#I thought he recognized Roman as one of them lol

[goldlightsaber]

Kind of wild that like. Lawrence Yee hates Kendall but likes Roman. Because Roman is no less of a jerk or a Roy than Kendall? So why does he like him. And then Lawrence meets up with Roman with his gay partner present. And then I was like. Ohhhh so Lawrence is aware that Roman is repressed, isn’t he. Have people talked about this?

[trippinsorrows]

I feel like this is another multiverse type question. But say Solana wasn’t in the situation she was in and Roman was very much so attracted to her as he is now. How do you think Roman would have approached her ?

this is such an interesting question!

hmmm.

under the read more cause this got longer than i intended lol

roman was bored, ready to go. functions were never his thing. he always attended out of obligation and necessity. never want. and considering he's been present for an hour, he more than feels he's done what he needed to do.

he pulls out his phone to text paul to have the car pulled for him, ready for his wise man to foolishly try to convince him to stay when a body collides into him.

soft is one of the first things to hit him followed by a sweet, vanilla almond scent that's more than pleasing to all of his senses. his arm naturally reaches to brace the person who collided with him, a person he right away knows is a woman, both by the soft curves of her body but also the fragrance.

"oh my god." the voice. so soft and sweet, almost too sugary, too angelic for such a function, full of the world's most dangerous people. such a stark contrast. "i'm so sor---"

she's silenced, and roman is momentarily taken back as the two of them lock gazes. beautiful, big brown eyes widened in alarm that's most likely due to her recognizing who he is. "mr. reigns...."

roman is partially paying attention to her words but mostly taking his sweet time taking all of her in. her face is absolutely stunning, and roman can tell it's not just because of the beautifully done makeup. he can see natural beauty beneath that. her hair is pulled up into a fancy updo, but her full lips snatch his focus before he rakes his eyes over her body, even curvier than he realized. cleavage on full display in her red dress that hugs her perfectly. she's a tiny little thing. a good foot shorter to him, but there's no denying it.

she's fucking stunning.

and she's still fucking apologizing. "i'm so sor---"

"it's fine." anyone else, and it wouldn't be. but there's something about this woman with the soft voice, light eyes, and alluring body that has him not as irritated as he normally would be. "it was an accident."

she nods, clearly nervous, when she looks over her shoulder, as if looking for something. or someone.

suddenly curious, he asks, "who are you--"

"oh no," she interrupts him, an unintentional thing, as she offers what looks like an apologetic look. she holds up the bottom of her red gown to move past him. however, roman finds himself moving his arm to bar her, holding her. he has to stop himself from thinking too much about the almost natural feeling he experiences in and with touching her.

"i---"

"there you are."

roman breaks his stare with the woman to see none other than ethan fucking page. he scoffs. no wonder she's running.

this bastard is insufferable.

page clears his throat and gives roman a nod. "mr. reigns, i apologize for the interruption." his gaze falls on the woman who almost moves closer to roman, practically holding onto him. it's obvious she's uncomfortable as hell. has to be for good reason too. "just need to speak to---"

"she's with me."

it comes out without much thought, both page and the unnamed woman looking at him with equal surprise.

page removes his glasses, looking at her, "solana?"

solana

unique. pretty. fitting.

she swallows. "i---" and just like that, she seems prepared to ruin this save roman has provided her, though he hasn't the slightest idea why he's giving her a save. yet, here he is.

"get lost, page." roman's tone shifts into something darker, something that's very reminiscent of the reason that he's easily the most feared man in the room. "i won't repeat myself."

i.e. get lost, or i'll snap your neck. an unspoken threat that's clearly understood, because page murmurs something that's probably an apology. and then he's gone, leaving roman alone yet again with this solana.

looking back at her, she gives him a small smile. roman is quickly realizing she's even prettier when she smiles. "thank you."

roman nods, asking, even though he doesn't know why, "what's the story?"

her smile drops into a frown that roman finds himself wanting to wipe off her face. "ethan....he doesn't know how to take 'no' for an answer." she shakes her head, scoffing quietly. "he shows up to my store at least once a week just to ask me out, even though the answer is always no."

"where do you work?" it's not that roman necessarily wants or even needs to know this piece of information, but there's a thought of breaking both page's knees and providing specifics when he does as such, such as the name of the place he's never to step foot in again, which could be....helpful.

roman is thankful when the smile returns, not as bright but still present. he'll take it. "i own a bookstore in town. nina's." his curiosity must be visible. "my mother's name. we share a love of books."

he makes a sound. everything he's learned in the less than twenty minutes he's known about this girl makes all the sense in the world. of course, her name is different, unlike any name for a woman he's heard of. of course, she has trouble fending off an asshole like page. and of course she likes books.

she clears her throat, finally breaking away. roman didn't even realize he was still holding her. "thank you again, mr. reigns."

"roman," he corrects. "call me roman."

she swallows, voice softening, "roman...."

he's not sure he's ever enjoyed hearing his name as much as he likes hearing it on her mouth. he'd love to hear it even more if she was screaming it, moaning it as he fucked her, kneading those beautiful, soft breast of hers.

fuck

"why are you looking at me like that?" she asks in that same sweet, almost innocent voice.

his eyes twinkle with mischief. "do you really need to ask?"

solana shifts bit, playing with her hands, hinting at some nervousness. "i'm not like that."

roman is almost certain he knows what she's saying, but he makes sure, regardless. "and what is that?"

her mouth shifts into a small smirk. "do you really need to ask?"

and for the first time tonight, roman smiles.

this girl is unlike any he's met before.

continuously intrigued, he asks, "what's your last name?"

she answers, "miller."

recognition dawns after a couple seconds for him. "xavier and nina...you're the daughter?"

he's always heard they had another child other than wesley, but he'd never seen her at one of these functions. didn't even realize it was a daughter.

a beautiful daughter at that.

she nods. "i don't typically attend these sorts of things."

