#I figured no time like the present pf

[lo-shouldve-been-an-email]

Why hello there.

Listen,I don’t have much to say about the newest LO episode so here’s an ares ranking to go along with the other ones.

Spoilers.

Percy Jackson:

6/10

Look,Ares is a really weird figure when it comes to how the media presents him.

Almost always they present him as this sexist frat boy when in mythology he is:

A reported protector of mistreated woman.

The patron god of the amazons and was worshipped to the point that their leader had 2 babies with him.

Scored the GODDESS PF LOVE AND BEAUTY and there is no way you cannot convince me she doesn’t have some pretty high standards(even though apparently you can convince most of the writers on this list)

And as much as I love Percy Jackson,it is not devoid of crimes.

In the first book,he helps Luke/Kronos steal Zeus’ master bolt and Hades’ helm of invisibility as to start a civil war within the gods.id say this is a pretty good portrayal overall.

…until we get to the second book.

This myth will be very important so long story short:a daughter of ares got r*** by a son of Poseidon so Ares,like any reasonable and bloodthirsty god of war,fucking killed him.

After this,he got put on trial for murder as if he wasn’t the literal god of bloody war,and all the ladies vouched for him so he got set free.

Let’s just say,Rick Riordan didn’t know of this myth.

In the second book,there’s a scene where Clarisse La Rue,a DAUGHTER of ares talks to him through a magic mirror.

There,he threatens her and says he should have sent one of his sons on the quest.and keep in mind she is his FAVORITE DAUGHTER.

So yeah.

I don’t really like this portrayal but he gets points for bringing Clarisse and (technically)Frank into this world since I like them both.also the fact that Percy could tell he had beef with him even without having any other memory.

Lore Olympus:

1/10

FUCK THIS GUY

Remember when I said that modern Ares was more often than not a sexist frat boy?we’ll add “predator” and “Reddit nice guy” to that list because RS can’t write.

If in Percy Jackson Aphrodite had terrible standards here said standards are so much worse.

He spends MONTHS trying to seduce a 19-YEAR-OLD and then tries to marry her without her consent.

Also,sir,YOU HAVE THE GODDESS OF LOVE AND BEAUTY FULLY AT YOUR DISPOSAL AND YOURE PICKING A GURL WHO DOESNT EVEN KNOW HIW TO USE A COMPUTER????

Great.this guy is a predator,Reddit nice guy,AND stupid.

I remember saying that the only character who could get a lowers rating than LO Persephone being LO hades and then I remembered this fuck existed.

Fuck him.

Hades:

10/10

Your know when you see something and then immediately want to wash your eyes with soap?this is my soap.

He is my third favorite Olympian in the game,coming third to Hermes and Artemis.

So here’s a few reasons why I like him:

Doom anything with impending doom and the increasing doom damage boon does absurd amounts of damage.

Curse of nausea is one of the best duos in the game.

He respects woman.(oh look they finally Aphrodite standards)

His quest is stupidly easy and he was the first Olympian who’s bond I maxed out.

I know this joke has been made so many times but.he really is a Chthonic simp.

He doesn’t get too pissed if you don’t pick him is trial of gods.hes just here for the bloodshed.

It may be just the fact that almost every other interpretation of ares is bad,but I really like him.

Also Aphrodite wearing his face paint in hades 2-

OSP:

7/10

He’s cool.

I really don’t have much else to add except the helmet stays on during sex.

Gods school:

5/10

Welp Back to the incels-

Him straight up telling Aphrodite that he can do whatever he wants because she won’t leave is just.why.

I don’t get why people go to this myth,turn it around,and act as if they’ve done a service by making Ares miserable when in the myths it was already a good ending.

What is with the obsession with making ares a toxic ex boyfriend when in the myths him and ‘dite were literally love and war.

Another issue I have with gods school is the fact they made Aphrodite a Karen Smith when in the myths shes a Regina George but that’s a problem for the Aphrodite ranking.

Also I just realized the Aphrodite Hephaestus ares myth is the og “I fell in love with a bad boy story”-

Epic:the musical:

8/10

I don’t have a physical picture of him but I already like him.

The only time he he appears is during a bit of an unfinished song but he does bring up some pretty good points,like the Scylla thing.

Also the fact Athena didn’t directly refute any of his points but instead persuaded him with the fact that the moment Ody gets home the suitors are going to be fucked is surprisingly great.

Also can I just say how absolutely hyped I am for god games?Aphrodite’s part fucking rocks and I’m excited for Apollo and Hephaestus.

Also here’s my ranking for epic Hermes since I wasn’t part of the fandom back then:

10/10

*insert dolphin laugh here*

[doodlesbf]

Chapter 0

The portal open up and the chain walk through it like normal they know it'll just bring them all to one of the guys hyrules and fix the problems that may gotten into but when they walk through the first thing they see is the sky is a bloody red and the chain have different looks of horror on their faces to see the sky but look down to notice a village below them and they slowly head down to this village to figure out were they are and what era is and who's hyrule is this.

Sky felt unease by the color of the sky and he can hear anything beside their footsteps. Hyrule felt only dark magic everywhere and around him that his instincts are telling him ro run than fight even walk down this path but he and the chain have to go to that village for clues but his tail twitches wild see and try to slient give hyrule a claming present l8ke a pat on his shoulder. Twilight and warrior are on edge their body so tense up that they can't relax themselves even if time say so but he's not saying anything yet.

Time felt strange yet strong magic coming from the village and he knows by the village building is hyrulian but the closer they get the more the chain grown uneasy and time notice the boys body language and how on edge they are now that he's already coming up with a plan.

The chain arrive at the bottom of but they move to the tall grass for cover just as the ground shaking and the chain knows it's not a earthquake just as two hyrulian guards came out of a building that looks like a normal home but the chain notice that the color of their capes, armor is not of the normal blue and sliver but a black with red and one guard is drinking as the other is lit his pipe to smoke.

Drink guard start to groan and speaking to the pipe smoking guard in a language the chain can't understand.

Warrior: strange their armor colors are-

Four ears peck up amd look and he star to were he heard the sound pf what sounds of-

A kid minish peek out of the bush and is looking both directions and he have a small bag with him and four shock to see another minish around but he see the kid minish leaving the safety of the bush to head fast to the back of the house and four can't see the minish and curse.

Four tuen to see the chain silently talking and he tap his tail to the ground to make a noise not too loud for hyrulian to hear but minish chain ears pick it up and look to four.

Four: just saw a kid minish head behind that building from the back.

Time: a minish here of all-

Four: I'm going in to follow that kid.

Warrior: are you crazy!

Four: we can't just leave the kid in there to be eaten by hyrulian heck maybe that kid knows were the hell we are?

Warrior tsk and time give a look to twilight and wild and the two nod knowing that they'll be going with four after the minish kid as time tell the chain the plan to distract the two guards and the chain nod as wind and hyrule head to the tree that's close by to climb up on for a better view as four,twilight and wild head to the spot that four seen that kid at and they hide in that bush too as for time,warrior legend head to the other side and legend grab his fire rod and walk up to the guards and wave his fire rod down to set the drinking guard cap end on fire then ran back as the two talking guards then notice the fire and quickly try to put out the fire that's on the drinking guard cap as four,twilight and wild head quickly behind the house to look for that minish kid but find the window is crack open and the three squeeze right through to enter this building.

The three feets touch a wooden furniture that look like or used to be a tall closet and twilight look around since he can see in this basement and he gasp to see lots of cages and some have skeletons of minish but wild notice twilight look is given so he knows they have to be very careful.

Four: twilight? Do you see?-

Twilight: I see the kid but he's climbing down over there.

Twilight say as he wave for wild, four to follow him for their safety and being quiet yet quick since they don't know how the chain can keep the hyrulian busy for and their on a time crush.

The three carefully climb down slow til a small notice catch the three attention and twilight the first one to reach the cold stone floor and he look to see the kid groan and rub his head but the kid panic seeing his bag open and berries are out.

The kid get up quickly and he grab the berries to shove them back in his small bag as wild and four got down and the three walk over to the kid.

Wild: hey kid?-

The kid jump and look to see three different minish and see their armed as the kid held his small bag to his chest and back away slow but twilight quick to walk over and try to talk to the kid only the kid ears go back and he hiss to twilight which shock the three since minish don't hiss to other minish. The kid turn and start running which cause twilight, wild amd four to chase after the kid. Twilight easily catch up and he grab the kid and lift him off the floor as the kid struggles against the tall minish as wild grab the kid small bag to look through it in case of weapons but he only found berries as the kid struggles more.

Kid: hands off my bag!

Four: why enter a hyrulian home? It's dangerous-

Kid: piss off already. Give back my bag! I need to get to my sister-

Twilight: wait a minute..there someone here-

The kid bite twilight hand draw blood as twilight let go and the kid quickly jump wild to grab his small bag back but the kid crashed hard against four and sadly the kid small bag that full of berries gotten crushed and juice gotten on the kid and four making a mess.

Kid see and his ears pin down as four wipe off the berries juice the best as he can be he see the kid expression.

Four: look kid, we're-

Kid: no.....the berries...my sister....she going to dead-

Twilight: hey its okay we can help you on getting more-

Kid: there isn't anymore.....she cage up here....

Wild see and he open his bag, he pull out his shikiah stale and look for berries since he see the kid look so mortified and hearing his sister here and cage up, starving while twilight use bandage to wrap his hand as four talk to the kid but they both know that they have to go rescue this kid sister from this hellish place but the kid refused to leave since he want to help save his sister from this place finally.

[hello-there]

Communities are a new way to connect with the people on Tumblr who care about the things you care about! Browse Communities to find the perfect one for your interests or create a new one and invite your friends and mutuals!

[kalki-tarot]

hi kalki! first of all, i love your works, they're so accurate lmao and your blog's aesthetic is very cute and pretty too! <3

if i may, my questions are- 1] what is my future spouse like? appearance and personality wise?

2] i feel like my guiding forces are upset with me?? like i am a hindu [fellow indian lmao] and i regularly practice my religion; i worship the sun god and chant mantras of mercury and moon, but i feel like lord ganesha, or mercury whoever you'd see them as, is upset with me. i've started ekadashi and everything and a few positive things are happening in life even though it's a dark period overall. but i can't shake this feeling off that lord ganesha is upset with me, and i genuinely don't know what to do lmao

i'm sorry for this long ass rant, but could you please throw some light on this? like why are they upset with me? or is it some other god or deity? if it matters, mercury is my chart ruler. [gemini asc]

my initials are ss; fun fact about me: i have a 2nd and 3rd house stellium in my chart.

i'm sorry if the question was too long for your liking; i can't imagine how busy being a pre-med student would be lmao, tysm for running this blog and putting your time and effort into this! <3

Hello! Thanks for liking my blog, i really appreciate it 🙏🏽💓✨️🦋

1. Personality : they are an introverted person. They may like reading spiritual books etc. They are someone as spiritual as you. They have lot's pf masculine energy and they are someone who would want to provide for their family. Very family oriented nature. They have their priorities clear. Work & Family is what they live for. They can be surprising. They would like to give your surprises.

Looks : Handsome and manly. Someone with rough features and little shaven beard. Black eyes and black hair. Sharp jaw and slim but strong figure.

2. You may feel like that because you are not understanding that what has happened in the past remains in the past and should not affect your present and most likely your future. You know what I'm exactly talking about. Why do you have a tendency to hold onto things? To not get hurt again? You are scared to open up again. Stop holding onto things that don't serve you anymore. Your guides want you to take care of your emotional and feminine side. Embrace it with open hands. Do some self care. They just want you to explore new things or options. And get out of your comfort zone. Accept help don't deny it.

[castle-dominion]

castle 7x3 clear and present danger

the invisibility episode liveblog

WILLIAM FAIRWICK is a name I rexognize, probably from this show but I feel like it was damien westlake.

Anarchist playin pool, my man looks like he's having fun.

*reading over their tablets* how does she read with the text so small? how do you focus on the words when there are so many pf them? those two totally need to get it on. I'm so proud of them. "WHAT?? : ( :( : ( "

RC: You promise? KB: Yes, we’ll pick up where we left off. I’ll even slip into that Valentine’s Day gift you got me. RC: You mean the one with – KB: Mmhmm. RC: With the – KB: Yep. She moves into the apartment. RC takes a second to compose himself, sighing heavily and leaning on the UNIFORM guarding the door.

Skulls & pool cue thru his chest, love this look, so cool. 25 & owns all this?

JE: Other than his taste in anarchy tattoos and satanic design, not much yet.

KEVIN RYAN rushes into the room pulling on his own set of gloves. KR: Sorry. Subway took forever. JE leans closer. JE: Bro. You’re supposed to be on call. Why do you smell like a wino? KR: Oh, I was at dinner with Jenny and – and someone spilled a drink on me as I rushed out. JE gives him a weird look. He’s not buying the story. KR rushes away.

Not clipping but dang that's a thing. (also ryan isn't allowed to drink at dinner with his gal but beckett,, well ig she didn't get to have sex with her husband to be...

that is A Lot of money!

Henry's boyfriend or neighbour. East mountain goblin castle playing viddy games <3 also wow looks like his shirt is so very nonbinary

I learned how to play pool better between the last time I watched this ep p& now

ten bills a game *looks over to the drunk rich guys*

Shepherd: But uh … what people say and do doesn’t always make sense. Me: actions & words. Reminds me of that codex alera quote. Ooh anarchist with skull imagery "made a deal with the devil" for his talent Nice!

Shep: I once asked him how he got to be so good. He told me he "went down to the crossroads and made a deal with the devil" for his talent. I figure, that’s gotta be a joke, right? But the other night, well, he looked nervous. I mean, downright scared. So I asked him, I said, what’s going on? You know what he told me? RC: (enthralled) No, but I want to know. Shep:He said it wasn’t a joke. He said his time was up. That he was about to lose his soul. (laughs) Like I said though, stupid, right? Becklett oesn't care but castle is in love.

He didn't lose his soul, he just died. Woah audio cutting w/ ryan's voice there huh! Ryan sus. What was that face? the lighting is so I don't like. jdssdjkasfdkjl Devil & the contract was up XD

TItle card!

KB: Really? That’s how the devil is going to kill someone? Using a broken pool stick? RC: Well, perhaps the prince of darkness is trying to make a point. You live by the cue you die by the cue. I noticed with castle too, there could not have been wind, except for pressure differences within the place itself.

These two are flirtin by talking abt the case KB: Don’t answer that. (she hesitates) Don’t. Don’t even. Don’t look at it. Don’t answer it. Don’t pick it up. *curses* "lanie!"

I can see it! wait! Spoiler brackets! {he put glass on the floor so the invisikiller would walk through the glass & make footprints!}

RC: Swinging a pool cue blindly to defend himself? I’m telling you, it makes perfect sense. What would you do if you were attacked by an invisible demonic force? KB: I’d tell Ryan to lay off the bean burritos at lunch. *ryan walks up behind them* (not clipping but OH COULD I)

Pink ryan second day in a row Jiggy Michaels Love the pair of them their outfits

Cue ball was possessed? "my boyfriend" was it the way girls say girlfriend or does he mean romantic?

lmao hytch

My man is still in the hospy. KB wouldn't believe you, RC might. "you mean him right?" i hate kb. so this will saved his life!

KB: Demons don’t need help getting past security systems and the devil doesn’t need to use the door.

