion and courage, so, it's no wonder why this goddess survived as an important figure for many women.

There's a myth about Freya and her desire being so strong, it causing her pain. The desire was for a necklace made by the dwarves. It was of gold and amber and immidiately captivated her. She went to acquire it but the only price the dwarves would offer was her spending one night with each of them. Feeling like she had no choice, Freya agreed. When her husband found out about her betrayal, he left her and went to the sea. Freya cried and cried but he was nowhere to be seen. After some time, she learned he that he turned into a sea monster and went to him, still loving him unconditionally. Somebody saw the monster and killed Odr, not knowing it was him. Furious, Freya demanded a place for him with the Gods, so they could be together and she got her permit, so that they were reunited in the end.

Freya's names and epithets: Gefn (the giver), Hörn (flaxen_reference to her hair), Mardöll (sea shaker), Sýr (sow), Valfreyja (lady of the slain).

If you read my post about Bharani, it should not be a surprise that I coorelated Freya to this nakshatra. She rules over love, sex and death, all things Bharani. When reading about Freya and Freyr being twins, Yama (Bharani's god) and his twin sister_ Yami came to mind, especially considering that Yami was said to be free and unrestrained, just like Freya. This is also true for real life Bharani natives, because Bharani is a natural place for females, women tend to find themselves comfortable in these energies while males act restrained.

Freya's desire for her necklace and it causing her problems is also very Bharani, as explored in my Bharani post. The theme of her crying because of her love and ultimately love conquering everything is also closely connected to this nakshatra.

I also avoided choosing either Aphrodite or Persephone, because they're so polarized from each other. I do think Bharani is more Persephone, but I don't think that either of them represent Bharani completely. I see Bharani as having traits of both: Ruling over love/ sexuality but also being a maiden. Freya seemed perfect. I debated whether she was better suited for Purva Phalguni or not, but the death association made Bharani the better choice.

I'm well aware that some people think that she and Frigg are the same Goddess and they're definitely similar and there's a great possibility that they originated from the same goddess. I really don't think they're the same though. To me Freya is fire, Frigg is ice, Freya's the mistress, Frigg is the wife. Freya is the maiden, Frigg is the mother, and so on...

Deities that I attribute to Bharani other than Freya:

Persephone- Greek goddess of vegetation, spring and the underworld, "Queen of the Dead"

Bhairavi- Indian goddess, "awe-inspiring" "formidable".

Hel- Norse goddess of the dead, who's half dead, half a beautiful young girl

Inanna- Sumerian goddess very similar to Freya. Also a love/sexuality goddess and also a maiden. "Queen of the Heaven", she also decended into the underworld.

Gwenhwyfar- Queen Guinevere, Welsh goddess of sovereignity and the Earth, representing the land itself. (This one I hesitated to put but the vibes are matching, to me at least).

EDIT: So, obviously, Hades, Pluto or whatever god of death any culture has is also coorelated to Bharani, ig I forgot about them cause Bharani is so female-centered lol.

So that's it! I hope fellow Bharanis and everyone else found this entertaining and insightful. You're welcome to research all these goddesses if you wish and let me know if u think I'm right. Being my moon nakshatra, Bharani was extra pressure, but what's done is done. LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS, PLEASE 🤍

[riririnnnn]

ngl as much as i like isagi it gets boring when he's winning too much 🤷‍♀️ i still hope he wins tho lol but he needs to lose sometimes idk wtv i love kaiser

Hm, I agree with you, but at the same time, I don't too—Isagi isn't winning 'too much', he is, simply, reaping what he sowed.

So, let's start from the start:

Isagi's initial ranking was 299 which is HELLA low, but, you know, that ranking was, somewhat, pretty.. false.

In short, there were 5 strata and EVERY team in each stratum was named from V to Z and EVERYONE, initially, held a ranking from 241 to 300, so we have no way to truly calculate Isagi's true ranking out of 300.

One more reason why I don't trust that ranking is because Ego is one hell of a cunning man—I bet there were more than just 'skills' as a criteria to rank them because I can never in my whole life accept that Niko ranked above Kunigami.