"you should," he finds himself suggesting. roman isn't the biggest flirter, doesn't need to. women flock to him like moths to flame, but there's something about this woman... he steps closer to her, hand reaching out to run his finger along her cheek. "how else am i going to see you?"

she seems taken back, cheeks turning pink, but she takes him by surprise with her reply, "you could come see me."

his chuckle is dark and his tone suggestive. "oh, i don't think coming will be an issue."

and her cheeks deepen in color, as she announces, "i should go find my brother."

eyes falling to her chest, he asks, "should you?"

solana smiles and diverts her gaze, slightly disappointing him when she steps back. "goodbye, roman."

he stuffs his hands in the pockets of his custom suit pants. "not goodbye," he correct. "just goodnight."

because there's no doubt in roman reigns mind that this was the last time he'll ever see solana miller.

far from it.

[avoxrising]

The Feral One • Ch 27

Finnick x Y/N

Series Masterlist Link

Will you die? Will you live? Find out in this chapter lol

Content Warnings - mentions of drug addiction, surgery/injury

Johanna was hospitalized the day of your surgery after a nurse caught her stealing morphling from a supply station. Finnick was so worried about you that he didn’t notice how high she was the whole time she was with him. All he could focus on was you.

The brain surgery lasted six hours. Finnick silently cried outside your room the whole time, wishing he could be by your side during it. Mags and Annie found him distraught in the hallway a few hours in.

“Finn,” Annie sighs, sitting down next to her mentor. “She’ll be ok. Beetee is really smart.” Mags also sits and pulls Finnick’s head onto her lap.

“They won’t even let me see her,” he explains. “She’s completely alone in there.”

“You’ll see her soon,” Annie tells him.

“What do you want to do when we all go home?” she asks, changing the subject.

“I’m moving out,” Finnick states. “I can’t stand to be in victors village anymore. I never want to see that place again.”

“Mags and I can come with!” Annie exclaims. “Where are we moving to?”

Annie successful distracts Finnick for the remainder of your surgery. He only notices how much time has passed when Beetee approaches him, still in his scrubs.

“We were successful,” he states, causing Finnick to smile for the first time in ages.

“The doctors are going to keep her sedated for another week but as long as her vitals remain stable, you should be able to see her in a few days.”

“Will she still be feral?” Annie asks. Mags swats at Annie’s arm and mumbles how we aren’t supposed to use that word.

“We don’t know,” Beetee states. “We will have to wait and see.”

Your eyes slowly open, revealing a hospital room. What happened? The last thing you remember was being in the sewers…

OMG were you dead??? You begin to panic at the thought, causing one of the machines to start beeping.

“Hey,” you hear someone say but you can’t turn your head to look at them. Your body feels too heavy.

You attempt to respond but the only noise that comes out is a weak moan.

“You’re ok,” the voice says. “You’re in the hospital. You were injured in the sewers and had to have surgery.”

“Finn?” you groan, recognizing the voice.

“Yes love,” he responds. “I’m right here.”

A doctor enters the room and begins to unhook you from some of the machines.

“Welcome back Miss Y/L/N,” they state. “You’ve been out for three weeks. We can go over what happened with you later but for now you need to take it easy.”

The doctor takes some notes before leaving the room, stating that your vitals were good and you were healing perfectly.

“Finn,” you wheeze.

“Yes love?,” he worriedly asks. “Do you need anything?”

“It hurts,” you reply, still unable to move.

“You had two surgeries,” he explains. “You lost too much blood in the sewers and they had to perform surgery to heal your wounds. A week later they removed a mass they found in your brain. That was the timer Peeta talked about. They can’t give you any more morphling unfortunately.”

“Did we win?” you ask.

“Yes,” Finnick responds. “We’re free.”

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[tblsomedoodles]

Why the twins abandoned Draxum

Ok, i promised more Imaginary Friend content, and i am here to deliver!

this is a little more of the plot side of things rather than the shenanigans.

i'll put it under the cut since it's long. again.

Ok, so they sneak out to meet with Mikey and Raph for about three years before Draxum realizes what's going on. (or part of what's going on. He knows they have been sneaking out and the caretaker hasn't been doing his job properly, but he doesn't know they were sneakign out to meet, or even who they were meeting.)

Upon finding this out, the caretaker is fired and Draxum decides that, if they are competent enough to constantly leave the house on their own and come back fine, they are competent enough to be properly trained. This means they no longer have the opportunity to sneak out.

Mikey and Raph try to reach out to them via mind meld, but it's too far for a strong enough connection to communicate, not to mention the twins keep purposefully shutting them out. the twins figure that since they can no longer meet up with them, that It's better to cut themselves off completely now than continuing to long for a time, they believe, is gone.

It's two more years before they meet again, and it's on accident.

When Mayhem stole the emperium, Draxum sent the twins to fetch it, treating it as a test.

They're sent out to fetch the emperium, and, of course, run into Mikey and Raph (and April). It's very much a surprise, especially considering they're standing between them and their mission. They're careful not to hurt their siblings but do get Mayhem away Donnie sending Mikey a quick "do not follow us. it's dangerous" mind meld message before they nope on out through Leo's portal. a portal that both April and the soon-to-be imitation crab man go through before it closes.

They appear right in the middle of the lab so neither of the twins quite realize they have stowaways until it's too late. They recognize April as one of Mikey and Raph's friends and figure it's not a good idea for Draxum to realize she's there, so they hide her in a nearby closet before Draxum can notice, miming for her to stay quiet. once Draxum leaves again, Leo portals her back out of the building (he's aiming for topside but ends up just setting her down on their front porch for Mikey and Raph to find.)

Anyways! Mikey and Raph (and April) show up like canon, and, of course Draxum is seeing stars. It's the other two. He could have a full set once again! but they prove to be difficult to coerce into joining him, so he creates that vine monster to fight them (and test them while they're at it.) He sends Leo and Donnie after them as well, but they linger, choosing halfheartedly fight April rather than their brothers. That is, until Mikey ends up weaponless and the target of an attack that could hurt him.

Then the above happens. Donnie instinctively protects Mikey, which angers Draxum, which causes Leo to portal Donnie behind him so he's away from him, and, then they defect, choosing to get their brothers, April, and Mayhem out of the soon-to-explode lab rather than continue fighting.

but yeah, that's how they get away from Draxum. The power of little brother in peril lol.