KB is so awful. *shares a look with the evidence officer*

You collapsed the foam.! (looks like a castiron pan hanging by the doorway)

Marine biology my beloved

My baby bro was considering going to MIT but he is not good with paperwork & stuff so didn't apply.

Castle don't! Donna Brooks & me: Cuttlefish don't like that!

gosh I had an interview with my boss but I had to make him switch seats with me bc I couldn't sit facing the corner. embarrassing

Is pcp a drug?

Where was he going every day & why was he using his key card?

Wow nighttime.

Castle my beloved. RC: Did the invisible man just goose you? I know, they're like that. So gauche. fight scene! IU touched it! Ow! Ow! Ow! Castle sleight of hand moments!!!

VG: You were attacked at a closed crime scene? (CASTLE nods) By whom? KB: We didn’t get a good look at the assailant, Sir. RC: Actually, we – He stops abruptly when BECKETT nudges him. or steps on nhis foot. VG: Yes, Mr. Castle? RC: It was dark and we didn’t see anything.

why did becks stay behind then?

Ok you didn't lie abt not seeing but you did lie when u said you weren't witholding snything RC: Omission is the invisible lie. more invisibility

Love the music "I missed it more" o no invisible one making a porno if u have sex in a horror movie u die the perspective of the camera makes me think yeah they are being watched. (& not by us lol) RC: And you thought zombie apocalypse survival camp was a waste of time. (did she go WITH him? I need a fanfic of that crossed with a casefic) Transcript: He’s hung more pots and pans than a normal person would have in their house, but he’s proud of the setup. Me, a chef: wdym? martha my beloved

Invisible man doesn't mean fingerprintless man

Area 51? 20th september of 2019 hasn't happened yet!

KR: So CSU reprocessed that crime scene. No new fingerprints, which means – JE: Come on, an invisible man? KR: I’m just saying. Even Beckett seemed freaked out last night. JE: makes a dismissive noise. JE: It would be cool, the power of invisibility. KR: I would so sneak into Area 51. You? JE: Super Bowl. Fifty yard line. Best seat in the house. JE: ’S smile falls when he notices KR: . JE: Hey, what’s that on your neck? KR: ’S face stays passive, but he swipes at it anyway. His hand comes away sparkly. JE: Is that … body glitter? (JE: studies him harder) Is that a scratch? KR: scoffs. KR: No, it’s nothing. JE: (aghast) Married women don’t wear body glitter. What’s going on? You stepping out on Jenny? KR: What? What – no. JE: She’s the mother of your kid. KR: I am doing this for my kid. JE: Oh come – ugh. KR: Do you realize how much it’s going to cost to send Sarah Grace to college? A quarter of a million dollars. That’s for a state school. I – got a second job working nights. JE: raises his eyebrows. JE: Doing what? KR: I’m bouncing at a club. (rly cut off word. Yeah I wanted to bounce at some point. Dad even wrote a song about it.) JE: Where they use body glitter? (he gasps) It’s a gentleman’s club. Is it Bottom’s Up? Pole Position? No, no, no. Landing Strip? KR: (behind his mug) Men-hattan. JE: What? KR: (clearly) Men-hattan. JE: Men-hattan. (he laughs) You got a job protecting male strippers? He laughs harder as he leaves the room. KR: Hey. It’s no joke. It’s more dangerous than this job. (he's right) Con't: Those women, they rush the stage like these are the last men on the planet. I have bruises I can’t explain. Ladies be crazy, Javi.

Anarchy boy <3 yeah what IS this place Lady, while calling the security: I love that jacket

Wait he was right aout being right invisibility serum! ha acab moments I don't know darpa actually

wait will was working at a government facility? anarchist boy? KB: During our investigation we encountered … an unseen person – RC: Invisible person. The doctor just moments ago: there is no such thing as invilisibity

ew oof what is this corner? oof what is wrong with the computers? It's always russia or china

Doctor: It’s what I promised Will to lure him here. The opportunity to play with advanced government tech. Of course, as an anarchist he joked it was his deal with the devil.

Castle don't play.

Terra quest? how is that involved?

Ah he's into vulnerability assessment on the digital side of things huge case file! ryan outfit mmmm yum love it. esposito wearing smth I'd wear & that is not necessarily a compliment. we already all love caskett.

Love how castle is playing video games at work XD How is that guy playing video games with those gloves on? My man is legit wearing a crown Castle hit him with a sword! (I could clip that but i don't think I will)

Henry: And since there was no way I was going to get security clearance Me: with yoyur record? no way

you snapped but u didn't kill him so maybe attempted second degree murder. Love the geek references. Henry: the suit was the One Ring to rule them all. Will knew it was too much power for anyone to have, especially the government. Yeah mr anarchist cephalapods cuttlefish

He just dumped her? wow. Didn't even stay with her for a bit after & let it peeter out or start a spark again? RC: The suit you wore when you went after Will’s keycard and you got my credit card instead. (he holds it up) Just found it, buried in the back of your drawer. Thank you for that, by the way. I forgot to cancel this thing. It would be such a pain. Yeah jerk move on his part. Lol disappear from his life go under the thing couldn't she put the suit on over her clothes?

castle u just locked yourself in with a murderer...

Castle just turned on the gas

*in synch with fire extinguisher* RC: I so missed these mind melds.

KR: Beckett, what would you do if you were invisible? KB: I’d walk out of here without having to file this report. KR: Hmm. Boring. KB: Yeah. I know. JE: What about you, Castle? RC: Be a fly on the wall, see what Beckett’s dad really thinks of me. Clearly JE: thinks that’s boring, too. JE: Hmm. RC: doesn’t care. He continues to play with the suit. It’s a cool toy. KR: notices a gift on his desk. KR: Hmm. What’s this? (he opens the note on top) "Time you had a proper uniform. Love, Javi." JE: It’s from the heart, bro. KR: Okay. He opens the box. It’s a blue thong with the word “security” embroidered on the front. JE: smirks. JE: Too big? KR: Want to help me try it on? He shoves it in JE: ’S face. JE: grimaces. JE: They told me it was new. KR: I could really use your help. JE: backs away. KR: follows him. JE: Get that away from me. KR: What? Blue’s my color. What’s wrong with you? JE: Hey, enough! KR: Just help me try it on. You don’t have to be embarrassed.

lol the hot thing in front of him

lol invisible

I'm happy! I watched a few episodes, tho I kind of wish I could have watched more even tho it is overwhelming... p happy

[unluckyxse7enart]

COMMISSIONS!

so I’ve put this off for a while since I don’t have visual examples handy but it’s been too long, so I’m going to go ahead and provide the price sheet now!! It’s also on my page under http://unluckyxse7enart.tumblr.com/commissions if this post gets buried!

-DIGITAL-

icons - $5

toned sketch

headshot - $10

bust / waist up - $15

fullbody - $20

*plus characters - $5 per extra same-size character, $3 for smaller characters, pets/animals/etc

polished piece (no bg/simple color or abstract bg)

headshot - $15

bust/waist up - $25

fullbody - $35

*plus characters - $10 per extra same-size character, $8 for smaller characters like mascot/pets etc.

polished piece (with defined bg or setting)

headshot - $20

bust/waist up - $35

fullbody - $45

*plus characters - $10 per extra same-size character, $8 for smaller characters like mascot/pets etc.

-TRADITIONAL-

pencil sketch

no bg - $8

bg - $12

*plus characters - $2 per extra character, $1 for smaller characters like mascot/pets etc.

simple ink sketch (like my #inktober pieces)

headshot/bust - $10

waist up - $15

fullbody - $25

*plus characters - $5 per extra character, $3 for smaller characters like mascot/pets etc.

IMPORTANT!!! READ BEFORE YOU COMMISSION

*THE LOWERED PRICE FOR “PETS/ANIMALS ETC” IS FOR ANYTHING SMALL ENOUGH TO BE HELD IN ONE’S ARMS, AND TAKE UP ABOUT THE SPACE OF A CAT. THIS DOES NOT MEAN I’LL BE WILLING TO DRAW A FULL SIZE TYRANNOSAURUS FOR A PRICE LOWER THAN A SECOND HUMAN SIZED CHARACTER.

*I WILL NOT ACCEPT NSFW COMMISSIONS.

*IF A COMMISSION MAKES ME UNCOMFORTABLE OR TOUCHES ON SOMETHING I’M NOT OKAY WITH, I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO TURN IT DOWN WITHOUT GIVING A DETAILED EXPLANATION ON WHY.

*I AM WILLING TO TAKE THREE COMMISSIONS AT A TIME, AND WILL NOT TAKE ANYMORE UNTIL I’VE FINISHED THEM.

*I AM WILLING TO DO FAN ART OR OCS. I MAY TURN DOWN REQUESTS FOR CERTAIN FRANCHISES OR STORIES HOWEVER.

SLOTS:

1.

2.

3.

[anearthstruckalien]

✏ Ana!

[♫]; send me a ✏️ and my muse will draw a picture of your muse

[mydreambatfam]

Batfam Fancast part 7: The Drake Family

The ever unusual Drake family.Father Jack,mother Janet,Stepmother Dana and son turned vigilante Tim Drake.

The Drakes are wierd. Their backstory is that of rich socialites who love archeology .Yet socialites are not the ' get your hands dirty type.' By making them new Gotham weathly and by making them people pf color, you add depth to how they act. By making them Asian American you bring opputunities to create unique stories within the establied canon.

This also adds a layer of intrigue. Ask and asnwer questions on what its means to be Asian American and not fit the mold in many areas.This will contrast greatly with the Cain family who will be casted in part 8.

Obviously I have to stretch the canon as well as add a bit to bring more depth to these somewhat hollow parental characters. I sort of want the Drakes to be a much more grouded or opposite of the Martha and Thomas Wayne. New money, young-ish,neglectful instead of attentive towards their son.

To be specific I made them Filipino minus Dana. The history of the Philippines before its colonization is almost all lost. 333 years of Spanish Colonization, Chinese influence, Japanese invasions of World War 2,and American occupation really led to many colonial mindsets to present day. A sort of silent epidemic of sorts within the Philipines culture and many Filipino Americans still plagues to this day

Janet Jackson Drake

Good old Janet Drake, from what little details I could find she was a doting mother at first but just like her husband neglacted Tim as he grew.

To add some extra stuff to the character, she is a heavy investor in archeology, her wealth comes from the digs in Asia and Africa she uncovered and subsquently donating to museums in the west.

Additionally to add fuel to the fire to canon she was raised by her rich father, the Irish Dutch American side of her family who gained custody after her mother gave him to her, hoping to give her a better life away from the Philipines.This leaves her growing up never experiencing the other half of her heritage.

Shannyn Sossamon is an actresses best remembered in the 2001 film A Knight's Tale and Season 3 of TV show Sleepy Hollow. She is part Filipino and was originally the lead before recasted for the upcoming show The Cleaning Lady.Her million dollar smile and varied career shows she can make the tragically short role memorable.

Jack Drake

Papa Drake, he developed from forgetful and neglectful at first , to over bearing and protective close to abusive, and died shortly after becoming more understanding and upstanding towards his son.

For Jacks canon extenstion I thought best to make him fourth generation Filipino American. Jack naturally became more American than Filipino. This can tie nicely with his finacial struggles and other story arcs. Clashes of Americana and Filipino culture within Jacks story arc where he loses all his money .He could even move into a middle class city home that has a large Filipino community. Like Woodside Queens,NYC or Jersey City,New Jersey

He became a archeologist and met Janet through his time in Gotham bringing artifacts to her museums .He made his riches in investments during the .com era. He pulled out just before the collaspe and when he married created Drake Industries with Janet.

Alain Uy is one of those underutilized actors that only get sterotypical roles. The Filipino American finally got the main role in the 2020 crowd funded indie hit The Paper Tigers. He plays a divorced husband trying to balance work and fatherhood while he tracks down his sifu's killer. He brings such a lovely preformance and showed his skills in drama, comedy and action.

Dr.Dana Winters (Drake)

The second wife to Jack and stepmother to Tim. Her presence cooled down her husband and brought a much needed mother figure to Tim. In canon she was Jack's physical therepist where they fell in love somehow, florence nightingaled.

To bring some more depth I see her as a former member of the MSF (Doctors without borders), helping mostly in Southeast Asia. She just moved to Gotham but previously did her residency under Leslie Tompkins. She now worked in private medicine for rich people.When Jack lost his fortune she became the bread winner and moved to a middle class Filipino community in downtown Gotham with him.

For her story arc its the little moments that count for her.Due to her time in MSF she is much more grounded and actively encourages Jack to go back to his family's roots, causing him to experience his heritage through his neighborhood. She also instead of helping Tim in making chicken soup for a sick Steph, she makes arroz caldo instead.

The big question now , is she dead or is he alive? Last time we saw her is Bludhaven getting psychiatric care after Jack's death. In pre New-52 canon Both Tim and Alfred checked up on her till Bludhaven blew up.

For this instead of the whole Bludhaven incident we'll go the Dean winchester route and have Zatanna mindwipe of her memories of Tim and Jack after she recovers mentally in Bluhaven.She coughs it up to amnesia and Tim insists on her moving on with her life.She lives happily up in southeastern Connecticut in a private practice once more. Now at peace. Similar to the Three Jokers storyline Tim and Alfred go check on her from a far.

I wanted the actress to be close in age but look younger than Alain Uy. She also had to give off the look of someone in the medical field, worldly and down to earth compared to Jack and his rich background. Best known as the main lead for Covert Affairs, Piper Perabo is a Hollywood veteran since the 2000s. She can definetly bring the heartebroken tale of Dana Winters Drake to screen.

Tim Drake (Wayne)

Tim Drake, considered the best Robin that brought the Batman back to his much more controlled self after Jason's death. A master strategist and detective Tim was the first Robin to be given his first solo series. He might be a prodigal son in many cases but has been shown to be consistently relatable and down to earth, when he is remembered by writers nowadays.

To add to his canon he is very much a floater of sorts as a teen, able to fit in many group. But his small arcs should deal with the unusual case of Rich Asian American kid in a mostly white private school and neighborhood community. I can say from experience as a middle class Asian kid who grew up in the suburbs. They never truely see you as human. Enless you grew up with them and are close friends. This perspective should contrast well with familial aspect of the batfamily and adoration Robin gets from both heros and civilians alike.

Tim finally gets a chance to interact with community away from the riches and glamor when his dad goes broke. What is a nightmare for Jack is a awakening for Tim, exploring much of the Asian enclaves and communites in Gotham with Steph and Cass tagging along. He finally sees life beyond the gated communites and mcmansions of the rich in Gotham and sees the ups and downs of the working class in the city. This should inspire the Neon Knights Foundation shown in his time as Red Robin.

For casting choices I never found myself so frustrated. Finding a young actor who is Pinoy and can carry a character like Tim is like finding hay in a needle stack. Almost no one in Hollywood cast a filipino as a main character enless he is a one dementional comedic character or there to check off a box. Even then when I expanded my choices to southeast Asian american I was still stumped with the same problems. I almost gave up and went with the usual Ryan Potter or Brandon Soo hoo. Ryan a fan favorite fancast and Brandon who is of equal caliber. So I went the Shannon Lee route.

Eddie Liu is Chinese American actor who had a platter full of characters till he got his big break in the CW reboot of Kung Fu. He steals the show whenever he is on screen and has that main character energy. He is also a Long Islander, so New Englander and New Yorker all in one. He is by far the best choice I found playing the teen wonder and later Red Robin.