And in the first selection he LOST to Barou—he did NOT win right away. He did NOT score ALL the goals in their subsequent winning matches too—Bachira, Chigiri, Gagamaru, Kunigami, even Kuon shined in their own times. Isagi did NOT have the spotlight onto him all at once.

Skipping towards Second Selection, we remember him getting praised by Anri that, "Ooh, that kid is improving so fast," and it was, by no means, a protagonist point because, my brother in Christ, one of his abilities is literally adapting!

And after we get his new ranking of 15, and as said by Ego, it's a true ranking rather than a false one like earlier.

Then the story proceeds and he challenges Rin, and guess what?

HE LOSES TWICE AGAINST RIN!!

And then.

HE LOST AGAINST THE WORLD FIVE TOO!

HE IS THE LITERAL PROTAGONIST AND HE HAS BEEN SHOWN LOSING SO MANY TIMES ALREADY!!!!!!!

If he really had an actual plot armour, then he would've won against Rin the second time and would've gotten VERY close to winning against the World Five too.

You getting me?

And then he doesn't even have a ranking in the Top 6!?! His ahh wasn't even the runner-up of it—Bachira was!

And trust me when I say it, if it would've been any animanga other than Blue Lock, then that protagonist would've been the CF during the U-20 because WE ALL KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THAT MATCH WAS SINCE BLUE LOCK'S LIFE LITERALLY WAS DEPENDENT ON IT!!!!!

I'm so sorry. I promise I'm not angry or yelling at you. Please don't be mad at me, I'm just being passionate.

Now comes the current arc: NEL

I've already made a post about why Kaiser chose Isagi to be his rival (it may differ once we get Kaiser's backstory revealed), so keeping it aside, I want to say that Isagi is THE pacifist because if Kaiser did all that to ME, then I would've swung so fast like who tf you calling a clown, huh? You wanna catch these hands? Guess what, I'll give you these legs too.

Well, now focusing on FC Barcha match, remember that Isagi didn't score. He PASSED. How can people even forget that? Yukimiya nearly threw hands because of that only!

And then came Manshine City—bro, he literally got blocked by Kaiser and then he PASSED again and then he FAINTED!?!?!?!?!

All this time he was SLOWLY building up momentum and that's what we low-key saw in Ubers match and are seeing in PXG match.

He EARNED everything.

He wasn't winning everytime.

He has lost many times too.

We just have too many characters who are given proper amount of character developments which sometimes reduces Isagi to being just a protagonist—God! Us Fandom is so spoiled, aren't we? We are so well fed that we have become bratty, LMFAO.

And yes, I love Kaiser a lot too.

But in the end, the Roman Empire fell too, right?

[aliciavance4228]

One thing that I honestly do not understand about some of Hades' fans is the way they claim that they like him because he is a complex figure, yet at the same time they erase all the characteristics that make him complex in order to depict him as the nicest guy possible.

"Hades never had any bastards." Yes, this is absolutely true, yet at the same time nobody is wondering why ancient greeks depicted him as having sexual relationships only with Persephone, or why Leuce and Minthe were added only centuries later by the roman poets. In order to answer to this question we have to understand why other gods are depicted as womanizers in the first place. It's because in this way it was easy for you to pretend that your father is a god, and by extension to receive a certain attention or priviledges.

"Of course I'm great. Don't you know that my father is Zeus himself?"

"How do you know that?"

"He told me in a dream that he disguised himself as an ant and then entered my mother's vagina."

"But then why didn't Hera kill you already?"

"He forgot to tell me why."

Hades, on the other hand, was equally feared and hated by ancient greeks, which is why nobody wanted to claim that they are his offspring. Romans, on the other hand, weren't necessarily afraid nor repulsed by him, which is probably why they were more comfortable writing about him having a dead lover and a mistress on top of Persephone.

"Hades never punished mortals the way other gods do." Are you kidding me, right? When Asclepcius started to bring people back to life he complained to Zeus about how Apollo's son is openly mocking death and asked him to kill him, not to mention that in some versions of the myth the reason why Zeus decided to murder him was because Hades was going to unleash his wrath on Apollo himself or destroy Asclepius' entire city. When Pirithous and Theseus tried to kidnap Persephone he trapped them for years and let them be attacked by the Furies on a daily basis.