(fun fact i'm just coming up with now (but have been thinking about) Draxum was super extra dramatic when he named the twins originally. He named them Thanatos and Somnus. though neither of them really acknowledge those names b/c they so rarely heard them growing up. Literally only Draxum used them. which is why when Mikey asked thier names, they just shrugged. Why is that Draxum beign extra, b/c those are the twin personifications of death and sleep respectively (though Somnus is technically the Roman name. but since Somnus's Greek name is Hypnos, i thought it would be too confusing.) also, according to Greek Mythology, Thanatos and Hypnos are the twin sons of Nyx (goddess of night) and Erebus (god of the dark). SO yes, Draxum was being dramatic AF and named a set of twins he was going to train to be ninja warriors, after the mythological twins born to night and darkness. and who also embody death and sleep. (this also gives me a good excuse to jokingly call the twins the Myth Twins, even though the aus staying named Mikey's imaginary Friends. lol))

[brotherwtf]

clegan time travel au? (kind of an extension to the night at the museum au)

John is a cowboy from the 1800s and Gale is a senator or diplomat or smth from the Roman Empire

John works on a ranch, a good old fashioned cowboy and is desperately bored with his life handling horses and tending the ranch

One day, a black mare is dumped on his ranch, and he's immediately taken by her. She's a stunning thing, sleek black coat and shiny mane and tail, and he immediately wants to take her on the trail

He decides to take her down to a mountain trail down south, and urges her to walk

They walk and walk, and John swears that the trail wasn't this far away. He's on a road he doesn't recognize, by a lake he's never seen before and he decides to get off the mare to look around

Insert hella homoerotic scene where Gale and John meet, Johns on his knees and Gale had a dagger pointed at him, maybe puts it under his chin and uses it to lift his chin up (grips chair)

They're both hella confused, John doesn't know what's happened and Gale doesn't know who John even is

Maybe John puts Gale on the black mare and starts walking north, and they end up back at John's ranch

Even more confused than ever, John forces Gale to sit in his Roman robes on Johns ranch while he tries to figure out what the hell happened

Now this could either be really silly or really tragic

Really silly would be they fall in love kinda fast, John realizes that the black mare allows them to move through time, and they just kinda goof throughout history, going wherever they please and just be in love, happy together

Or it could be just absolutely horrible and sad, they slowly fall in love on John's ranch, Gale still sometimes wearing his diplomatic robes to be more comfortable, and they spend the days telling each other about their respective time periods, Gale tells John about being a senator in the Roman empire and John tells Gale about the quiet life of being a rancher

Now when you try to play god and mess around with time, there's always consequences. Pretty soon time catches up to Gale and he starts to (literally) fade away. John notices when they're in bed together and can see the color of the sheets through Gale's hand

I want there to be a super angsty line before Gale finally disappears forever, smth like "I'll come find you, I'll always come find you" and maybe Gale saying "I'll always be with you, I wish I could stay with you

And John is left to grieve someone he wasn't sure ever existed, unable to tell anyone about his love and spending the rest of his life searching for Gale

WHAT IF GUYS: he finds the grave of Gale when he's old and grey, kneels before it and places the flowers he brought in the hopes of finding him on the headstone and just lays there, let's time pass until he, too, can join Gale

ooofff this ones got a little kick to it 🥹 this is a little disjointed but I thought it would be good for clegan lol. lmk what you guys think!

[transmutationisms]

I may not be able to articulate this as well as I want, but I’m curious abt your thoughts on something: obviously a big aspect of why roman is Like That is because of logan’s homophobia, and because he could never really be the kind of man logan wanted, but I guess I’m just trying to rectify that with that one tweet that’s like “in most shows if there’s a man who needs to be wooed they send the beautiful daughter but the roy’s always send roman.” obviously that tweet is a joke but I do think it’s true that logan is aware of roman’s ability to connect with other men like that and has used it to his advantage in the past. do you think on some level logan uses/exploits roman’s attraction to men for his gain? or is he just generally able to recognize roman’s ability to charm/disarm those kinds of business guys

oh yeah this is a great bit of logan psychology. he absolutely does know that roman is good with people and specifically with powerful men lol, he just has to call it something else because he can't process roman being gay in any serious way. like, in 4x02 when he tells roman he wants to send him to talk to matsson, the way he puts it is "you keep things light". which is like...... unintentionally the funniest way to avoid saying that your son flirts with men. like he is gay and a man liker who flirts with men and likes them. and logan's business strategy during the show relies on that for a not-insignificant portion of his important dealings, but he has to delude himself into thinking it's something else because he, like, would yerf if he thought about the possibility of one of his sons being For Real a homo on account of this would require him, logan, to think about Men's Bodies, which don't exist because men are rational creatures and bodies are disgusting. catholic icon.

[rulanarinrush]

incredibly random, baseless, probably wrong thoughts+questions about drdt. like, there's literally no evidence behind any of these thoughts. they're dumb. open to discussion bc i like hearing thoughts. as per usual i didn't rewatch anything bc i'm lazy</3 so if something is wrong sorry and also this is not a theory and also this is not a criticism of the series, if you can somehow think of this as one. also sorry if this is incredibly obvious or has been proven by the series already too lol

Also I went searching a bit to see if there's anything I remembered that's referenced here, but the only theoryposts that I can find that use ideas from them are from @/1moreff-creator (for color theory). if anyone else recognizes ideas that r similar here I in no way mean to plagiarize you and if you want credit or brought up these ideas already just lmk (Or if you want me to take this down that's fine too)

david mv baseless thoughts: color theory+roman numerials here, thank you to 1moreoff

could the "subtract 4 due to tetraphobia" be a reference to arturo's "mind exercises 1 2 3 4?" I think I've seen some thoughts swirling around the fandom that it refers to the roman numerals like Veronika's, Whit's, Arei's, etc., as in literally taking 4 out of them like Whit's XV-IV becomes XI Mai's, but maybe considering it's colored green like in Arturo's section, it's referring to him? What does this mean? i dunno. could it mean he only lives to chapter 3? or chapter 4? either Whit or Veronika is involved with him as either his killer or victim? Or Hu or Teruko are involved(if you buy into that color theory thing, which I wouldn't doubt, there's a lot of visual symbolism in this series.) Could be anything. Everything in this MV is interpretation until the (main) story progresses. probably wrong about this being important to Arturo too! wrong thoughts everywhere.