[too-scared-to-do-this]

Of the Devil’s head

Chapter five - Mushy brains and heartbeat flairs 

Sander’s side fanfiction

Wordcount: 1340

Ships: still just prinxiety

TW: well mentions of blood, wooziness, cursing, mentions of various forms of ridiculous torture. I think that should be all. let me know if I missed any :)

Summary of the whole story:  They say, the one that wears the crown rules all - the living, the dead, the walking, the crawling, the rooted, the sane and the mad. They say, once you own the crown, you become the  most powerful being on Earth and beyond. Roman’s stolen bigger things - a measly little crown won’t present a problem, even if he has to steel it straight off of the devils head!

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

Chapter five - Mushy brains and heartbeat flairs

Roman was too preoccupied with senseless babbling to notice the guard coming back. He didn’t even notice when the keys chimed as the cell got unlocked. What he did notice though was when the bars, he was heavily leaning on, succumbed to his weight.

Well not exactly, but the thief has lost a lot of blood. He fell forward, landing on his hands and knees. “Wow… the ground is very hard…” he mumbled.

Derius look at his sibling with a weirded-out expression. “Is it good?”

Murede shrugged. “How should I know.” And grabbed a babbling Ro under his arms.

Somewhere in his fogy brain he knew this was bad. He knew this demon figure was trying to take him somewhere. So he put all his effort into grounding his feet. Which just ended up in him being dragged out of there. He pulled on his arms, squirming as much as his injuries let him. “Where are you taking me?” he heard himself ask.

Nobody answered.

“Let- go of me!” he tried, tossing in their grip. But the guards didn’t even flinch. So Roman was either extremely weak at the moment, or they were too strong. He opted for the first one. (No demon is stronger the Roman.)

“I want to talk to your higher-ups!” he screamed in a final attempt to free himself. Glaring daggers at the pair of siblings.

“You’re in luck.” a booming voice cut through his struggles. Both guards stopped and Roman lifted his head to see who had spoken. “Here I am.”

Virgil sat on his throne, sprawled out as always. His daggered staff in one hand and the crown proudly on his head. A deadly gleam in his mismatched eyes and the smirk on his face.

Roman’s mind went completely blank. “Woah…Pretty boy….” he mumbled.

Wait! Did he actually say that out loud?!

Judging by the complete and utter shock written on the Devil’s face, he guessed yes.

Virgil cleared his head, ignoring the way his heartbeat flared again and forced his expression back into that cool smirk. He had a part to play. “So you’re the one who dared to come down to Hell, hah?”

He got up from his throne and walked over to them, circling Roman. Like a vulture, he eyed his pray. “You don’t seem strong. Nor are good at stealth, apparently. And your brain…” he lifted Ro’s chin with his fingers. “I can’t tell if it’s really that mushy or if that’s just from the fall.” he let go.

Roman watched in awe, as his captor walked around him, criticizing him. Why didn’t anybody warn him the Devil was this hot?

Virgil made one more circle and stopped directly in front of the thief. “Tell me… why did you come here?”

Oh right…! Roman was here for something! Something about steeling -

He felt himself lean forward, hanging from the guards’ arms, face inches from the head-demon. And looked him dead in the eye.  “To steel your heart.” he grinned, as charming as ever. (Or at least he hoped so.)

The king’s eyes went wide. Some weird eek-ing noise left his mouth and he stepped back. And was the haze messing with Roman’s mind again or was that blush on his face?

“My-my heart?!” the Devil gulped, staring at the stranger. How dare he-

Meanwhile Remi in the back by the throne was losing his shit! “Pffff… This is priceless!”

“Uuuuhum…” Roman swayed a little, woopy smile hanging from his lips. “You have very pretty eyes…”

It seemed like the thief’s self-control was barely holding. With his permanent filter off, his mouth was free to say whatever it desired. Even if on the expense of his ego. But Roman’s brain was getting too fogged up again to notice any of this.

“Well I-“ the crowned one stuttered. “I-“

“Ow…” the thief mumbled suddenly, loosing interest in everything around him. “My head hurts…”

“Are they-“ Virgil looked back at Remi, completely uncomfortable. The mind reader wasn’t much of a help, laughing his ass of somewhere in the corner. “Why are they-“ he looked back at the guards completely helpless.

“I want to go home…” the intruder wined again.

The guards shrugged just as much clueless as their leader. “I think it might have lost too much blood for its Human system to compensate in such a small amount of time.”

Yeah… Looking at the poor babbling fool, Virgil could see where they were coming from. Tears and scratches everywhere. Knees and hands scraped. Bandage on his head. Clothes dirty and coated with blood.

His eyes softened looking at the clueless mortal. “Why did you come here?”

“Hm?” Ro jerked his head up smiling dopy-ly. “To steel your heart silly.” he giggled.

Yap. He was completely gone.

“Yeah, right.” the king nodded, looking away. And that was certainly not blush on his face!

He looked at the guards, stern expression in place. “Take him to my suit. Give him a change of clothe and show him the shower.”

“Yes sir.” they nodded and dragged a half-conscious Roman away. He was still babbling on about how he’s going to win over that hot demon king and make him his!

Virgil let out a long sigh.

“Uuuuuuuuh!!! What’chu gonna do with it, babe? Tear it limb to limb? Fuck it senseless and then burn it alive? Uuuh! I know! Make it feel suffer endlessly and then throw it into the pit while still alive!” Remi run up to him completely giddy with energy. “And theeen maybeee…. we couldgogetthatStarbucks?”

The Devil looked back at him with a questioning look. “Shut you hole, dimwit! And you won’t get your coffee!”

“Satan damn it! I hate Hell!”

“Everybody hates Hell. That’s why we’re all stuck here.”

-

Roman was taken into a spacious room, shown to a shower and given clean clothes. To say he was back to normal after the shower would be a major over-statement, but he did feel a bit better. Enough to finally realize he was in the Devils bedroom!

What was the embodiment-of-all-evil planning to do with him? And oh god! What the hell was Roman thinking, babbling all that stuff!

Oh god! He surely made a fool of himself…

What is he thinking! He should be searching for an escape! He is about to be killed!

But these clothes are so soft… He has never in his life seen fabric like this…  And the bed was so comfortable…

Surely the king wouldn’t get back until later. He’ll just close his eyes for a second…

Somewhere in the back of his mind the red alarm was going off. This wasn’t safe. This was stupid. This was dangerous! But the fog pushed drowned all that out.

And Roman fall asleep.

Virgil found him like that, sleeping soundly in his giant bed. He watched as the Liveling turned in a restless sleep and mumbled something incoherent.

He sighed. This creature was so strange. Everybody usually ran the moment they saw him - well that was maybe ‘cuz they saw him in his demon form, but let’s leave that aside. This measly little Human stayed.

It even dared to look him in the eyes! “Pf…” he shook his head slightly. “You came to steel my heart, hah?”

“Sad to say I don’t have one. No one in hell does. It’s a Mortal thing.” he shrugged slightly, walking over to the bed. Sitting on the corner he watched his sleeping prisoner.

His brown brows were furrowed, hair still wet and tousled from the shower. He had sharp features. Sharp and worn. Thousands of tiny little scars covered his skin, the slope of his nose.

Virgil found himself entranced by the creature laying in front of him.

To steel my heart. Right… He snickered to himself. “What will I do with you?”

And those were the words Roman awoke to. Blinking his sleepiness away, he opened his eyes. And he found himself staring into two mismatched eyes. To very frightened and caught of guard mismatched eyes.

Shit.

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

Just imagine both of them thinking it at the same time.

I’m sorry if my jumping from viewpoint to viewpoint is confusing. I tried to make it as little confusing as possible, but it’s still kinda messy.

I have a question - would you like longer chapters or is this enough? ‘Cus like I know I’d like to finish in under 10 chapters, but if I’ll continue this way I probably won’t... 

Let me know, okay :3

I really hope you liked it, though!

Oh and, guess what! Now apparently I have a tag-list! XD

So: Tag-list:

@romano-hottopic

@alice-only-me

[dorki-c]

Christmas Aching

Characters: Brief mention of Dabi and Kurogiri but it’s mostly Shigaraki and (Reader).

A/N:  Well I managed to squeeze and pull a few creative strings this time around and came out with this one-shot (my first Shiggabby one-shot actually!) And if anyone reads tags nowadays, then y’all know what your going into. If not...Be sure to grab a box of tissues because I love making people cry on happy holidays ;DD. 

Christmas day was upon us. Though it wasn’t like the year before.

Even without you here, the villain still had a sense of belonging as he opened his bedroom door to see the stack of presents lined up on his bed, all wrapped and topped off with a bow to show some sort pf presentation that he knew you always fussed over.

Only standing in the doorway for at least a few minutes, one of his hands- minus one finger- gripped the doorknob in the debate of whether he should just dust all the presents you gave him or to open them all.

Why did you even give him presents? Tomura couldn’t wrap his head around the subtle kindness you always presented to him. It's not like he wants to be cared about from anybody, other than his master, so why do you even bother?

It was annoying when he heard Dabi whistle behind him or when Kurogiri had the audacity to say “that looks like a nice pile of gifts…” but all he gave out in response was a couple of curses along with a door slamming behind him.

Even though he slammed the door, the villain still made no attempt to approach the presents. Why would you even give him presents? It's not like he cared about you. It was simply useless; how come you didn’t use that smart brain of yours to figure out he didn’t want these stupid gifts?

Whatever, it's not like you would care if he got rid of them, right?

Fuck. Does he really have time to have a mental crisis over some simple presents? It's not like they hold anything special in them. It's not like you even paid attention to what he liked.

But here he is, standing over the presents like they are his children, like they matter to him. It’s so, so, so stupid! Why was his body not listening to his mind? The falling blue ribbons circled his feet as unstable and shaky hands gently tore away at the dull coloured wrapping.

The first present he had unwrapped was a new hoodie and a pair of sweatpants, although the hoodie’s colours were settled with a strange striped pattern of blue and black, the pair of sweatpants were the similar black ones he wore now though the only thing noticeable to him was the softness of the fabric as the tight grip of his three fingers rubbed and moved the fabric under the slender calloused tips of skin.

One after another, more and more wrapping paper became pieces of trash piling up and cramping the space between Tomura’s covered feet. With all of the gifts haphazardly scattered across his bed, there was something that he couldn’t bring himself to open. It was a small envelope with a simple card in it.

He always remembered that whenever you gave him a card for his birthday or any previous Christmas’s, he always dusted them and always said that same line “It’s not like you’re leaving anytime soon, so why have them?” Oh boy, was he wrong to say that in the first place?

With each time he said that the small pouting face you would make always stirred and twisted his heartstrings like you were his puppet master. “Well, you never know that…” you stated one year, “I never know what?” Shaking your head, you wrapped your hand in his and squeezed it like you never wanted to let it go- you were fearful of the future, that fact was evident enough, though this display of fear was much different than the other encounters you had with it-  “Don’t worry, I was just-” Rubbing a hand against your face, after you did so, a smile seemed to appear, “I was just thinking utter nonsense again!”

But his hands always seem to think on their own. The thin white paper floated away as small particles in the air where the only thing left to open was a small flap of paper.

When he did open it. Both of the pages were splattered with lines and lines of pristinely written letters woven together into words like some sort of prayer. He shouldn’t be bothered to read these words, why should he? It's not like he cared about you the same way everyone else did.

Tomura Shigaraki is an enigma to the human race and you knew that.

Yet you still cared about him, you, out of all of these fucked up people still provided him with an emotional home, yet he still takes that for granted after all of this.

Instead of reading the carefully placed inked words, crimson and furious eyes trailed down to the bottom line of the letter addressed to him only.

“Always remember I love you.”

“From, (y/n)”

Maybe, he should’ve resisted the urge to dust those previous cards, this was the final card from you.

And now that you're gone.

All you left him to remember was a Christmas aching.

Taglist: 

@orenjineki, @haredabi, @glitterfreezed, @in-this-house-we-stan-izuku 

[lechugana]

ρωμαϊκός

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Words: 6681

Categories: F/M, Gen

Tags: roman!percy, percabeth, no beta read, capture flag game, nico has a new pet, it’s a mouse skeleton

Summry: 

AU where Percy is roman and Annabeth is searching from him. "But you still listened to me, Jackson" Annabeth replied with a small smile on her lips. "But I still listened to you, Chase" he repeated copying her smile, the boy's smile was predatory, the smile of a boy who knows he's going to get in trouble ... and he doesn't care.

Read it also on AO3

Romans exist Annabeth repeated over and over again as she walked beside Nico.

They were both leading the Greek camp, walking the streets of New Rome. As much as Annabeth wanted to pout, she couldn't stop admiring the columns, the buildings, the marble stairs… all the classic architectural elements that Annabeth thought would be in Rome, they were here, in San Francisco. The whole city exorbitated wealth and classicism, the people wearing a mix of robes and modern clothes, the streets lined with shops that had the smallest campers trotting from window to window. Among the people walked what were lares, spirits - ghosts - of the home, Nico had already warned them of them when he had visited the camp for the first time together with Jason and with the blessing of his father, becoming an ambassador of Hades ... Pluto .

Now that they were in Rome, Hades is Pluto.

And Athena, Minerva. And Minerva has no children and is not a strategist goddess. Here is a simple virgin goddess of the arts.

On the Field of Mars were two people shoulder to shoulder, dressed in purple, white and gold robes, like the ancient Roman emperors. One was blond-haired, and Annabeth knew instantly that it was Jason, his hair shining in the sunlight, while next to him was a Latin girl, with long dark hair in a braid.

"Annabeth. Welcome to New Rome” Jason welcomed, as he spread his arms before them, his blue eyes narrowing at his smile. “She is Reyna, the second praetor of Rome. Nico, you already know her. "

"Daughter of Minerva " Reyna reached out to Annabeth. Annabeth could notice how her siblings were tense, Malcolm was behind her trying to calm the little ones.

"Athena" Annabeth corrected in the calmest way possible, her body seemed calm, but she was watching every movement of the praetor. Annabeth had realized that the girl was just like her, a strategist ready for an attack at any moment.

"Welcome to New Rome" Reyna slightly moved one of her eyebrows. “Jason's friends are our friends. We hope that your instance here is as placid as possible. I'm leaving my colleague Jason to take you on a tour of our city, I have to attend to some business ”Reyna gave Jason a look, one of those looks that is only understood among familiar people, gave him a squeeze on the arm and left followed by her two metal greyhounds.

"Really, Jason? Minerva?"

"I know I'm sorry. I've told her- Hello to you too Travis, yes Connor, I haven't forgotten about you, I'm talking to Annabeth for a moment, can you-? Thanks, Malcolm” Jason tried to get rid of the Stoll brothers, Malcolm who was seeing everything from behind, grabbed the two brothers by their ears and led them to the other end of the Field of Mars. "As I said. I told Reyna, I told her everything I needed to know about the Greeks and Camp Half-Blood, but she is…” Jason waved his hand in the air trying to find a word. "Difficult?"

Annabeth studied Jason for a few more seconds, making him more nervous than he was, his hand kept moving his glasses and his feet moved slightly from side to side. Annabeth rejoiced knowing she made Jupiter's son nervous.

"I don't blame you Jason, you're just trying to do what you can." Jason's shoulders immediately relaxed at those words. Annabeth may have been proud but not a masochist. "Now show us where to stay, oh preator."

"Now do you know Latin?"

" I've done a bit of research."

---

Their rooms were simply a camp built by a group of Roman demigods on the outskirts of the city of New Rome, as far away as possible.