Now, people will tell me: "Yeah but both of them were violating his rules so he had all the right to do that." and I'm not contradicting you here. However, there's another myth where he inflicted Thebes with a deadly plague after a king refused to bury some dead warriors or something like that. It is emphasized the fact that many died, and "many" could mean anyone, no matter if they were innocent, quilty, children, elders etc. The only way they managed to appease him was by sacrificing two girls. Sure, he took pity of them in the end and turned them into comets, but was the death of hundreds of mortals so necessary? Why didn't he punish only the king instead of his people? And then his stans are really going to say that Demeter is a monster for causing a global famine, even though this was clearly a result of her grief for her daughter.

Furthermore, I would also like to point out the fact that the main reason why there are few myths where he's directly punishing a living mortal is because he knows that sooner or later everyone will become his subject. Sure, you may not be punished immediately for cursing his name or badmouthing him, but thirty years later when you will be dead quess who will throw you into Tartarus!

"Hades was the least problematic greek god." First of all, there aren't only fifteen deities in Greek Mythology, but hundreds of them. And I doubt that out of hundreds of deities he's the least problematic one. And secondly, even if you think only about the fifteen major gods you cannot say that he's the least problematic one when Hestia exists. I think people are focusing way too much on his qualities and moments where he proves himself to be generous and equitable, and forget the fact that he's literally the King of the Underworld. One of the reasons why there are few to no writings about him nowdays is because a) people were afraid even to write about him and b) we're not sure how many of the few writings about him survived and how many were lost. He might have done even more horrible things that we're not aware of. Also, we do not live in Ancient Greece among people who existed thousands of years ago and had a way more clear perception on their deities. They might had good reasons to fear him other than the ones that we already know.

I do not consider anything wrong in portraying him as having a secret soft side or emphasizing the fact that just because he was the god of the dead that doesn’t mean that he was "pure evil" or "the devil himself", because we're talking about a polytheistic religion where deities are allowed to have complex, multidimensional personalities instead of being only "good" or "bad". But that doesn’t mean that you have to automatically turn him into an innocent guy who never did anything wrong in his entire life and all he wants is to unconditionally love his pastel goth wife and play with his dog Spot.

[chronicbeans]

Hazbin Rewrite - Angel Dust

I've made a few big changes here and made a few early concepts of Angel much more prominent (mainly his drag queen performances). For one, Angel is not under a contract with Valentino, but Val is actively pursuing a contract at the moment. That, and Angel is half Italian half Russian and lived in the USSR, which has an effect on his personality in the afterlife.

TW: Mentions of the USSR and Communism, Period Accurate Homophobia/Internalized Homophobia, Sex Work, VALENTINO, Mentions of Drugs, Brief Mention of Gender Dysphoria, I changed his real name to Anatoly to fit his new home country

In life, Anatoly worked as a drag queen and gay prostitute during the 1940s, sometimes stealing a few extra Russian Rubles from his clients when his family was in hard times. This was dangerous work, considering the USSR banned male homosexuality in the 1930s, and prostitution was already illegal, but he wanted to pursue it. It was his way of trying to make extra income for his family as well as try to express himself. He kept it as secret as he possibly could. He never really saw his homosexuality, sex work, and drag as a problem until he did get caught. He ended up passing away during his "5 years of hard labor". He was ratted out by his father, who got scared the rest of his family would be punished for housing him.

In Hell, his sins are homosexuality and sex work. However, it's important to realize that my rewrite's version of sin is individualized to what the person perceived as wrong or sinful in life. There's many people in Hell for things like sex work, homosexuality, or being transgender not because it is bad, but because they themselves perceived it as such. There's also plenty of of people in Heaven who are transgender, homosexual, or sex workers because they didn't see being those things as bad while they were alive. It just so happens that there's an influx of people during around the 1600's - 1900's who were taught that these things are sinful, so a lot of the people in there for things like homosexuality are from those time periods. In turn, a lot of the never generations or people from around the time period of ancient Greece or the Roman Empire who are a part of the LGBTQ+/sex workers are in Heaven, simply because they didn't get taught those things or never believed them when people tried.