could J's "do it like that, let's live together" be a reference to her+her family literally living together?(as in, the line is literal with them) not elaborating cuz it's just a guess. i think some of the drdt side characters have colors in this mv too, since although the same colors show up many times, they are usually in different shades of the color. i think the only colors i remember with the same shade showing up a lot is a dark red and black.

what is going on with that broken clock stuck with a fork in it having approximately the same frozen time as Xander stabbing Teruko in like... was it episode 5?(read the clock as 15:31, or some time close to that idr) i think so. considering there's a fork-like object, that might have been the weapon used to play optometry simulator with Xander's eye. it's probably a bit more symbolic than at face value something something xanruko but. more guesses. eden immediately becomes suspicious but like ehhh. funny coincidences. i don't want to think about it, plus it's such an immediate connection that it's almost suspicious in and of itself.

k i think that's it for any weird(and wrong) thoughts on the mv

why did Teruko bump into Xander? i don't mean this in a super deep philosophical way, I just mean that logically, she bumped into his eye, meaning it was a (semi) head-on collision where their faces were both facing each other. It could be that Xander bumped into her head from behind but I'm really trying to envision that and it's not working. maybe i have rocks for brains :( but yeah it sort of implies that Xander was going back to the dorm rooms which... why tho? if she turned the corner and bumped into him, he would have to be going in the direction of the dorms(i think, unless there's some secret passage shenanigans going on). so like. did he already get that note to kill teruko and just sort of went back there to check for stragglers? forget something in his room, even though teruko proved they can't go back inside? if it's the former why didn't he just bare-hand teruko to death in the infirmary?(JOKE) this is another dumb question that honestly needs no explanation i just like thinking about needless things.

I don't think the girl Eden kissed is Mai

ok before I get booed off the stage!!! Like everything else here I'm not opposed to the idea or this being wrong. I'm just thinking that in order for the motive to work, Eden would actually have to like. remember which girl it is. if it is Mai that makes Eden immediately suspicious, because I feel like with how much of an impact she had on the class they would have brought her up at least once if they can remember her, even if she is dead. I mean none of the class seems to remember any maybe past time in East(?) Hope's Peak, so. Anyone even remembering is suspicious. weak argument i know, it just boils down to "you would think Eden would remember which girl it is she kissed" when I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation to untangle that knot, but this entire post is full of weak thoughts for a fittingly weak mind 😔

(cw: description of murder but like ...this show... uh... you know) what is going on with how needlessly complicated Arei's murder method was? Like, what's the motive behind it? obviously it'll be explained in part 2, but why wouldn't the kiler just let her asphyxiate? I know i know human decency, but mercy is a luxury these days. and if the killer accidentally applied too much force her head would snap off like a funko pop and i really doubt any killer wants to deal with that mess so like. why take the risk? there are plenty of easier options that i can immediately think of like suffocation or drowning. i don't really think "quick death" works as an argument here since it probably takes longer to set everything up with the fish than wait for her to die. I have my guesses for this but they contain so many logical leaps that at this point you're better off letting a wheel randomly pick her killer and going with that.

what is with Eden's tendency to get involved in every murder? Ch2 is obvious, but in Ch1, let's assume that plot armor was on Xander's side and Teruko used up all her luck. It's still hypothetically possible for her to have pointed out Xander as the killer and defended Charles due to seeing the wound in the infirmary. from a story-writing perspective, i kind of get why she had to be in the room and be told to leave, but that's still suspicious to me. another weak thought.

what's with the eerie level of sympathy that whoever constructed the motives has for whoever has the entire family died secret Xander? (I'm just going to say this secret is Xander's just to have an easy way to refer to it, but I fully acknowledge it could be someone else's. I just think it's his due to parent(s) and sibling(s). Hypothetically, Teruko would just be kinda :/ at a more than 1 sibling reveal and Levi only brings up having a mom, though I get this is a weak argument too considering that others are unaccounted for.) All the motives are written with some level of blame in it, some being a bit hostile(like the 3 time attempter) but Xander's feels like it barely works as a motive due to how...kindly it's worded. I get why it does work, but kind of like how they say death games say more about their creators than their participants or human nature, I think it's revealing of something about either the audience, the mastermind, or the traitor that his is worded in such a way that it's like "well... okay...so?" like yes Xander absolutely wants to keep it a secret based on the infirmary talk with Teruko, but it really inspires no sense of urgency and it's not anything new to anyone; not the audience(us, I mean), not the mastermind or traitor(assuming they're not amnesiac), not to whomever owns the secret(probably), just the participants and maybe the hypothetical audience in drdt's fourth wall. And it inspires sympathy by specifically absolving the secret owner of guilt, which no other secret does. Sure it works as a gut punch but unless the character was already at a breaking point, it's a very weak motive.(imo, of course) not that weak motives are new, but...

"disowned" and "doing the laundry" are incredibly funny euphemisms Levi. No context, moving on

Lastly, I did some thinking about what Teruko's plan is in ch2 ep 7. No clue what that is! But I was thinking about Veronikas(? sorry idr) hypothetical plan where they just bore the audience out like a certain mainline dr title. Even though it's not entertained as something practical, I do think that the hidden text in the about page implies that it wouldn't work due to the fact that they can just starve to death according to timelooper. Is the hidden text even talking about this specific killing game and not one that's happened in the past or future with completely unrelated characters? who knows lol. but the pronoun "we" in it during the segment at the end of "i wish i could feel something" paragraph is kind of weird if this looper is not with the killing game participants, or at the very least watching, with different scenarios playing out each time. It's weird to just plop this on the page and have it not be relevant to the story in some way. Anyway, even if starvation is simply an entire chapter motive on its own, the fact that they all collectively starve to death without a murder means this is something that mastermind is chill with. So, despite the comforts that the mastermind/broadcasters provide the students with, there is some kind of soft time limit in this game, though I'm sure that can be artificially messed with at will. Regardless, I think it implies boring people just doesn't work.

why was this so long uh thanks for reading all of this random nonsense ig. it helps me get my thoughts out. idk what it does for you but i hope you found it. mildly ok. thanks to this fandom for always coming up with new ideas it's always interesting, and of course if i accidentally referenced an idea you had and forgot it like i said at the beginning just tell me

[cheese-wizard]

Hi, Hello, don't mind me, I just want to get my thoughts an theories for the Magnus Protocol out there. I haven't engaged much in discourse yet so perhaps some parts will be repetitive but there will be spoilers for tma.