Big tents with all their amenities arranged for the campers, the smaller greek campers were hopping around, excited about a night of camping out in the open, the hut bosses were running after them to calm them down, though many of them gave up even before chasing them.

"I never would have thought the Romans would exist," Malcolm whispered next to Annabeth. They were both a bit away from the chaotic camp watching them. "I wish Chiron was here." Annabeth nodded slightly; Chiron had been her father since he ran away from his family in San Francisco. The two had been inseparable since she arrived at the camp shortly after Thalia's death, Chiron always came to her when she had a problem, always counting on her opinion in any matter that arose. “Do you think he will be here? Come on, Annabeth, don't look at me like that, we have the same mother,” he laughed. “You haven't stopped looking for him since the battle, and I know you're waiting for the right moment to tell Jason. Have you ever considered that maybe he is a fugitive demigod? "

Annabeth had indeed considered that this boy had become a fugitive demigod. A demigod without a camp, who wandered from one place to another away from monsters and without having a stable place.

“Yes, I have thought about it, but…” Annabeth could feel her cheeks flush with embarrassment, “it's a hunch, okay? I know it's stupid, but I feel like it must be around here."

Annabeth wanted to drown in humiliation, Athena's children didn't follow hunches, they followed clues and logic.

Malcolm stared at her for a long time, until his shoulders sagged in defeat, “Of course it's not stupid. I just want you to remember that there is a possibility that he is not here…” Malcolm shifted between his own feet, unsure. "Or that you will never find it."

---

The Romans dining room was not disappointing either. Long wooden tables adorned with fruit bowls, silver jugs filled with drink and glasses of the same metal. The Romans were talking and throwing jokes as well as food, some were speaking louder, while others were observing their companions.

The image itself was a shock to Annabeth, she didn't know why, but she had imagined the Romans as stoic people, eating meals without laughter or talking, but the image in front of her showed her that she had been wrong.

The sound of a glass silenced everyone in the dining room, Reyna was up with a small golden dagger and a glass of the same colour, "We want to officially welcome, both my partner Jason, like me" Jason like Reyna , raised and with a golden glass in his hand, but instead of being next to him he was at the table of the Greeks with his friends Leo and Piper. “We hope that your stay in Nueva Roma will be as comfortable as possible and that our relationships for the future will be strengthened and grown for prosperity. Iubentium."

“We are very grateful that you have allowed us to stay in your camp, we hope that, like you, our relationship grows and strengthens over time and for future generations, in order to have a powerful ally among us. Cheers.” While making the speech, she tried to look around to find the boy without attracting much attention, but not locating him, Annabeth focused only on Reyna. When she finished Annabeth raised her glass at the same time as Reyna, both looking at each other as they drank from her glass, calculating each other's every move.

"Nice speech" Nico murmured next to her.

"It's sarcasm?"

“Pf, yes and no. The speech was fine, but you could tell in the air how you were throwing knives at each other” he said simply as he swallowed four chips at the same time. Clarisse who was listening nearby snorted proudly at Annabeth.

"I do not like her. She’s hard to read,” Annabeth admitted as she tossed her food back and forth without much appetite.

“Normal” Nico drank from his Coca-Cola, “her mother is Bellona, ​​the Roman goddess of strategy. She is also watching you Annabeth and can't figure you out. You both collide by nature- Will, I'm not going to eat a pear, I hate pears."

Annabeth let the two boys argue about nutritional values ​​and her gaze began to search among the many heads of the Romans, but as before, no clue of that boy.

"Oh Hazel. What good find "Annabeth looked up listening to the voice of Jason. Hazel, she supposed, was the girl with dark skin and curly hair, the girl was very short in stature, maybe she was not over thirteen. She was dressed in a purple T-shirt and gold breastplate, her matching helmet carried under one arm, and a sword slightly too large for her hung from her hip. "Ah, I didn't know you were talking to your brother, I'm sorry Nico, but do you know where Jackson is?"

Hazel was thoughtful for a moment, but then shook her head, “He wasn't on watch today, and from what Frank has told me, I don't think he's in the stables. Maybe in the bathrooms? I do not know."

“Ah… don't worry, it doesn't matter. I just wanted him to meet the Greeks.” He turned to Annabeth when he saw her confused face. "Jackson is a ... how to say, a free spirit?" Jason laughed at the comparison. "He does not like to follow the rules very much and he always gets into trouble, surely you would get along well."

"He's my kind of man," Connor blurted out from behind his brother, his hair full of roots, growing little by little around his neck.

"Susan, please don't strangle Connor at lunch." Piper scolded Demeter's daughter from the other end.

"Susan, don't stop," shouted a son of Aphrodite from the other end.

The cries of the Greek demigods filled the air of the dining room. Some encouraging Susan to strangle Connor, Hermes cabin maliciously clawing at Connor's face to break the roots. Other campers rose from their seats to watch the show between Demeter's cabin and Hermes. Hazel who was still present next to Nico giggled at the ruckus that had formed in a very short time.

"I can't imagine what your camp will be like day by day."

Annabeth smiled at the teenager with pride warming her chest as she saw the scene that had been lovingly formed.

---

Ares's cabin exploded into cheers upon hearing the news that they were going to fight the Romans, at the same time, Hermes's cabin joined in the cheers, leaving the other campers staring at each other with terror in their eyes.

Annabeth studied Jason's proposal, she knew that it was tradition to have friendly fights (in the case of the Greeks to capture the flag), but after meeting Reyna, Annabeth expected any trap to catch the Greeks and give an excuse to the Greeks. Romans to attack them.

Nico and Piper were next to her, studying her reaction.

"Annabeth, I think Jason wouldn't have proposed this to us if there really was a trap." Piper tried to reason with her, inadvertently using her charmspeak.

"It doesn’t matter if he is a praetor, that doesn’t mean that they tell him everything" she murmured stubbornly, the two have been friends for a long time and her charmspeak no longer had that much effect.

"Nico, tell him that nothing is going to happen."

Nico, instead of answering, was silent with his two hands in his pockets, hunched over, looking at the ground, a small mouse skeleton curled up at his feet.

"What do you want me to say? What Chase said is true. ” Nico reached down and scooped up the mouse skeleton in the palm of his hand. “Jason is… a visionary. And visionaries tend to have a lot of ideas, and those ideas cause change. The Romans don't like change. They like tradition. And right now, the tradition is that both Greeks and Romans are separated, as they always have been. "

"You're no help, death boy," Piper growled, earning an angry scowl from the smaller boy.

"Can you feel if something bad is going to happen?"

"If someone is going to die?" Nico frowned again, but this time in concentration. "No. Everything is still fine; nothing feels out of place. "

"You see? No carnage is going to form,” Leo exclaimed jovially from behind Piper. "Don't look at me like that mija, it's a good thing!"

"But that doesn't mean there is going to be a catch."

Piper threw both hands in the air, finally giving up on this conversation. Annabeth was too stubborn to change her mind.

The girl from before, Hazel, came back together with a boy much taller than her and leafier, they both greeted Nico happily and he responded dryly, as always, too focused on his new skeleton pet. The two Romans were there to guide them to the weapons room, where they can equip themselves for the afternoon games.

Hazel was talking animatedly to Nico, her curly hair trotting as she walked, the boy a little further behind the two demigods, always keeping a safe distance from the son of Hades. Annabeth raised an eyebrow when she noticed that the boy was afraid of poor Nico.

The leaders of the huts tried to line up their brothers to give them the necessary weapons, but as always, no one was listening to anyone, so everyone ran to get the best weapon they could find. Both Annabeth and Nico stood at the gate watching, both carrying their weapons on their hips, Annabeth watched her brothers giving advice to the other campers on which weapons would suit them best in battle, while Nico watched Will trying to calm her down. his brothers when it came to catching arrows and bows, a small group from Apollo's hut stayed behind Will, hinting that they would be the paramedics on the battlefield.

When everyone was already armed and protected with armour, they followed the two Roman boys to the Field of Mars.

“Wow, why do they have a battlefield? I also want one!" Ares's hut began to protest as they admired the battlefield.

"And have you seen his armoury?"

"I do not like. It's all outdoors, I prefer to be in the forest. "

“So you can tangle me with roots again? No thanks."

"I told you it was accidental!"

"Unintentionally does not mean catching someone with roots and hanging them from a tree."

"Mathew is trying to cast a spell on me!"

"The Romans are going to crush us," Nico muttered.

Annabeth didn't have the mind to worry about the campers, she already had different routes and strategies in mind to fight the Romans. Yes, the Romans may be very meticulous and were known worldwide for their formations on the battlefields. But the Greeks had a factor that they did not have, they had no order. The Greeks were neither orderly nor organized, in the battles each one went on his own, without following any training, and that freedom when fighting could give them an advantage right now.

The Romans were already in the middle of the field, all standing in ranks and cohorts, dressed in golden armour and red shields. The image gave Annabeth chills.

In front of the five cohorts were the two praetors, both dressed in purple capes and like the other Roman campers, in gold armour. Whereas Jason had an excited glint in his eyes as he spotted Leo and Piper amid the tide of demigods; Reyna, on the other hand, her gaze was not as friendly as that of her partner, with her arms crossed and her back straight she watched as the mestizo camp arrived at the place.

Annabeth wanted to get rid of the bad feeling she had in her body, she could imagine what the Romans were seeing when they arrived at the place, a group of unstructured demigods walking scattered around the place, some were running around, others were on top of others, some they were lagging in the back. Annabeth shook her thoughts, the Greeks defeated the army of Cronos, a titan, they were not weak.

When Annabeth arrived at the scene, standing in the front row, with the entire camp behind her, she watched Camp Jupiter, some of the campers who were there laughing at each other as they shot them glances.

“As you are smaller in number, a cohort will help you during the games. Fifth cohort."

The first cohorts began to laugh among themselves as they looked at the last cohort, in it, the two centurions in front were visibly discouraged. One of them took out a flask and began to drink from it, while the other centurion tried to shake him off.

"Each group go to your place."

And with that said, each group went to one side of the field. Annabeth waited for the Fifth Cohort to approach them.

"Good luck with the graecus."

"In the end, the outcasts gather among themselves."

"How many victories are we going to have already?"

"I think twenty-seven."

"No, thirty."

Despite the comments from the campers, one of the centurions tried to liven up the atmosphere, cheering up his subordinates, giving smiles and patting on the back, while the other centurion continued to drink from his flask while visibly leaning on his companion. 

“We are the fifth cohort. Jason has told us a lot about you” the centurion introduced himself. "I'm Gwendolyn, and this is my partner Dakota ... don't worry he's drinking Kool-Aid", slapping her hand on the flask caught his attention.

"I hope you like losing." Dakota lifted his flask and took a sip. Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"Annabeth. I guess you know who Nico is. She's Clarisse… There is Will… Oh, this is Piper…” Annabeth rummaged through the other campers with the cabin leaders, but seeing that the Stoll brothers were doing their thing, she stopped naming with a sigh.

"Are you all the praetors?" Dakota exclaimed upon hearing the number of names Annabeth had named.

"Mn? Oh no. We are the cabin leaders. A cabin by God. "

The Fifth Cohort gaped at them. Apparently, they did have more differences than they imagined.

“We are always defending ourselves. It's easier to accept defeat.” Gwen shrugged.

"Pathetic" Clarisse snorted. Both Ares's and Nike's cabins supported her.

"You don't know who is in the first cohort!"

"Of course, we don't know, we are new, remember?" said Fred, a Hermes boy, who bore a horrible resemblance to the Stoll brothers. 

"And we do not care, we are going to crush them" a girl from Nike jumped up from behind, hitting her fist with her hand for more emphasis, both Nike's cabin and Ares's hut jumped in cheers at those words. 

"Let’s not get so excited, they are not monsters ..." A child from Iris tried to quietly calm the other campers. 

"Shut up Eugene."

Annabeth sighed and looked sideways at the Romans, "We never stare." Annabeth turned to be seen by both Greeks and Romans. "We are going to attack. Romans and Greeks. Will, choose one of your brothers to go into battle for medical help. Nico, I think you already know what to do. Nina, she will give you some inventions from Hephaestus's cabin, listen to her well what they are for. You Romans, stand in the front row, shields raised and prepare to defend. "

Annabeth watched as everyone fell into place. Will named some of his faster brothers to go to the field, while Nico caught some of the Hermes and Demeter campers explaining the plan. Piper, in the background, was practicing her spell-talk with Leo. Nina was handing out small gadgets to some of the campers followed by Hecate's children who were giving some explanations of how they worked. Clarisse, along with Nike's hut and Ares were sharpening their weapons, looking with sharp smiles at the Romans scaring them. 

"How do you know we are going to win? She is nothing but a daughter of Min… Athena. And they are Romans, and they always play dirty, no matter what you do, we are going to lose” Annabeth made out Dakota's voice behind her as she fixed her golden bib. 

"Athena always has a plan." Annabeth smiled at Malcolm's voice. 

---

Ugh. Annabeth hated fighting in the open field, she preferred to fight in the woods of the half-blood camp, it was easier to hide there, and the trees helped her to form even more convoluted plans than usual. 

From his place he could see how Reyna flew over the fields of Mars on the back of her pegasus, even from there he could see her frown and how she judged them from the sky. On the floor and sitting in a box, Jason was looking at them with bright and expectant eyes, Annabeth couldn't help but think that Jason looked like a labrador retriever, wagging his tail from side to side excitedly. 

On the other side of the field were the other cohorts, preparing for battle, from her place, Annabeth could see as they were placed in an attack position, prepared to fight. 

"Are you sure it's going to work?" Malcolm appeared behind her. 

"I hope so." Malcolm glanced at her, looked like he wanted to say something, but at the last moment he closed his mouth and hunched his shoulders in defeat.  

"They look prepared," he simply said. "I'm scared."

"For us?" Annabeth this time looked at him raising an eyebrow. 

"Mn? No way. For them. I don't think I've ever seen Clarisse so excited in a battle, I think I've heard her say she's going to try to split the Romans in two. The Romans have never had to endure the fury of the sons of Ares. "

"And the Nike ones," Annabeth recalled. 

"Don't remind me, ugh."

Both Annabeth and Malcolm laughed as they watched the Romans on the other side moving from side to side. 

A trumpet sounded from overhead, Annabeth raised her head and saw Reyna look her directly in the eye. All of this was challenging. A challenge to see if the Greeks were worth it. And Annabeth already knew. 

Taking one last look at the Romans already in position, she went to hers, raising her eyebrow in recognition of Reyna. 

---

“Gwendolyn, I need you to help us form defences. Get into position swinging line, on the left flank, not right. Put the archers in the first row, not in the last, and then in the second row put an arrow line. "

Gwendolyn looked at her with wide eyes, shocked to hear the Greek know the Roman techniques and embarrassed that she did not know any Greek techniques. With a nod of his head he ran after his fellow Romans giving them Annabeth's orders. 

Seeing that her zone was in motion, she braced herself. Praying that he hadn't been wrong. 

From her spot she could see how the fifth cohort got into the position she had said, thanking herself for her curiosity in having studied Roman defence tactics. The fifth cohort advanced from their position, alerting the Romans to their orthodox attacking position, the archers should be behind not in front, and it was the right flank that was more protected than the left, just as soldiers with arrows should be in the front row. Annabeth heard the confused sounds of the other cohorts when she saw that position, cracking their positions and hesitating when attacking, she could hear the confusing sounds of the enemy cohorts from her place. That made her smile. 