So, while he may be in Hell for homosexuality, it's not because God sees it as a bad thing. God doesn't really care who you're attracted to, since He loves all his children. Angel is in Hell for homosexuality because he, himself, saw it as a bad thing when he died. Due to the horrible treatment given to him once he was ratted out, he began thinking that there must be something wrong with him if he "deserved" such treatment for it.

In Hell, Anatoly has taken on his drag name, Angel Dust, due to preferring to dress in drag rather than casual clothes when he goes outside. He also much prefers to go by "she" while in drag, even though he identifies as a cis man, because he plays up a character while in drag. A lot of people tend to mistake him for a trans woman because of this, but he doesn't mind because it proves to him his drag is good.

Angel Dust is not in a contract with Val currently, but Val is actively trying to get him into one. He's been saying his club is a safe space for all LGBTQ+ folks, saying that the pornographic material is their way of showing off their pride. In actuality, it's Val's way of profiting off of the fear and insecurities of LGBTQ+ people he comes across. Angel Dust, however, hasn't accepted it because of his own idea that he's somehow massively flawed for being gay. He does hang out with Val, though, due to Val making a safe persona and hiding his true colors from Angel Dust. So, Angel Dust doesn't necessarily see any reason to fear or stay away from Valentino.

Angel Dust isn't into any hardcore drugs while in Hell, nor was he while in life. However, he does smoke papirosa cigarettes, which in the USSR smoking was condemned, even if it wasn't necessarily illegal during the 1940s. It's mostly due to his life in the USSR being extremely strict, which has affected his afterlife heavily. He has many internalized fears, which as he overcomes them may spiral into him getting into drugs and accepting Valentino's contract.

Angel Dust is also a communist. He's from the USSR, so it's basically a given. This has a huge effect on his relationships with others in the Hazbin Hotel. Even if Angel Dust did do illegal activities while he was alive, he wasn't immune to any propaganda that the USSR spread to its citizens. So, when he meets actively greedy or capitalistic guests and staff members, he is much more likely to have a distaste for them or their ideals. Due to this, Charlie and/or Rebecca are often trying to diffuse fights between Angel and other members of the hotel, especially Baxter, Alastor, or Husk.

Angel Dust's native tongue is Russian, and due to having never learned English in life and good English classes being hard to come across in Hell, his English is slightly broken at times. In fact, he used the drag name Angel Dust simply because it sounded cool to him, without knowing the fact it was slang for drugs. His thought process was that he knew what angel meant, and he had heard from friends that dusty or dust was sometimes used by English speakers to describe how powdered blush felt. He has a thick accent, as well, making some of the other members have a hard time understanding his words at times. The only one who actively tries to figure out ways to better communicate with him is Husk, even though Angel often fights with him. Since Husk was alive and fought in the British Army alongside some USSR soldiers, he already has a slight advantage over others in understanding Angel both in terms of his personality and literal speech. So, whilst they have their differences and Angel may dislike him, Husk is still actively trying to get along with him.

Angel's form in Hell is humanoid, with an appearance similar to that of his drag persona. However, while in life he'd wear a chest piece to create a bust, Angel now just naturally has one, much to his slight dismay. It's caused a slight sense of gender dysphoria whenever he's outside of drag and people mistake him for a woman, which is another reason why he wears drag often. It gives him a reason to believe that they're mistaken not for his chest, but for the rest of his drag persona's appearance. He has four eyes, two where a human's would be, and two smaller ones at the edge of his small eyebrows. Then, he has four spider legs at this hips, which he uses as a hoop skirt when he wears more extravagant dresses. He keeps his pale pink hair long, which feels less like hair and more like fur. He also tries to wear blush to give color to his pale skin.

Fun fact: I originally decided to make him half Italian and half Russian just to give the guests a bit more variety in culture. However, once I remembered that I was keeping his death date in the 1940s, I realized I accidentally dropped him smack dab into the USSR 😭. However, I kept it because the idea of living in a society that hates you for who you are impacting someone so heavily after death was something I had already been planning for someone else, and it makes sense for multiple characters to go through such a thing.