I don't think we can apply Smirke's 14/15 to the world of protocol since it just doesn't make sense for Jonny and Alex to use the same system again but I have a feeling there is going to be a way to classify them and I have quite a feeling that it has to do with the alchemical symbols.

I only briefly skimmed the Wikipedia page for some of them but one thing I thought about was that the Symbol for Salt and Mercury are on the crest of the OIAR (and some in the background) and just like with the last cover, I am not going to dismiss any of this for stylistic choices.

I saw a post a few days ago talking about how salt stands for the human body and by extension flesh related horrors/body horror/etc etc and from what I've gathered, mercury stands for Spirit or mind or whatever and each of the main elements in alchemy corresponds with planets. (Do I smell a potential system for fear classification there, or do I need to do some further reading into the symbolism? 👀 Maybe both.)

So like Mercury is the Roman god of a lot of things but a lot of the time he is referenced for traveling and communication which leads me to associate him with technology and the internet as well since, interconnectivity, information travels fast bla bla bla.

I don't have any clue if the speed up arrow thingys in the crest mean anything alchemically but if it means something about combining technology and the human body/mind and we already have Norris and Chester who once were human and are now uploaded to the miracle box that is Windows NT. As much as I like the idea of JMJ error referring to Jon Martin and Jonah, I am not sure about the Jonah part because it could also very well be the case that some guy Alice mentioned from the people that "have gone weird" before, just somehow ended up part of the computer and it might happen to our beloved office staff too. (Perhaps not exactly since Alice would probably recognize their voices but maybe it's like the not them getting to you. I just noticed a hole in my theory and am trying to keep it afloat lol)

Let me know what you think and if you have more knowledge on alchemical symbolism

[facets-and-rainbows]

Blue Exorcist 147 summary

The official translation is delayed relative to the raws this month so I get to paraphrase a chapter just like old times! The nostalgia!

Fairly detailed spoilers and no images:

Asmodeus goes on about how Shura is full of contradictions (young but also somehow aged, cold like ice but with a burning passion, full of life but death has always been close by) and says she's his type (ewwwww) Shura says Asmodeus is not her type, sorry, and shoots him full of icicles XD He tells her to go deeper with it (eeeewwwwwwwww), the pain makes him feel alive

Rin and Yukio have another round of "BUT SHURA!" "BUT THE WHOLE MISSION!" and the mission wins out They safely make it to the door with the rest of the team, but the door won't open normally so we've got some kind of RPG style door puzzle on our hands Yukio sees the L (probably Left) and R (probably right) on the doors but that doesn't explain THAT MESSED UP LITTLE DISPLAY OVER THERE So the real question is what on EARTH does the bleeding corpse suspended over a meat grinder with the inscription "VL" mean Yukio and Neuhaus together wonder if the V is roman numeral 5 and 5L means you have to give it five liters of blood (one person's worth) to open it They get as far as wondering if you could just borrow like a freshly dead corpse from the battlefield, (they're not using their blood anymore, does it HAVE to be fresh?) before Rin is like….yeah we could take a look at the whole thing from above first though? Heh I think Rin is using fire to burn some footholds as he and Yukio climb? (Edit: wait I'm dumb it's Satan's fire, I already forgot that the walls burn you when you try to climb them lol) Yukio showed off his fireproofness and Rin was all impressed and Yukio very nearly almost smiled

MEANWHILE Amon is struggling with Osceola more than he thought In fact, the fight has damaged/destroyed his emerald ring! His 10.8 carat emerald ring!! Tragic He stomps on Osceola brutally while yelling THAT WAS WORTH MORE THAN YOUR DUMB HUMAN LIFE and OH JESUS IS THAT A DISEMBODIED ARM My Concern For Osceola Gauge just spiked again guys Katoh please he's two days from retirement!! Amon decides screw it, he's just gonna blow everything up at this point. Apparently being a sun god comes with the ability to go supernova and be reborn later (Huh! The sun disk over his head is his demon heart! and he's able to shatter it and have it reform) It'll take like ten minutes for this drama man to do his drama thing so let's cut back to the kids

Rin and Yukio find that the door leads to a bottomless pit even if you DO get it open So what gives? L might be "left" but what's the V? Rin observes that there's some patterns/symbols/something on the ground. Yukio recognizes them as Indo-Arabic numerals. V is 7. So I guess the seventh symbol on the left is the real door. They go there and find a little hidden entrance. No blood sacrifice required! The weird meat machine is a gross red herring! I feel like this is a lil jab at the first anime ending XD

On the way to bring everyone to the entrance, we run into This Asshole Again ("BUT SHURA!" "BUT THE WHOLE MISSION!") Asmodeus says that it's a pretty sweet gig, being a demon of his or Amon's level. Easy to find hosts and they don't disintegrate too fast. But BECAUSE of that, you don't REALLY get to feel alive (He shoots nasty energy beams at the kids and Shura defends them as he's saying this) Asmodeus says that pain and fear and despair are all proof that you're alive! And he can live vicariously through Shura by making her feel these things! Ew!

Cliffhanger on him winding up to kill someone or other in front of an exhausted Shura, while Osceola tries to stand up Osceola is just absolutely maxing out my Concern For Osceola Gauge in that last panel. Concern levels are off the charts here

[kkotda]

KOIIIIIII THIS PART GOT ME SO BAD YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND .

THEIR DYNAMIC IS EVERYTHINGGGG i didn’t even catch the ”my heart is a desert” (<- fighting a whole gardener) thing LMAO you’re insane……

chogame :((((((((( my beloveds . i’m gonna cry they’re both so good so good so good

ari. ARI. I DO UNDERSTAND. I DO I DO I DO

when ume hugged choji and said 'it's okay' I CRIED SO HARD i had to pause and literally tear myself away from the screen

also i'm about to yap y'all's ears off so cut for your convenience T-T

the top is a lonely place by default i think, and with the b/w thinking especially like you're either a winner or you're a loser. and the winner has power. obviously both ume and choji (and sakura) knew that

choji wanted to reach the top to be the most freest version of himself that he could, whereas ume wanted to be the top to make his vision for his town a reality (to put it crudely). and not even to bash on choji like wah wah he's selfish he only thought about himself. not even. choji liked the idea of freedom because it was fun, it was what made him and the rest of shishitoren smile, right? you can't smile if you're not free. and freedom comes with power (and strength). but because of this thinking, choji shackled himself, holding himself back. he viewed it as a race, something with a start and a finish. starting is easy, but what about finishing? obviously at the finish line, you achieve some tangible prize, a trophy of some sort. but what is the goal? (freedom) what was the end prize? (fun) because of this, he created this ideal that could never be attained. why? because he thought freedom was something he could see and hold on his own. his (empty) treasure chest at the top of the hill because he misunderstood what freedom meant. he opened that box on his own, there was no one else there because he left everyone else behind. so now we've circled back to what kotoha told sakura, 'you can't reach the top because you're alone.' choji was alone, he pushed everyone away unintentionally i think because he had this primitive desire to win. (i'm being so fr, in my head when i was at that scene i was thinking 'it was the friends and memories you collected along the way' when he saw that it was empty)

similarly, i think sakura also has (had?) this pyramid sort of thinking. 'i need to reach the top to prove myself to others.' he found value in himself by looking down at those who looked down on him, right?

and ume took this as an opportunity to teach the both of them that the top isn't meant to be beared alone because they were both trying to go about it on their own. ume reminded choji of his friends in shishitoren, how much fun they had when they did things together. how great it was to be able to share things (like when ume says he loves food but he loves food most when he's able to share it with friends). it was already familiar to choji (and togame) which is why it was so easy for them to see the error of their ways. and then ume also showed sakura why you needed friends. being alone puts you in a scary place. it shrivels you up and leaves you barren. you don't even recognize that you're cold until you're shown warmth.

hence choji's "so hot..." when ume's hands are on his cheeks because he was cold for so long that simple warmth was hot to him (atsui vs atatakai, sorry for the horrible romanization ;-;) i think

and sakura, like ume said, is a good person. he was just brought about in a really unfortunate way. if sakura had what choji had, sakura would've understood too. but he doesn't really. he views anyone and everyone as enemies, opponents he needs to beat (his first instinct when he meets new people is to raise his fists). i also saw some manga panels about how he learns to open up and accept others instead as allies and friends and :,)

i forgot what else i wanted to say about this but i'm starting to sound pretty stupid so let me stop there lol

but the ume/choji/sakura dynamic is so precious to me

and the idea of ume just walking around with a metaphorical watering can he calls his fists giving life to places that have long since dried up :,)))))))))))

okay back to the point at hand:

UME WAS SO BIG BROTHER CODED THERE I WAS CRYING SO HARD i know i said that already but the way he just takes it with a smile and puts a reassuring arm around choji is making me so insane

and then togame sun worshipper jo. the man that you are. the mask he puts on to pretend like he's the bad guy, letting his hands become dirty as he 'skins' his fellow members, acting like it doesn't hurt when it must have hurt so so bad. his pained expression as he beats them to an even messier pulp, pulling their jackets off of them. tell me how that togame is the same togame as the one who's desperately trying to fix the glass, to keep the memories of his shishitoren. 'keep smiling for the others' he tells choji, 'keep smiling' so that everything i'll do for you from here on out will be worth it. choji's eyes are dark and empty and togame of all people knew that. togame's eyes don't have light either, but that's hidden behind his sunglasses.

'i wanted you to be loved by everyone' like how people in the winter love the sun's warmth. shishitoren in an eternal winter when choji lost his light :((((

i forgot what exactly choji tells togame but when he parallels togame's words of something along the lines of asking him to smile again :,))))))

chogame <333333 i'm shutting up now i literally fear for my sanity rn it's not even funny

[cicerenella]

Okay so this is not headcannons but it's something I think you might have some fun with.

What do you think would Feli and Roma do of they found themselves magically locked in a room each with the younger version (young as in, how young they were before they got separated) of the other? What kind of conversation would you think they'd have?

And then after the conversation ends, Feli and Romano find themselves with their own younger self. Sorry for the unsilly ask but I'm kinda sick so. Yeah.

hello again! this ask was very interesting to respond to, so let's jump straight into it! (Spoiler: very angsty)

Premise

it's a bit tricky tracking down exactly when the Italy Brothers last saw eachother. However, I might have reached a conclusion in affirming that the year 800 is the date when these two got "officially" separated. Basically, that year is when Northen italy was incorporated in the Holy Roman Empire (HRE), while the South was being raided and conquered by the Saracens, the Byzantine Empire and the Longobards. It did not look good for neither of them during that time, but feli proooobablyyy got it better than his bro.

Moreover, taking in account that both Roma and Feli where alive in the last years of the Roman Empire, that would make them around 300 years old. Not terribly young, but I envision them as preteens during that period, since they didn't have any autonomy over their territories for many years (not being independent is something that affects nation growth in my canon lol. although nations can grow up from other means even if under foreign influence).

Romano

If Romano ever got locked in a room with a roughly 10 year old Felice, I think he would immediately hug him and react very emotionally. I'm not gonna lie, Romano wasn't very fond of his brother even before they got separated by foreign powers. He was the golden child, the favorite, the one that (unintentionally) outshined him in every way possible and one of the roots of his inferiority complex.