After appreciating their tactics in action, Annabeth jumped into action. Picking up her dagger, she jumped to the right flank, seeing that the defence of that area was weakened, running between the Roman and Greek campers. 

From her place she could see Nico's signal, probably aided by his sister Hazel, a lump, almost imperceptible on the ground, with a silver coin gleaming in the sunlight. Taking a deep breath, she lunged for the signal, dodging and kicking the Romans, and the Greeks pulling away with experience. She could see the silver coin shining brighter every time she got closer, but halfway there she saw a group of Romans rush over the sign, taking it to the other side of the field. 

"Shit," Annabeth blurted out after someone tackled her. 

"Minerva's daughter," a Roman hissed. The boy had a shield almost the same height as him and was covered by golden armour. His face was covered by a helmet of the same material. Annabeth snorted at those words. Right now, he didn't feel like fighting an angry idiot. "You are going to learn to respect our goddess-"

Without letting him finish the sentence, Annabeth lunged towards the boy and he raised the shield reflexively, just before she hit the shield, Annabeth turned to the side, surprising the Roman with a kick to his back, throwing him to the side. From above, Annabeth raised her dagger to threaten the boy at her feet, but when she raised her hand, she realized that his dagger was gone. Looking everywhere for it, she acknowledges that the poor dagger had disappeared at the time of the tackle. 

Annabeth wanted to hit a wall. 

"Annie!" Piper yelled from her right throwing something at her. Annabeth reflexively raised her arm and saw that what Piper had thrown at her was nothing more than a stick in the shape of a 'y'. “Don't look at me like that, it was you who asked me to look for him if there was an emergency. Hey you! You are very sleepy ... be careful! oh, he fell head-on, do you think he'll be okay? That had to hurt. " 

Annabeth shook her head and took the stick in the shape of an 'y' and with a calculated blow she hit the boy at her feet on the head knocking him unconscious. Taking the stick by its shorter sides, she put the longer stick in front of him, pointing her way. Pointing it to the ground.

The stick had not yet moved, leading Annabeth to despair, the Greek kept pacing back and forth, sometimes in circles, looking for the stick to vibrate. Was she wrong? She was seldom wrong, and she was too proud to accept that she was wrong. In addition, she was the daughter of Athena, she could find another solution, every problem has a solution. A small vibration went up his arms, jumping from his place he saw the long stick vibrate to the ground. Releasing the air that she did not know she was holding, she followed the vibrations of the stick, following the path that led to the stick vibrating even more. She stayed above a point where the vibrations had made her arms not stop shaking. 

It's here. Annabeth thought. 

A clash of metal made her raise her head.

"Do you want to become a skewer or what?" The boy in front of her yelled from his helmet. That boy had stopped an attack from the other side, an attack that was going for her. Snorting, Annabeth ignored him, but marked with her foot where the stick had pointed. "I've saved your life and that's how you thank me-"

Annabeth pushed the boy away when she saw from the corner of her eye that another Roman was going after them, throwing the boy to one side, she dodged the spear by turning on herself, grabbed that spear at the same time, pulling the Roman towards her and knocking them out with one of his elbows. 

Turning around, she saw how both the boy and she were cornered by a group of Romans with their spears pointed at them. They both unconsciously approached each other, touching each other back to back, noticing their breaths. The boy's helmet fell right next to the two boys, Annabeth imagined that the boy had thrown the helmet out of frustration.  

"You are surrounded" shouted one of the Romans. 

"Really? I didn’t see it” the boy behind him said slightly, the boy resting his head on the crown of Annabeth's head, thanks to the fact that he was at least half a head taller than her. 

"Surrender."

The group of Romans stepped forward, further closing the circle that the two boys had around them. 

Annabeth surveyed her surroundings, still noting the weight on her head. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that the boy was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, revealing his tattoo on his arm. Annabeth's heart leapt at the sight of him.  

"I have a plan." 

"Huh. It's going to be suicide."

"Maybe. But I'm not going to lose to the Romans."

"Do I have to remind you that I am a Roman?" 

Annabeth wanted to kick him. "There is water below us. Use it." 

Annabeth noticed how the boy tensed behind her. "I cannot."

"Yes, you can. I've seen your tattoo."

The boy gulped, his breathing shallower and faster. "I've never done."

You're must be kidding me, Annabeth thought. "That's not what I saw in New York, seaweed brains."

"Gods, you're wise girl" Seaweed brains let out a slow breath, Annabeth could tell how the boy shook his head slightly. "I still remember you, you know? That back kick hurt too much."

"I took a stab for you."

Seaweed brains laughed shaking his shoulders, "I still owe you one, now that you mention it."

"Well, if you owe me one, use the water." Annabeth nudged him in the ribs as he hissed between her teeth. 

"It’s not that easy. The Romans hate everything that surrounds my father, remember? Give thanks that they let me be in this camp" little by little, both Annabeth and the boy were placed in attack position. 

"And what difference does it make if they hate you, all the more reason for you to use your power, they won't change their opinion of you."

"They can kick me out of the camp." 

"You have another camp on the other side of the country." 

Seaweed brains turned, making her pull with him. The breath of Annabeth stayed in her throat. The boy was just as she remembered, if not, even better. He had grown in recent years, his hair, which was short before, was now longer and even blacker if that was possible, making his long hair tousled as if he had walked by the sea. His sea green eyes shone with that expression of melancholy and sarcasm that captivated Annabeth the first time she saw him. Even his skin glowed a golden hue in the San Francisco sun, and he had grown in recent years, becoming taller than her.  

"You're still as eloquent as the last time I saw you, wise girl."

"I didn't know you knew that word."

"I've done a bit of research. I still remember not understanding half of the words you were saying."

"But you still listened to me, Jackson" Annabeth replied with a small smile on her lips. 

"But I still listened to you, Chase" he repeated copying her smile, the boy's smile was predatory, the smile of a boy who knows he's going to get in trouble ... and he doesn't care. 

Seaweed Brain put his hand into a fist and instant water came around the couple, drowning the group of Romans who were around him. Annabeth heard the screams behind the wall of water, she also saw how the Romans tried to swim among the torrent of water, dust and sand, spears and shields sailed without an owner. Lowering his hands, the water calmed down as the tidal wave of Romans, weapons and shields fell to the ground. 

"Here" Seaweed brains threw a dagger in his direction. Annabeth took it instinctively, realizing shortly after that it was her dagger. "You had lost it."

A scream sounded behind Percy, causing Annabeth to act quickly, making the Roman a hold on his arm and throwing him with all his might to the ground. 

"Ugh, that had to hurt" Percy giggled, scratching his neck slowly. Walking towards the Roman he leaned out so he could see his face. "Now someone has suffered what I had to suffer. I still don't know how you can lift all that weight like nothing. You told me you were going to teach me, wise girl." 

A horn sounded from the sky, ending the battle. Annabeth rose from the ground, stepping over the fallen Roman and standing by Percy's side, staring at the mess he had made. The water had formed a diameter of at least two kilometres, washing away all the opposing combatants, leaving the allies dry. Awesome. 

"The Greeks have won" Reyna's voice rang out over the entire battlefield. 

"Wow. As always your plans work" Percy glanced at her. "I thought you were going to be more excited to see me. It's been a few years now that I think about it, how's Grover doing, I tried to talk to him, but-"

Teary-eyed Annabeth silenced him with a fist on his jaw.

---

The first time Annabeth saw Percy was in New York, a few months before the battle against Kronos. The boy had run into her while on the run against a monster. Annabeth, out of sheer instinct, grabbed his arm and helped him escape from the monster, both working in perfect coordination, which caused Annabeth to have chills all over her body. 

Annabeth and Percy had been partners ever since, both working shoulder to shoulder to defeat Cronos. The only problem was that Percy was never at Camp Half-Blood, always making excuses when Annabeth told him to visit. 

It was when Grover showed up that Annabeth got her confirmations on Percy. He was a Roman demigod, not a Greek, he was the son of Neptune, not Poseidon. A strange sensation had risen up the girl's back, she could even notice her mother looking at her with accusing eyes. 

You have joined the enemy. With the enemy. 

She even noticed how a bubble of hatred grew when he thought of the Roman demigod, but when he saw those green eyes, the bubble exploded. The boy was looking at her fearfully, his eyes staring at the ground, preparing to leave her sight, but he also had a defeated look, as if he already knew what was going to happen. Annabeth shook off the feeling of that bubble of hatred and smiled at Percy, making that look the boy had disappear in a moment. 

From that day on, Percy, Grover and Annabeth were inseparable, always staying at the boy's house to make plans, although it was more like Annabeth making plans and Grover and Percy eating Miss Jackson’s cookies. Part of her time she was asking about the world of the Romans, her curiosity floating around as she listened to the information the boy gave her. She learned that Neptune was not as respected as in the world of the Greeks, she also heard how Percy told him the threats he suffered when he tried to use his control over the water. The only person he got along with was Jason, a son of Jupiter, they were both in the same cohort, and now they were more than friends, both always together, despite the voices of the lares and the other demigods, all of them wanted to keep the great Jason away from the son of Neptune, a boy who only brought bad luck and trouble.

Annabeth and Percy grew closer each day, somehow Percy complemented her. On the outside it seemed that he was nothing more than a handsome boy without a head, but being almost living together in the boy's house, Annabeth realized that it was only the boy's personality, he was much smarter than he seemed, filling in the blank holes of Annabeth's plans. He also had blind faith in her, something that caused her mixed feelings. His fatal flaw was loyalty, Minerva had told him on one of her missions.

And the day of the Battle of New York arrived, they decided it was better than Percy did not speak about his Roman lineage, both say that Percy is a fugitive demigod, and had seen the danger had formed in his city and he had come to help.

They both fought shoulder to shoulder, as if they had grown up a lifetime together. Both protected their backs and threw themselves for the attacks that went to the other.

In the battle of the bridge, when Rachel came to speak about the prophecy, Annabeth stood in front of Percy, blocking a lunge that went for the boy, falling seriously injured. Annabeth did not remember much of what happened next, she only noticed painful palpitations in her body, how little by little her body became cold, but at the same time the wound was burning. There was a moment when he opened his eyes and looked Percy in the eye.

“You are cute when you worry, with your sulky eyebrows. "

Thanks to the great work of the Apollo children, Annabeth was at 75 percent of her abilities, and ready to fight Kronos. The three friends, Percy, Annabeth and Grover went to Olympus to finally fight Cronos.

The memory of Eric still hurt Annabeth, she remembered how she had given her life to betray Cronos, despite the fact that his betrayal was useless, since Luke's body was bathed in the Styx river. Eric's words echoed in their ears, asking for their help so that the next generations of demigods were recognized by their parents. After Eric's death, Percy had given the knife to Luke, having full faith in Annabeth and that her persuasion would bring Luke to light. The knife entering the demigod's body caused Kronos's body to turn to nothing but dust, leaving Luke's dead body.

Annabeth had fallen to her feet, clutching Luke in her arms, Percy and Grover on either side of her. Annabeth knew that Percy couldn't stay in this place for long. Rising up with a force she didn't know where she had gotten it from, she had escorted Percy to the elevator, leaving Grover by Luke's side and helping Thalia somewhere on Olympus.

"I have to go back to Camp Jupiter," Percy whispered, they were both about the same height, their eyes being on the same level. Percy's eyes were red, and pockets of water accumulated in them. Annabeth's eyes were surely worse.

"Before the gods return," Annabeth whispered as well.

"We will see each other again" the phrase sounded more like a question, green eyes searching for something between grey eyes.

Annabeth didn't answer him but kissed him at the elevator doors. It was a soft and loving kiss. Annabeth didn't know when she was going to see him again ... or if she was going to see him again. Before the boy could say anything, she pushed him into the elevator.

"Chase, we'll meet again." This time it didn't sound like a question, but rather a statement. The sea green eyes held great determination.

And the doors were closed.

And it took two years for me to see him again.

---

The Romans around her gasped as Annabeth knocked Neptune's son down with a punch to the jaw. Annabeth didn't let him get up, getting on top of him putting an arm around his throat, hinting that she would strangle him without a doubt.

Percy, instead of revealing himself, laughed under her. His green eyes sparkled with new light, tearing at the wide, white-toothed smile he now wore. Some of his freckles that came out from the sun were hidden among his wrinkles. From above Annabeth could see the resemblance he had to Poseidon, both with black hair and brown skin, and both with the same wrinkles next to their eyes that appeared when they smiled.

"You're cute when you worry." Percy held up a finger, putting it in the same place Annabeth had put it two years ago, between her eyebrows. "With your brows furrowed."

Annabeth whimpered and lunged toward the boy, hugging his shoulders and neck. Annabeth could hear the boy giggling as he hugged her back. Raising her head, through the tears she only recognized those green eyes that had haunted her for years and without thinking twice she kissed him.

[stephrodca-blog]

Portrait of a Lady on Fire interview with director and leading actresses, hosted by Patrick Fabre on Radio des Rues at the 2019 Angoulême Francophone Film Festival. Translation into English.

Patrick Fabre: PF

Céline Sciamma: CS

Adèle Haenel: AH

Noémie Merlant: NM

Translated by Steph RodCa

PF: We are here on the radio of the festival, and I‘m really intimidated, which doesn't happen very often, because I am with the director and the leading actresses of a film that has left me speechless, overwhelmed, thrilled. The only thing that I could think of when i saw it was: This is a masterpiece. I'm talking about Celine Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire. I'm joined by Celine Sciamma, Adèle Haenel, and Noémie Merlant. I am really happy to have you here. How are you?

CS, AH, NM: Pretty good, thank you.

PF: Was it a difficult night? Did the film screening start a little bit late? Or did everything turn out well?

CS: I think everything turned out well.

PF: Yeah, i've been told that. Spectators said that.

CS: I believe them

PF: I'm happy for you. Is this your first time at the festival?

CS: It is my second one

PF: The first time you presented…

CS: Girlhood 

PF: The film was in competition, right?

CS: No, I  don’t think so

PF: What is your opinion of the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival? Because everybody says is a key-event, is a must-go, you were at the Cannes Film Festival where things went well for you, so do you agree that this is a key-step?

CS: Well, it’s a key-step because we are in front of another kind of audience, a sort of “real audience”, even if I don’t know quite well what a real audience means

PF: An audience barely composed of professionals, that’s the rumors… Adèle is not completely sure of that definition

AH: I have nothing to say on that matter. Indeed, i think it is amazing there is an audience that is less related to the film industry. It’s the townspeople who come, so it’s amazing.

PF: Exactly. So, is it important to have this feedback?

CS: Of course, on the road to film release we get closer and closer to real audience so we are happy to be closer and closer to them.

PF: Both of you Adèle and Noémie, do you think likewise? Is it important to meet the audience, to have this feedback?

AH: Yes, it’s very important. It is a part of our job that may seem laborious sometimes but in fact it’s extremely important because we make films in the hope of communicating ideas, for the love of beauty, for the love of art. And this is not a one-way process, we are not the only ones who go and meet the audience, the people themselves come and meet us. So let’s say it’s the second heart of our job. 

PF: What about you Noémie? Because you have already been to the festival as well. I remember that I hosted a screening of Heaven will wait, you were very moved. So, do you agree that it is important to meet the audience, to discover the film with them?

NM: Well, yeah, it is extremely important. I think we all make films to share something, a work, an experience. And yeah, I clearly remember what it’s like to meet them, to share the end of a film, to see their questions, their reactions, or just their strong words, it’s very significant.

PF: So, in the film Noémie is a young painter, Marianne, who is commissioned to make Héloïse’s portrait in order to send it to her future husband in Milan. Héloïse is played by Adèle Haenel. The story is set in 1770. It was you, Céline Sciamma, who wrote the screenplay. You were awarded the Best Screenplay at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. You went from a girlhood to another girlhood just some centuries earlier, and yet the film is extremely modern. How do you get to make a modern period film? Was that your intention?

CS: Yes, I wanted to make the subject as contemporary as possible, each one of my films has been ruled by this intention. So the time period may be ancient but the subject itself is contemporary. It seems to me that it is the same kind of energy that is present in all films, in character incarnation. To me, the significant difference is not so much the time period or even the film genre but rather adulthood, the fact of telling a past love story, and the desire to work with actresses in this business. I think that’s more what I try to do.

PF: Where did this story idea come from?

CS: From my mind. [Laughs]

PF: Which is apparently a good place

CS: Well, period films are quite particular. In general they are subject to the adaptation of a work or a historical event , which is the starting point. So there was this desire to tell an original story that had not been told yet, so it was rather wise to invent it. Then, there is the pleasure of proposing a completely new fiction, that also makes the film contemporary, by not making comments about the voices of the past, but instead by inventing them. Also, by telling the long continuity of the bodies, the hearts, the desires, even if the contexts are different, at the same time, there is a common ground because it’s a time period where progress seems linear, especially the progress concerning women, but this is not at all the case, the destiny of women and their place in the world are still adjustment variables. It was a time where there was some freedom and many women had a career but then there was a backlash and they were erased. Then, in the nineteenth century, the notion of bourgeoise women was introduced. We are going through a blossoming moment of a certain culture, a feminist counterculture that has shaped the world order, so I think this is an important  moment, it’s a great moment to be alive. However,you know, you feel the violence, the backlash. Last night, there was an event around femicide, 94 women have been killed this year (in France), the numbers are increasing, it’s a higher rate compared with the same period last year. I think that constitutes a sort of backlash too. 

PF: Definitely. As regards to acting in costume, at the beginning of the film we see Marianne arriving by boat to the island, there is a wooden box that fall off the boat, we don’t know yet what’s on the inside. It looks like it’s super important for your character, Noémie, and you jump into the sea wearing this dress and I was like, no way, she’s going to sink, she’s going to die. [Laughs] In that moment, do you bring out the importance of the costume?

NM: Yeah, totally. We talked about it before

CS: A lot

NM: For days and even weeks

AH: The costume was very stressful

NM: Because I don’t know what the dry weight of the dress is, several kilos ?

CS: It’s heavy

NM: Once wet, go figure! But you can do it, we did it. We also had a woman helping us, diving, but I was in the water, I swam wearing that dress and I did it. I had small buoys on the dress.

PF: For safety reasons. And it’s crazy, there are gestures in this film related to the costume that I’ve never seen before in a period film. For example, getting dressed and undressed, you observe a more practical aspect, you see the cords…

NM: The pockets, yeah.

PF: Adèle, you’re not convinced, you experienced that in a different way, didn’t you? Am i wrong and it’s not as easy as it seems?

AH: No, I mean it has to do more with the social function of people. Since we are talking about someone from nobility, it’s an object par excellence, you could say that. In this case, lacing a corset-back dress, getting dressed yourself becomes impossible. So we cannot say that independence is encouraged.

PF: Of course. But i was thinking of those petticoats

AH: Indeed. But, I don’t know, I’m not an expert on that, but based on the function of women there had to be a relatively high practical level. I think, all in all, servants were able to dress themselves, they didn’t need the help of anyone.

PF: Yesterday, I was telling Céline there is a shot in the film that overwhelms me, it’s a very simple shot, you see these three women in the kitchen. The third woman, it must be said, is played by Luàna Bajrami and she is the young maid. At a certain point, they’re left alone, the fiancée’s mother, played marvelously by Valeria Golino, is gone. You see them in the kitchen, the maid is doing embroidery, this activity is rather reserved for a noble or bourgeois person, someone having this social status, Noémie’s character is in the middle, and yours (Adèle’s) is cooking. So, there is a social role reversal. I found it a magnificent shot, it tells a lot of things without words, without dialogues. How did you come up with this? Was it something that appeared on the set or was it already written? 

CS: I think films are made based on pivot scenes, scenes providing us with foundations and courage. Therefore, this image was one of these, it was one of the most precious images in the film. Besides, it’s a sequence-shot where there is a choreography between the three characters, you see Sophie doing embroidery, then there is Marianne who enters and serves a glass of wine, you see, women drink, women smoke, and then there is an aristocrat, Héloïse, cooking. So what’s interesting in this shot is not only the generation of a pleasure for spectators, this carnavalesque pleasure derived from this role reversal, but also a pleasure for the three women. I mean, the aristocrat is not cooking just because the roles have been reversed but because she enjoys it, it’s the jubilation of Adèle’s character and Adèle, she’s a part of the image’s composition, the pleasure, the incarnation, the joy, the opportunity, the meaning of having the opportunity to change places.

PF: Another strong moment is that when Adèle’s character says: “Let’s paint!”. To be represented in a reality becomes really important in this part of the film. What was your experience like in that scene?

AH: I don’t see it very different from the whole film. It’s pretty much what Céline has talked about. There is something political when we go into action but also something extremely joyful. We had essentially the same idea with Céline, we were going in the same direction, in terms of jubilation. To me, this scene is the result of connected minds, it’s not a dominant mind offering its world vision but it’s several minds stimulating each other, several sensitivities in connection and even if they remain single entities they have a decoupled strength.

PF: Group strength?

AH: Friendship strength, i would say.

PF: Is friendship strength what you need to make a good film? To be supported by a team you can trust? How important is to assemble a team before making a film?

CS: Yeah, of course. In this film there is, on the one hand, a great loyalty with my producer, with my mentor, with my music composer, even if music is sparingly used, with Adèle, and on the other hand, there is plenty of novelty, there is Noémie Merlant, cinematographer Claire Mathon. So it’s a mix of friends and meetings, as well as future friends. So I don’t believe friendship is necessary when making a good film, I think the film is similar to the way it was made and the set rules, the atmosphere, the feelings are reflected. Overall, I think if we make a romantic movie it’s okay to love each other.

PF: Noémie, this film surely means a lot to you because you are more in the spotlight, it’s one of the first films where you’re given a leading role, even if in Heaven will wait you had a leading role as well, it was kind of different since there were two parallel stories, it was hyperlink cinema, however in this one there are three characters. Besides, this film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival. Do all theses reasons make it even more meaningful to you? Or, they have nothing to do and it’s the story itself that really matters to you? 

NM: Well, it’s a mix of a lot of things, what you said but also meeting the team, meeting Céline, Adèle, was really important to me. The way Céline works. The story also shows a real vision shared intensively by Céline and Adèle. They provided me and they provide me with this vision. So, to me it’s extremely important as an artist, as an actress, and as a woman. I learned and I keep on learning several things thanks to this film, so it is extremely important because of this as well.

PF: I think we can all learn a lot of things thanks to this film and I strongly recommend that you watch it. It will be released on…

CS: September 18

PF: I strongly recommend that you go watch Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire on September 18. I’ll definitely go watch it on September 18 because I’m already missing it. Then, maybe I’ll get a “page 28” tattoo. [Laughs]

[ruakichan]

So I really like puzzle games, and I feel that touch screen controls are absolutely great for the genre. As such, the app store is chock full of them, but many are just ... not great or cluttered with ads.

I touted about The Room puzzle series (not that The Room!) on pf a long time ago, but I recently discovered a set of simple brainteaser games by developer Bart Bonte (link is for US/Gplay) and really enjoyed them, so I wanted to share them with you!

Each game is themed after colors, presenting 50 stages to you without context, and it’s up to you to figure out the gimmick of the stage and solve the puzzle.  Unfortunately there is no ‘colorblind’ option, I believe? So this can be a detriment to some people.

In the first picture, from the ‘pink’ game, the idea is to move the white block out of the maroon box, by moving around the pieces that spell the word ‘pink.’  In the second picture from ‘black’ game, the idea is to pull the switches to ‘turn off the light.’

The stages ramp up in difficulty, and sometimes an early stage will ease you into the gimmick that will show up in a more complicated fashion in a later stage. All while set to some pretty chill but snazzy music. (The pink version of the main theme goes full on 80s vaporwave lol.)

The games are free, with ads popping up when utilizing the hint feature for when you get stuck.  Most of the puzzles felt pretty intuitive, once you explored what is presented to you, although a few times I couldn’t figure out what the solution was and stumbled past the puzzle by complete trial and error.  The games are also ‘one and done;’ after you finish them, they can be uninstalled.  No live services here.

The dev has a few other games outside of the color sets; the words for a bird is a very, very short, cute game mixing wordplay and scrabble, while the Boo! one is a color and shape matching game that is a bit repetitive in long-play but nice to play a few stages when killing some time in queue or something.

If you know of any good puzzle games, send ‘em my way!

[humansoulsarg]

Garfield's A Tail of Two Kitties (Nintendo DS) Gameplay Solve (my life)

https://pangenttechnologies.tumblr.com/post/645193044465975296/

This post links to this video:

Garfield’s A Tail of Two Kitties (Nintendo DS) Gameplay https://youtu.be/DDduDhxHkvc

from the description:

It’s Garfield, jumping around in the big city (London), and collecting food, in this boring platformer for the DS. Platforming is pretty much all you’ll be doing here. All platforms, all the time!

So watching the surprisingly agile Garfield jump from platform to platform in the video, it wasn’t immediately obvious where the come-to-be-expected ‘hidden content’ was to be found. But eventually slowing down the video around when the letter was read around 33 seconds in, revealed a cipher:

Giai Vaelmrev, K rwgdl yamm px sctqmf dfc fd x bjaceq lvarvz vz ka cslepm vg ayvil viljq. Miljk avpgvvpjn, Jifuiqlezs

This is the actual note:

Dear Garfield, I would like to invite you to a royal dinner in my castle in three hours. Yours sincerely. Prince

Using the actual note as a Vigenere key to the Ciphered note reveals:

Dear Pangents, C vimsi nsci wj kpyitb fri mp x kvcctn dinner in my castle in three hours. Yours sincerely, Sassenheim

So it seems the mayor has a coded message for us. Vigenering (is taht a word?) the ciphered line with key ‘argentina’ reveals a reduced alphabet string:

C vimsi nsci wj kpyitb fri mp x kvcctn

vig with 'argentina’ C ecifp ffci fd gcfagb fac ic e ciccch

A1-PF 3 5396F 6639 64 736172 613 93 5 393338 35 39 6F 66 39 64 73 61 72 61 39 35 39 33 38

hex: 59of9dsara95938

https://mediafire.com/?59of9dsara95938

Which is a ZIP archive titled 'unaltered images of garfield the cat’ containing two files:

RedAlgifA

RedAlgifB

At first the titles confused us, but it was eventually noted by Taurtini that they are anagrams of Garfield, just cleverly positioned to have GIF at the end. (even though they are PNG images).

They do indeed appear to be unaltered Garfield comics, so it took some thinking to figure out how they would work as a code, and it was discovered that the weekdays they were released on made an octal code, with the lone needed '0’ being indicated by the 'blank’ between the two images.

Mon-Sun = 1-7, blank = 0 06/20/1981  Sat 6 11/23/1981  Mon 1 11/02/1981  Mon 1 06/28/1981  Sun 7 10/27/1981  Tue 2 12/28/1981  Mon 1 09/24/1981  Thu 4 07/27/1981  Mon 1 05/04/1981  Mon 1 08/22/1981  Sat 6 03/23/1981  Mon 1 02/01/1982  Mon 1 02/19/1982  Fri 5 02/25/1982  Thu 4 02/22/1982  Mon 1 03/27/1982  Sat 6 03/17/1982  Wed 3 06/21/1982  Mon 1 06/18/1982  Fri 5 Blank       xxx 0 08/02/1982  Mon 1 08/20/1982  Fri 5 08/23/1982  Mon 1 09/06/1982  Mon 1 09/10/1982  Fri 5 09/16/1982  Thu 4 09/13/1982  Mon 1 10/01/1982  Fri 5 10/07/1982  Thu 4 10/11/1982  Mon 1 10/15/1982  Fri 5 10/10/1982  Sun 7 09/04/1982  Sat 6 07/03/1982  Sat 6 08/15/1982  Sun 7 11/15/1982  Mon 1 12/27/1982  Mon 1 09/18/1982  Sat 6 09/19/1982  Sun 7 08/25/1980  Mon 1 05/22/1982  Sat 6 04/23/1982  Fri 5

61 172 141 161 154 163 150 151 154 154 157 66 71 167 165 1zaqlshillo69wu https://mediafire.com/?1zaqlshillo69wu regeneration.zip -> regeneration.mp3

reversed, mixed up audio file with attributes: artist  : Orsi? title   : Generation Next album   : Pepsi Generation Next 1997 track   : 1, 19

Moo tackled this beast, and discovered the clips appeared to be from this song: https://youtu.be/S4RSgkSWOkA The "Generation Next" song is a Pepsi jingle which was recorded in somewhat different form by The Spice Girls as "Move Over (Generation Next)." The regeneration MP3 is strung together from those clips as follows (wow! Moo did some real work here, indeed!);

122 53 67 107 103 89 107 76 84 85 89 62 89 84 10 45 121 50 45 80 87 98 119 111 117 77 62 89 84 Yes, there’s a “10” in there…

z5CkgYkLTUY>YT -y2-PWbwouM>YT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5CkgYkLTUY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y2-PWbwouM

Two videos of Lottie, both titled 'my life’ (one in hex), shot from two angles as has been done before with other Lottie videos. This also confirms clearly that Rachel survived the car accident, contradicating Eric's testimony in "present." The transcript:

For what it’s worth, I lived  a long time. For Rachel. You’d be proud of her. She’s smarter than I  am. She did everything I wasn’t able to do. I married again, but there wasn't  a day where I didn’t think of Eric,   and Bill. The loves of my life. I was ninety when I felt myself dying. The last  thing I ever did was plug myself into the Cube.   I said, Eric, if you're  there, get ready. I’m coming.

[celticcrossanon]

Will Prince Harry Attend Remembrance Day? Draft, WIP

This is speculation only.

Practise spread - we will see how much I get written up.

Celtic Cross Spread

Spread drawn at  approximately 4.15am on the 15th of September GMT

Cards used: The Mythic Tarot (the cards are based on a version of Greco-Roman mythology; the descriptions are more the mixed, popular culture version of mythology than the original myths, so keep that in mind as you read the interpretations below)

All interpretations taken from the book that came with the cards

*

The Celtic Cross had 3 Major Arcanas out of 10 cards, so while this is significant for the BRF and will be played out on the world stage, it is not hugely significant for them (only 1/3 or so of the cards were major arcana). Of the remaining 7 cards, there were 3 Cups, 2 Swords, and 2 Wands. No Pentacles. So this is not about money, it is about family and emotions and being nurturing (Cups), long-term, strategic planning (Swords), and the image that is communicated to those outside the BRF (Wands). Repeated numbers were two Sixes, two Twos, and two Nines. I usually only consider repeated numbers if they repeat three or more times.

*

Bottom of the Deck - Overall Theme - Strength (Card 10)

This card shows Heracles wrestling with the Nemean Lion in a cave.