So seeing this small kid, scared just like him at that time, at the mercy of this new powerful nation that is HRE and so on. if no one was in the room with them well... he would be eaten by remorse. Romano would hug him, tell him that everything would turn alright for him, and that he would not endure all the hardships that Romano otherwise had to sustain.

Felice

When Feli comes face to face with an angry and also scared 12 year old Romano, he would initially be at a loss. This kid absolutely hates the man that it is in front of him, so the initial approach would be...awkward, but only initially!

Feli would talk gentle words to his "big" brother, seeing an otherwise wounded kid rather than the mean big brother he once thought he was. Feli would then comfort little Romano, even going as far to excuse himself for not sticking with him till the end. And, after a lot of calming down little Roma (he was spewing obscenities as soon as he saw his "little" grown up bro), he would hug him. Even if the child is the kid is throwing punches at his chest, he's going to hug him anyways. Feli recognizes that he needs it.

so yeah! that's about it. in both scenarios there's a lot of feels and words that they would probably never say to eachother in today's age LMAO. I guess if they ever saw the kid versions of themselves/the opposites, the young appearance would make them instantly melt in an emotional puddle. these guys have trauma~

[courtana]

you are like the one person i can go to about this who understands who stupid this is but i needed to get it off my chest because it made me so irrationally angry LMAO but i saw a tiktok this morning from a "fan" about their "two british boyfriends" and i thought it would be either price and gaz or price and ghost or ghost and gaz but NO it was price and SOAP. BRITISH? SOAP? WHEN HE LITERALLY SAYS IN GAME "fucking brits" after ghost recommends getting a tea in the coffee shop?????? (i'm sorry for venting but like how do these new cod fans call soap british when he is sooooo openly scottish!!!!!)

omg the absolute brain sludge that is on COD tiktok. 💀

lmao yeah Soap does not identify with being a Brit. I think some Scots do (I am not an expert on this at all)? but Soap clearly doesn't from that dialogue in "Alone." and he at least likes to point fun at the cultural and linguistic differences (especially linguistic, lol). and obviously we don't know anything about Soap's politics, but he is canonically Roman Catholic. And the history of Christianity and religious politics in British history and in shaping what it means to ~be British~ has been... fucked up to say the least.

anyway, that scene of him saying "fuckin' brits" is quoted and included in edits so much. i find it hard to believe people haven't run into it at some point. even if they're the type of fan to just watch edits and read fics and haven't played the games—because it's included in edits and fics all the time too! like come on!! i think it's people just being lazy and not caring about this differences. which i know annoys some fans from the UK/Europe who see US-American fic writers writing the 141 as acting very US-American or saying very US-American things. like part of being a writer is doing your research on what you're writing!!

ALSO even in other missions where you're fighting Mexican cartel, you hear them referring to Soap as "el escocés" (the Scottish one) instead of "el británico" (the British one). so, clearly they recognize he's Scottish! but then I'll never forget hearing a Shadow call Soap something along the lines of "the leprechaun" lhskjfhs. so, clearly everyone's having problems understanding where Soap's from. 😭

Lastly, if you go to Neil's social media—mainly his IG—you'll see the Scottish flag 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 everywhere in his posts promoting Soap and MWII, much more than the Union Jack.

the rage i see feel when i see dumb crap on COD tiktok is so real. so i feel ya.

[mathmusicreading]

@yummysuika @ospreywhite I really appreciate your translation work; can you explain more about shichen timekeeping to me? Because I know a tiny bit of modern Mandarin Chinese, but I can't recognize the shichens as the zodiac animals:

Zi (I don't know "rat", so I actually can't make any argument here.)

Chou (I don't know "ox", but I reasonably could have expected "niu" for "cow".)

Yin (I know "tiger" as "hu".)

Mao (I don't know "rabbit", but to me "mao" is "cat".)

Chen (I know "dragon" as "long".)

Si (I don't know "snake", but now I find it interesting that it sounds like death, like snakes could be seen as evil in Chinese culture similar to how they are seen in the Christian world.)

Wu (I know "horse" as "ma".)

Wei (I know "sheep/goat" as "yang".)

Shen (I don't know "monkey", but I would have expected "Sun" or "Wu" or "Kong" because of "Monkey King".)

You (I know "rooster/chicken" as " ji".)

Xu (I know "dog" as "gou".)

Hai (I don't know "pig/boar" unless "pork" and "pig" are the same "siu".)

I tried asking my parents, but they just starting talking about how the Chinese zodiac is actually a 60-year cycle with the 12 animals and the 5 elements. So are these shichen names the "Pre-Han dynasty semi-descriptive terms"? Is it kind of like the difference between "midday" and "noon" in English? The former is a "descriptor", the latter is a "name", but they "mean" the same thing?

(I tried checking the etymology for "noon" on dictionary.com, so to be fair "ninth hour" is a descriptor, but in Modern English it's not really recognizable as such and so for the sake of my shichen question, I'm calling "noon" a "name".)

Or is this another language/dialect or due to the evolution of language (changing words and pronunciations)?

I was also looking up the Dragon Boat Festival being on the unluckiest day of the year, and it says, "The Chinese name of the festival is pronounced differently in different Chinese languages. Duanwu (端午) literally means 'starting horse'—i.e., the first "horse day" of the month according to the Chinese zodiac." so I was able to get the exact character for "wu". I think it's interesting that Wikipedia says "literally ... horse" but putting 午 into Google Translate yields "midday, noonday, seventh earthly branch, 11 a.m.-1 p.m." It's unfortunate that Wikipedia only says "different Chinese languages" for "Duanwu" instead of specifying them or time periods, but I appreciate it listing different romanizations by country for Cantonese.