The lion can represent royalty, even at its most destructive, i.e. Harry. The lion is also the infantile, savage, and completely egocentric beginnings of individuality, i.e. Harry's attempts to 'find himself' as a person and all the damage these attempts have caused to others. The lion here is the Nemean Lion, which possessed a hide that no weapon could pierce, giving it a shield of invincibility, i.e. Harry's position in the Royal family. Here the Nemean Lion stands for a "Me First" drive that will happily destroy anyone and anything in its path, as long as its gratification is assured. One of the manifestations of this "Me First" drive is an furious, explosive, rage-driven tantrum when the person does not get their own way. Another is bombast and an inflated sense of self importance, making the person savage and unrelenting both towards the people on whom they are dependent (i.e. Harry and the BRF) and the people [who they see as] stealing their limelight (also harry and the BRF).

Heracles wresting with the lion shows the struggle we all face to subdue the lion's unbridled individualism and make it serve a higher purpose; the need to subdue our desires and care for others so that together we can form a caring and responsible community instead of being a collection of individuals running rampant and destroying each other in our need for instant gratification. It is considering the long-term consequences of our actions and putting other's needs before our desires. Courage, strength and self discipline are necessary to see the struggle through to a successful conclusion.

In this specific instance, the card shows the BRF (and their long tradition of service to their country) wresting with Harry's unbridled egomania. Do they include him as part of the family (and the BRF is all about family), or do they cut him off and show quite clearly that however loved as a brother, he is no longer a member of the Royal Family. Will they sucumb to his temper tantrums and unjust accusations, or will they hold firm for the good of "the Firm"? What damage will he do if he is allowed to attend? If they place limits on him, will he follow them (hint: No)? These are the questions the BRF is struggling with at the moment, and while the course of action may seem clear to an outsider, for them it is not yet decided.

*

Significator: The Moon (card 18)

This is where the situation is at this moment in time. 

The card shows the goddess Hecate, associated with the Moon, magic and the underworld. Hecate is an ancient goddess, as the BRF is an old regime. She is shown of the card with a cute-looking (not terrifying) Cerberus, who guards the entry to the Underworld, a domain associated with her and full of mystery, wisdom and hidden riches. To me this signifies that Prince Harry thinks that going back to the BRF (here represented by Hecate and the underworld) will be easy, as there is no monster guarding the way, only a cute dog (who will be expected to roll over and obey his commands). Hecate, shown here as an older woman (and usually shown as a very old woman, like the Queen) is looking to the past, the present and the future all at once, as the BRF must do in making this decision. As an impersonal image of the feminine, one of the rulers of the Underworld, she represents the Queen in her role as the ruler of Great Britian and some countries of the Commonwealth, a figure who cannot be the warm and loving grandmother that we know she is with Harry, but who rather must be the impersonal Ruler who puts the good of her country above all else.

In the bottom right hand corner of the card, supporting Cerberus and Hecate, is a crab. The crab is the sign of Cancer, and Cancer is the sun sign of Prince William. Prince William may very well be acting as the 'right hand man' pf the Queen during this decision making process. The unseen presence of the underworld in the background suggests the hidden presence of Prince Charles, a sun sign Scorpio, as Scorpio is the sign that rules the Underworld. Prince Charles may be working behind the scenes in this decision, absent in flesh but present in spirit. 

The road to Hecate's realm is the 'royal road' of dreams, and Prince Harry may well be hoping to either using his visible status as a royal (supported by an appearance at Remembrance Day) to fulfil his non-royal dreams, or to use his appearance at remembrance Day as a road back to his previous status as a taxpayer funded working Royal sometime in the future, or both together.

Hecate was associated with the crossroads, which suggests that this decision is a crossroads for the BRF - they have to choose a path and move forward on it, removing all other options. Hecate also had the power (according the to tarot book) of bestowing or withholding from a mortal any desired gift, and that is exactly the position that the BRF are in - do they bestow the desired gift of attendance upon Harry (and his wife), or do they withhold it?

So the BRF is facing a choice, a crossroads. There is confusion (heart versus head) and anxiety over this choice, and it has not yet been made. The Major Arcana card says that this is a major decision and one that will have a lasting impact on all involved.

* Crossing Card : Queen of Cups

This is the main obstacle in making the decision.

The card represents Helen, the woman who was married to one man (the King of Sparta), fell in love and ran away with another (the Prince of Troy), and thus instigated the Trojan Wars (during the course of which she took three more lovers). As a woman who created a crisis in the ruling family of her country by following her own selfish desires, the parallel to Meghan Markle is obvious. If you look at the woman on the card, she resembles Meghan Markle as she is today with her long black extensions. As well as creating trouble wherever she goes (as Helen of Troy did), Meghan Markle has also run away with a prince of the BRF (a neat inversion of Prince Paris running away with Helen). My feeling is that the obstacle is not so much Meghan Markle herself, but rather her effect on Prince Harry, the loved grandson of the Queen and prince of the BRF.

The Queen of Cups can be seen as a woman who is a catalyst for the emergence of deep feelings and fantasies that have previously been hidden from awareness, and there is no doubt that in his association with Meghan Markle, the public have become aware of Prince Harry's rage and contempt for both the BRF and his position within it, something that was previously skillfully hidden by the 'Hero Harry" and "Harry the lad" PR. This emergence in the public eye of the 'real' Prince Harry is also part of the obstacle the BRF faces in making this decision.

Another meaning of the Queen of Cups is a loving and nurturing woman. As such, the card can be taken to represent Princess Diana. From this perspective, the obstacle is not Meghan Markle herself but rather  her unsuccessful attempts to push herself onto the public as Princess Diana 2.0, with her constant cries of "racism" and her accusations of the BRF as "unsupportive", "mean", and "treating her like they did Princess Diana". While easily disproven in themselves, these statements gain traction when they are supported by Prince Harry, either by his actions, his own statements against the BRF, or his silence.

Prince Harry is considered by most to be under the thumb of Meghan Markle. He supports her behaviour in tearing down his family and appears to be transforming into a woke male version of herself. Prince Harry is known to have mental issues, and as the nurturing, caring force represented by the Queen of Cups the BRF may hesitate to do anything that could worsen hos mental state. Unfortunately, this leaves them open to emotional blackmail by Prince Harry (the negative side of the Queen of Cups), as he will not hesitate to use the "Princess Diana Card" and remind everyone of the trauma he suffered as a child to get his own way (the fact that Prince William suffered the same trauma while also a child does not seem to occur to anyone).

The crossing card is a Minor Arcana card, so while the obstacles are being considered carefully by the BRF, they are not a huge problem, as would be the case if a Major Arcana card appeared in this position. The Minor Arcana card shows something that is a nusiance but that also is a problem that is  definitely manageable/surmountable.

* Crowning Card and Base of the Matter Card: Ace of Wands and Six of Swords

This is where I made a mistake in the spread. 

When I drew the cards, I drew the Ace of Wands as the third card and put it in the Crowing Card position, and then I drew the Six of Swords as the fourth card and put it in the Base of the Matter position.  However, before I started this spread, I formed the intention of doing the spread as it appeared in the accompanying book, and that book spread has the third card as the Base of the Matter and the fourth card as the Crowning Card.

I put the cards in the wrong positions. Bollocks.

Rather than choosing between my intention to follow the book spread or my instinct in putting down the cards, I have decided to honour both and read both cards together as both the Crowning Card and the Base of the Matter Card (next time I will double check the spread before I draw the cards).

Card 3: the Ace of Wands 

Due to certain life events, the Ace of Wands is strongly linked in my mind with the male, um, 'manhood', and that phallic imagery immediately suggests that someone here is being "led by their dick", that someone being Prince Harry (apparently Prince Charles referred to it as being 'cunt-struck'). This association is strengthened by the card showing a male wearing a crown and holding the world in one hand while the other holds a thick wand emitting flames (the phallic imagery of the wand is obvious and I won't detail it here). The crown and the world can be taken as showing Harry's previous status as a royal prince, where the world was his oyster (more or less).  

The image on the card is the god Zeus, who is famous (or infamous) for not being able to keep it in his pants, and thus reinforces the "led by his dick" meaning. 

The Ace of Wands as a card symbolises the creative power of the imagination, the impulse that makes us restless and dissatisfied until we formulate and manifest it in the world (successfully or not). It is important to note that here the idea has not been thought through and formulated; it is simply a dissatisfaction, a feeling that things could be different. I believe that it was this feeling of dissatisfaction that led to Prince Harry leaving the BRF. He could have looked for ways to improve his role/position/life within the BRF. Instead he chose to leave when his wife did and, together with her, to pursue another future outside the BRF. 

The Ace of Wands, like all aces, also indicates something new. This indicates that this situation is something new for the BRF - never before has a blood royal left Great Britian to live as a minor celebrity n Hollywood. As with all new situations, they may be uncertain as to what is the best response, especially as we now live in an age of instant social media (and not the previous time of newspaper media, which was slower and could be controlled by the BRF).

Card 4: the Six of Swords 

Here we have Orestes, the doomed hero, travelling to Argos to fulfil his terrible duty to murder his mother. He is travelling through rough water, although calmer weather lies ahead. This figure again has echoes of Prince Harry, whose mother died when he was young, and who has left the country of his birth to travel overseas and make his home in another land. This is the Prince Harry who is no longer a working royal and who has left the BRF for the life of a wanna-be celebrity in Los Angeles. Orestes's future murder of his mother could show Prince Harry's future 'murder' by overexposure of his mother's image via documentary, after dinner speeches, and Netflix musical, as well as his constant use of the "Princess Diana Card". For both Orestes and Prince Harry, this journey appears to be one-way; both have left with no intention of returning to their former place of residence.

Orestes was born in Argos, banished to Phocis, and returned to Argos to avenge his father by murdering his mother. Harry was born in Great Britain, willingly left for a life in Los Angeles (and there are articles saying how unhappy he is there and how he feels in 'exile'), and now  he is trying to return home - to resume his role in the BRF, or like Orestes, to 'murder his mother' by trying to complete the destruction of the public image of the BRF who bore, raised and nurtured him? Both interpretations are possible, and indeed by doing the first the BRF may achieve the second. Popular opinion seems to be that the UK public are very glad to be rid of Prince Harry and his wife, and they do not want them to return - ever. These sentiments and the possibilities of what Prince Harry will do in Los Angeles are things to be considered in making the decision whether to extend him an invitation or not.

The Six of Swords in general shows a time of moving on, a time when clear thoughts, understanding and logic will ease a difficult situation and propel you into smoother waters. Sentiment and emotions (cups) play no part in this process, it is all duty and an acceptance of your obligations. This, then, appears to be the path of the BRF - to decide with the mind and not with the heart.

Together 

As the Crowning Card, these two cards show the situation as it appears to others - Prince Harry being led by his dick to leave the BRF and create a future for himself in another country as a minor celebrity.

As the Base of the Matter, these two cards show other motivations - Prince Harry being prompted to leave by dissatisfaction with his life as well as sexual desire, the idea of having him invited to remembrance Day bringing with it the danger of destroying the reputation of the BRF, the fears of what exactly he will do in Los Angeles if he is - or is not invited, and above all the necessity for clear, logical thought without sentiment to find a path through this situation.

*

Past Influences: Justice (card 8)

This is what has influenced the situation in the past. The situation is moving away from it.

The Justice card shows the goddess Athena, seated on her throne, holding the sword and scales of justice. Athena sprung fully formed from the head of Zeus, so this Justice is impersonal, abstract, a thing of thought and not passions. This is further emphasised by the armour worn by the goddess. Her chest and her back are encased in steel, stiffening her spine and enclosing/locking away her heart, the seat of emotions. It is like the judgement handed down in a court case is supposed to be - the situation is weighed against the law and, if found wanting, a punishment prescribed by the law is delivered. There is no room for the passions or emotions in this sort of justice. Facts are all that matter.

The female goddess Athena represents the Queen, a powerful female who made the decisions in this matter. This impersonal, abstract, emotionless justice is how the Queen has dealt with this situation with Prince Harry in the past (to the best of her ability). She has considered the facts, weighed them in her mind, and delivered a consequence. The goddess is armoured and armed with a spear, and so the Queen has acted not out of personal pain but in defence of her institution (the BRF) and her realm.

As the goddess is sitting down, the consequences were more often passive than active; the result of Prince Harry's repeated actions rather than actions taken to forestall them. Like the scales the goddess holds in her hand, the Queen did her best to deliver consequences that she saw as balanced and fair (no matter how the rest of the world saw them). Athena is the goddess of strategy, and the Queen would have taken the strategic long view when deciding on the consequences for Prince Harry's actions. Justice is the card of Libra, and Libra aims for civilised harmony, so the Queen may have had that as a goal in making her decisions (for example, playing Happy Families and presenting aunited front to the world).

The fact that this is a past influence suggests that things are going to change. A new force will lie behind the actions of the BRF. Prince Harry may not be aware of this change. Justice is said to be blind, and he may go blindly forward, expecting everything to work out the same as it had in the past.

This is a Major Arcana card, so it was very important in the past for the treatment of Prince Harry to be seen as fair and unbiased by emotion. Whether this holds true for the future remains to be seen.

*

Future Influences: Nine of Wands

These are the influences on the situation that are going to appear in the immediate future. The situation is moving towards this.

The Nine of Wands shows the ship Argo just before it passes the final obstacle in its journey home, the Clashing Rocks, and comes into the safe harbour of the city of Argos. The sails of the ship are tattered and torn, for it has been through many difficulties on its voyage, and only one final obstacle remains between it and its goal. That obstacle is the Clashing Rocks, a pair of huge rocks that clashed together whenever a ship sailed between them, crushing the ship between them. The captain of the ship, Jason, acted on the advice from a crew member and released a dove between the rocks to see how fast the crew would have to row to escape them. The dove lost a few tail feathers, and by rowing at a similar speed, as fast as they could, the Argo passed between the rocks, losing only its stern ornament. After this defeat the rocks became motionless, facing each other across the sea.

For this card, the Argo represents both the BRF and Prince Harry. Both have been battered by the events of the past, and both want to come to a calm and stable future. Standing between them and this outcome is the Clashing Rocks, which represent the interests of the BRF on the one side and the desires of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on the other. A passage between the two needs to be negotiated without destroying either the BRF or Prince Harry. Then the rocks will freeze in place, the calm and stable future will be reached, and both parties will continue to hold the positions that are seen at this event. Otherwise, one or both party will be destroyed between the rocks of their conflicting goals.

Like the dove, both Prince Harry and/or the BRF might have to lose a few tail feathers to achieve this result. The compromises will not be significant in the overall scheme of things - the dove can still fly away and regrow its feathers; similarly both Prince Harry and the BRF will recover from whatever compromises they have to make to achieve this future.

The passage to this future will not be easy. The sea around the rocks is turbulent and the crew of the ship are exhausted. it is the same with the BRF and Prince Harry. They have both been on a long journey, and both are exhausted, and finally the end is in sight. Then one last hurdle appears. The obstacle may have been foreseen, as the crew of the Argo knew of the Clashing Rocks, or it may suddenly arise from the depths and stand before them. They must try again, one last time, to overcome this obstacle and finally reach their goal. 

The Nine of Wands represents one last burst of energy that comes from the willingness to try again, one last time, even though you are exhausted, when a final obstacle arises and stands between you and your goals. That willingness to try will bring forth fresh energy and new ideas. It is this last burst that can carry both Prince Harry and the BRF through the rocks and through any compromises into the safe harbour beyond, their positions set for the future. The alternative is for one or both parties to be destroyed. Blindly rushing ahead, refusing to take the time to observe and plan and take advice, will result in the person being crushed between the rocks and drowning. Only by planning and taking advice, as Jason did when he released the dove and calculated the rowing speed required, will a safe passage be assured. 

The member who advised Jason to release the dove was Phineus, a King rescued from his torments by two of the crew of the Argo during their long journey, and who then joined the crew on their quest. Perhaps someone in a similar position may offer wise advice to the BRF and/or Prince Harry.

Wands can represent PR (creativity, ideas). It is very likely that this final obstacle (future influence) will either be in itself or will come from PR pieces designed to stir up the emotions of the general public (emotions are water and the ship is sailing through a turbulent/stirred up sea). As the PR from the Harkle camp has already shown itself capable of being extremely nasty, I expect either something even nastier from them that completely crosses one or more lines, or for Meghan Markle to turn on Prince Harry and tear him to pieces. The current trend of the Harkle PR can go either way.

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Where One Finds Oneself: Judgement (card 20)

This is what will happen in the near future. The situation is moving towards this.

Here we see Hermes the Psychopomp, the traveller between two worlds, who brings messages to and from the Underworld, summons the dead to the Underworld, restores the dead to life, and who leads heroes out of the Underworld. 

When we die, it is said that our life passes before our eyes, and in we go the the abode of the dead, where we are judged for our deeds and delivered into peace or torment. This is where Prince Harry will find himself. Gone is the abstract justice of the past, now his actions will be judged with emotion, based on how they affect the BRF, and he will be punished or promoted accordingly.

If we look at the picture, we can see a land of glowing wheat fields at the top of the stairs. To me this is England, the Underworld is the life of exile in Hollywood, and Hermes is the messanger between the worlds, with a message  that has been or will be sent to Prince Harry. How Prince Harry responds will determine whether he is led out of the underworld and back to the wheat fields of England, or whether he is left to languish in the darkness of Hollywood. Hermes as a God often displays deceit and trickery, and here he could also represent not a message, but Prince Harry trying to lie and cheat his way back into his past privleges as a member of the BRF.

Whether or not Prince Harry returns to England, he faces a judgement. Should he be restored to some of his past privleges, should he be seen to be a member of the Windosr family but not the BRF (i.e. present in a minor role), or should he simply be excluded from all public events? This is not the cold, abstract, passive Justice of the past, but a Judgement that is active, as Hermes is upright and moving in this card, and a Judgement that is emotional, full of the hurt and pain that he has caused to others (to his family on a personal level, to the BRF as an institution, and to the British public whose taxes have supported him his entire life). This is a very different sort of "judge and jury" than in the past, and I don't think Prince Harry is aware of the change. He is represented here by the dead people, as he "died" by cutting himself off from the BRF. They are swathed in bandages that block their eyes, ears, and mouth, as Prince Harry is blind, deaf and dumb to the changes that await him in the BRF.

The Judgement card is the card of Pluto, the ruler of Scorpio, and Prince Charles is a sun-sign Scorpio. This suggests that Prince Charles is going to move from a force in the background to a major player, front and centre (as Hermes is in the card) in the decision about whether Prince Harry is invited to Remembrance Day or not, and if so in what capacity. Scorpio is a water sign, and water signs are very emotional, so this judgement of Prince Harry's worth as a member of  the BRF is going to be based on an emotional response to all his past actions, the good and the bad, the ones Prince Harry accepts as his and the ones where he places the blame upon others . The Judgement card is a Major Arcana card, which says that the judgement on his position is a major event and it will be seen on the world stage. 

The Judgement card also shows the personal process in which Prince Harry will find himself in the near future. He will face the consequences of all his actions, both those he admits to and those where he has avoided responsibility. All of those actions will be called to account, not just on a world stage but also on a personal stage, and Prince Harry will be confronted with the realisation of what he has done and how it has created his future (whether he accepts his part in this or chooses to play the eternal victim is another matter entirely). The  Judgement card signifies the end of a chapter in his life. Whether the next part is sweet or bitter, as part of the BRF or alone in Hollywood, will be the result of all his actions, past and present.

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Views of Others: Two of Cups

This is how friend s and family see the situation.

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Hopes and Fears: Six of Cups

This is what the people involved hope for and fear from the situation.

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Final Outcome: Page of Swords

If no energy shifts, this will be the outcome of the situation.

Clarifiers: Queen of Swords, Seven of Pentacles

I pulled two clarifying cards to help me understand the outcome.

Queen of Swords

Seven of Pentacles

*

[i-can-summon-yams]

May I present, a Percy Jackson marching band au:

Overall: their high school marching band is slowly dying out because of loss of interest and lack of school funding, but everyone still involved is ride-or-doe for the band, and they’re doing their best to save it

Reyna: drum major, AKA the conductor and first in command- able to be in charge with strong order and tradition without having to constanly be in life-and-death situations, she’s a lot more relaxed than in canon but still ready to throw hands at times, no one has demigod powers in this au but Reyna still has the ability to rally a crowd and push people through 12 hour practices in summer.

Nico: the only flute player not severely injured, he’s covering for the entire woodwind section because all of them keep getting hospitalized for various unrelated reasons, half the band is convinced it’s cursed, Nico has had to cover for three different solos last-minute, he has every single person’s part in the show memorized and because of it people are pretty convinced that he’ll be drum major his senior year.

Hazel: guard captain, she’s an amazing dancer and has an eye for visuals, she’s in charge of overseeing flag design and prop creation, everyone outside of guard thinks she’s the purest and calmest being alive but she threatens to murder her fellow guard members for not following proper safety precautions with their saber choreography, also she’s terifyingly skilled with saber and rifle moves, and even flags can be scary if you know how to weild them.

Frank: trumpet section leader. He was thrown into command of the section when Reyna became the drum major instead of staying on trumpet (she was trumpet leader sophomore and junior year), and he’s doing his best to live up to her legacy of amazing leadership. Jason helps him remember all the traditions he’s supposed to do and all of his section thinks he’s great, but he’s internally panicking constantly.

Leo: low brass “section leader” the air quites are because he’s literally the only tuba and also the entire low brass section. He holds his own low brass section meetings and insists that he’s one of the band’s leaders, and makes a lot pf jokes about “sorry everyone in my section is an idiot, I’ll need to work with them later”

Piper: front ensemble section leader and assistant drum major. The band has a tradition where the assistant drum major is always a junior so that they can get a year of training in before taking over the band as drum major next year. On top of playing mallets and cymbals and taking charge of all the xylophones, bells, keyboard, etc., she also meets up with Reyna after every rehearsal so she can learn to conduct the show and lead the band if Reyna’s ever gone (Reyna’s literally never gone though, she’d find a way to show up if she was in a coma). Piper’s very respected as a leader now, even if it’s technically her first year (she transferred schools and joined this band at the last month of sophomore year but quickly proved herself) even if at first people thought that she was too girly to be a percussionist. She’s the type of leader who’ll be on laying on the floor, absently scrolling through snapchat while eating doritos five minutes before rehearsal starts, but the second that time clocks on she’s ready to death glare anyone not paying 100% attention to rehearsal.

Jason: band council vice president and trumpet player. Just like woth drum majors, the president in training is a junior who assists the current president until their senior year. The Drum major is in charge of keeping the band organized and looking good, the president is in charge of everything else. Jason specifically is making plans to bring the band back up by working with cheerleaders at football games and making spirit events, and he’s somehow managed to become known by the entire school in the process. He’s also the most laid back of the leaders, encouraging everyone to relax when practices get tense.

Annabeth: band council president (she’s the one in charge of Jason) and saxophone player. She manages to prganize every competition in minute details, figure out how many rehearsals the band can have without breaking, and meets with the adults of the band to struggle with the budget. She’s also an incredibly talented saxophone player and has perfect pitch, and will regularly call out things like “it’s B natural not B flat” to random practicing band members despite never having heard the song they’re playing before. She’s always right.

Percy: battery (AKA drum) section leader. He’s technically third in command of the entire band if both Reyna and Piper are out of commision, although that would never happens, but he still meets with them and knows how to conduct the show just in case. He has a reputation as a jokster, but he’s incredible at keeping time, and when the band gets off beat everyone implicitly trusts his tempo. He’s always willing to stay after rehearsal to help others refine their marching technique, he’s memorized every band members names and works to give as many compliments as possible, and while he’s harsh with drum sectionals, he keeps it lighthearted by making up rediculous memory cues for drill, writing ‘songs’ out of rhythyms to make them more memorable, and once let all the drummers throw pie at his face as a reward for an extra amazing rehearsal

[kicksaddictny]

Video: STAYME7O Propel SS21 “A BLACK FUTURE”

Carmelo Anthony presented the inaugural collection of the STAYME7O PROPEL Program, titled PROPEL SS21 “A BLACK FUTURE,” via a hyper-real 3-D digital show during New York Fashion Week. Anthony collaborated with emerging and established Black design groups including Barriers Worldwide, DIEM, The Brooklyn Circus, Demestik, Ghetto Gastro, TIER & Shakira Jovanni to create a piece of clothing that honors their shared vision of the Black movement.

Derived from Anthony’s passion for sartorial creativity and his desire to honor the Black creative community, the STAYME7O PROPEL Program reimagines the cultural landscape and creative spaces where diversity has been underserved, starting within the fashion industry. This unique platform will focus on the movement for Black independence, freedom of expression and how Black creativity always has, and continues to, move and change the world around us. This initiative champions not just emerging fashion talent but honors a vision of Black excellence that inspires a culture to create and move further, together. Throughout the design process for the PROPEL SS21 collection, the seven designers considered their visions for a Black Future and what it meant to them. Throughout history, Black people have suffered and continue to suffer discrimination and systemic oppression. At a time of unquestionable change, collective communities must intentionally reflect and unapologetically reawaken the civil rights movement to create transformation and opportunities that for so long were withheld or denied to the Black community. Anthony’s goal for the STAYME7O PROPEL Program is to amplify the historically marginalized and underrepresented voices to address their own message and carve the future they, themselves, plan to progress. The STAYME7O PROPEL SS21 collection featured in ‘A Black Future’ is now available for pre-order at www.stayme7o.com.

TIER TIER is a New York City based Creative and Fashion brand founded by Brooklyn-natives Nigeria Ealey, Esaie Jean-Simon and Victor James. Tier believes that “Art Never Dies”. What’s most important is the impact you leave on Earth; your impact is your art. What will you be known for? What did you accomplish? What change have you made? Tier’s sole purpose is to scale this impact by fusing design and culture with the lifestyle of everyday wear. It is important for us to share our stories and inspirations through our garments as a collective and as individuals. We design to create memorable moments and challenge artistic interpretation. When it comes to fashion, comfort is our standard while implementing functional and future-forward thinking.

Ghetto Gastro Jon Gray, Pierre Serrao and Lester Walker are the Bronx-born creative collective known as Ghetto Gastro, defining their own lane that transcends food, art, music, fashion, and design. The Bronx is part of the team's lifeblood, and every piece of the Ghetto Gastro universe is meant to uplift and celebrate the borough, and other places like it, as an unsung driver of global culture. Since inception in 2012, the collective’s work to explore global food traditions through the lens of the African diaspora has led to its masterminding events for fashion designers, artists, entrepreneurs, musicians, and organizations, including Virgil Abloh, Rick Owens, Naomi Campbell, the Serpentine Galleries, the Museum of Modern Art, and many more. After nearly a decade of breaking down boundaries between cultures and cuisines, Ghetto Gastro is making 2020 a marquee year— releasing a custom line of kitchen appliances, seasonings, and kitchenware, producing a forthcoming television series, and continuing to bring The Bronx to the world and the world to The Bronx.

Shakira Jovanni Shakira Jackson, founder and designer of Shakira Javonni, was born and raised in Queens, New York. Drawing inspiration from her immediate environment and “people watching,” Shakira is known for demonstrating her sartorial individuality by utilizing her creative foundation of garment construction, pattern-making, tailoring and most recently chainstitch embroidery. Her belief in sustainability has become central to her creative process. “With fashion being the second most polluting industry on Earth, I hope to impact the footprint any way possible”. By utilizing already existing garments over buying new garments she was able to vastly reduce the amount of waste from her process. Second to sustainability Shakira Jackson draws on the notion of artistic discovery. By merging textures, and being malleable with fit, she is able to make bespoke one of one garments that encourage personal style and individuality. Heavily committed to embracing and celebrating the culture, she desires to make an impact by continuing to create pieces that empower the Black imagination, the freedom of self-expression all while supporting greater unity within the community.

The Brooklyn Circus Ouigi Theodore, Creative Director, cultural connector & lead curator of The Brooklyn Circus has cultivated a unique style that has garnered recognition not only among the fashion pundits of New York, but also from streetwise fans across the world. He has established himself as a trend forecaster for advertising and marketing agencies looking to get an edge in the fashion market and consulted on campaigns for the likes of Hennessy/LVMH, Toyota, Casio G-Shock, American Express, PF Flyers, Liberty Fairs, ENVSN FEST, New Balance, Reebok, Deutsch Advertising, Sennheiser Audio. As founder of The Brooklyn Circus, he looks to tell the story of style throughout American history and to emphasize the power of presentation. In doing so, BKc wants to change the way Americans dress, one iconic silhouette at a time through the 100-Year Plan.

DEMESTIK Reuben Reuel is the Designer and Creative Director of DEMESTIK. A native of Virginia Beach, VA with ancestry from West Africa, his designs take inspiration from the past, present, and future to create a universal language all its own.Through a timeless-first focus, he pulls inspiration from his own cultural experiences and imagination merged with places unknown. His versatile and effortlessly chic designs encourage audiences to discover the truth of self-love and happiness; garments that lift your confidence and welcome grace from both yourself and the real world. Reuben Reuel believes how you feel in this life is significant. Define the feeling and design your life with DEMESTIK. 

DIEM DIEM Is a lifestyle brand that embodies the phrase “Does It Even Matter. The phrase is the pulse of the brand’s attitude which exudes a sense of assurance, justification of one's lifestyle and the individual's daily approach to life. Inspired by the cultural expressions and innovation present in Flatbush, Brooklyn— Michael Nicholas fuses his passion for design with his cultural history, using streetwear as a vehicle for tangible educational messaging. The brand’s core belief, aligned with their mission to empower through storytelling, is a continual investment in community and conversation. Nicholas resurfaces images of timeless, legendary figures such as Arthur Ashe and Peter Toshe, with heavily-scaled messaged campaigns that act as a call-to-action to those wearing the garments and for those who witness at a distance. These projects have led to further collaborations with Okay Player, Fabolous, Dreamville, Bleacher Report, and Fila. Mike with his wife and business partner Nicole, look forward to further innovating and expanding the potential of streetwear as a way of positively impacting a community with accessible, visceral word and image.

Barriers Worldwide Hailing from Valley Stream, NY— Steven Barter, pulls inspiration from almost every facet of his life. Examining the history of the African-American community is his primary draw, but he also attributes Barriers growth to his continual exploration of lesser known cultural revolutionaries and moments of change. Additionally, Barriers pulls from our zeitgeist’s nostalgia — from comics and cinema, to sneakers and toys. An unshakable drive has fueled his personal and professional growth, allowing Barter to refine his craft that has translated into his work for his brand, Barriers Worldwide. His design philosophy evolves as he ‘learns on the daily’ via his collaborators and their energy - as he channels it to help him evolve the future of the brand. In doing so, he hopes Barriers continues to inspire, energize, inform and grow as a creative hub for kids of all races.