Would you say there's any pattern to Chinese writers or English translators using the above terms vs. using "hour/time/head/body/tail of the (insert zodiac animal here)"? Like if one sounds better for a historical fantasy setting, or choosing to use the pinyin in English instead of translating to not be translating literally? ETA: I should have gotten onto a computer sooner. I asked my parents and then you guys because searching "shichen" in Wikipedia just resulted in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_units_of_measurement. But further digging took me to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_timekeeping. I'll probably get answers there (Maybe I'll even be able to explain to my dad why he was thinking of ten stems and not matching mathematically with "60 is from 12 times 5, not 10 times 6" when he was trying to lecture on the 60-year cycle for the Chinese zodiac, lol.), so my apologies for bothering you. I'd still appreciate your thoughts on what was formerly the last paragraph about writing and translation choices!

[eien-no-gakusha]

Touken Ranbu:  The Contradictory Tale of Genji

Part 2/3 - Cast:

(I’m going by romanization in the program, which might differ from their Takarazuka days)

Here is the list of actors and their program introduction.  There’s more to the Genji Monogatari cast that will be elaborated on in the spoiler section.

OG = Takarazuka OG, specifically otokoyaku TR = Touken Ranbu character GM = Tale of Genji character

 Holy Takarazuka OG Batman!!  What a star-studded cast! For me at least.  I was drooling over this casting. All the named male roles were performed by otokoyaku retired from Takarazuka.  It’s good to see the craft continue outside the big revue companies.  This is in no small part thanks to Nanami Hiroki who actively continued otokoyaku work outside Takarazuka.  There are the likes of Amami Yuuki and Sagiri Sena who have performed genderbent roles in their OG career on occasion.  However, that was an exception in a true to gender cast.  This is the first big production I’ve seen with all female casting outside Takarazuka.  It worked incredibly well since the actors involved specialize in stuff like that.  Also, with Takarazuka otokoyaku garnering a reputation of portraying idealized men, it made sense that they would portray fictionally idealized men about a novel lead by the perfect romantic hero.  Overall, very impressed by the acting talent.  I did enter the lottery three times to see this cast live lol.

 Of the OGs on stage, I’m most familiar with Nanami Hiroki, Ayanagi Sho, and Seto Kazuya.  They happen to play the major characters.  The lead role is Nanami Hiroki as Kasen Kanesada closely followed by Ayanagi Sho as Okurika.  These two swords are basically foils of each other.  Kasen Kanesada is the cultured sword named after the Thirty-six Immortals of Poetry (or the 36 retainers his master killed, depending on your interpretation).  He’s the level-headed leader and refined poetry master, making him ideal for being trapped in a literary work.  Okurikara is the brash brawler sword.  He belonged to the son of Date Masamune and if son resembles father at all, that explains the thirst for battle.  Also, a lot of his design refers to a fierce Buddhist deity who removes obstacles so makes sense he tries to brute force his way out of a problem.  As these two were possessed by Genji, they had the heaviest roles having to play two characters with one having to match Seto Kazuya’s acting.  Both Kai and Ayaka did great and captured their respective characters.  I barely recognized Sho and it wasn’t just the brown-face, she did something a bit different with her makeup.  Akira is perfect for Genji.  She is a versatile actor who can handle both drama and comedy.  Here she wholeheartedly embodies the tragic hero and bitter villain (book protagonist but show antagonist, an interesting twist).  She did such a good job I didn’t even recognize her as the nameless creeper fan until I checked the program.  She played dweeby, shy nerd for that brief scene so convincingly, I thought it was a different actor.

 The rest of the touken danshi serve as fanservice and comic relief.  It’s a bunch of OGs playing Ichimonji swords, mostly relatively new collectables in the game.  All anyone needs to know are the silver color characters are Uesugi swords who are there to be the cool, silent types.  The blond boys have a bit more lines.  Aya Oka as Ichimonji Norimune, expensive old man sword, will act suave and pretty in between scenes.  Nansen Ichimonji by Shiotsuki Syu is the comic relief.  Legend is the sword split a cat in two and was then cursed by the dead cat, hence all the cat mannerisms and frustrated meowing.  So Fuku here has to act the cat and also act the young, explosive lad.  She does the most audience-insert snarky commentary and slapstick of the side characters.  She wasn’t too distracting or detracted from the story.  In fact, she was genuinely funny and earned a lot of intentional chuckles and laughs from the crowd.

 The musumeyaku, as we will call them here, I am not as familiar with as they are mostly idols and actresses from the part of Japanese pop culture I do not follow as closely.  Everyone did a good job and were absolutely beautiful in their juunihito kimono.  Now this is a Touken Ranbu show so naturally the Tale of Genji cast are secondary characters.  However, each of the Genji cast was tasked with a double role that was important in carrying the theme.  Including Akira, they each played a “real” person from the Heian era and a book character.

 Half of the musumeyaku cast are basically random court ladies that, as a group, represent friends and fans of Murasaki Shikibu.  However, they have more to do in the Tale of Genji isekai as Aoi no Ue, Utsusemi, and Suetsumuhana.  What is important to note is their brief lines in the book club flashback when they discuss their favorite characters with the Empress.  The discussion extends to the solace and inspiration they find from the text.  Ironically, they all turn into their favorite characters when sucked into the book so perhaps that is why they so easily went with the flow.  Aoi no Ue’s realworld counterpart is presumably going through a rocky marriage or having trouble conceiving so sympathizes with the character.  Utsusemi finds inspiration in her character’s strong sense of morality and self-respect.  Suetsumuhana is actually a bimbo enjoying the story?  Well, she is basically comic relief on the girl’s side.  In the book, she’s known for that little red nose and the fact that she’s broke and dull because her family fell on hard times so lacks an education.  She even gets a clown mask with a giant nose to represent her morning-after cold for a bit of levity.

 The other ladies carry are more relevant to the theme.  We learn in Act 2 that Lady Rokujo (Genji’s MILF poetry teacher turned mistress), is actually the Empress in real life.  She is having marital and thus political troubles with the Emperor and feels trapped so gravitates towards Lady Rokujo for catharsis.  After all, Lady Rokujo of book fame goes wild and outright haunts her enemies by sheer will.  In reverse, we have Lady Koshosho, Murasaki’s best friend and a humble court lady, reincarnate as the villain empress in the book.  At the center of it all, we learn that the author Murasaki Shikibu has taken the role as unobtainable true love Consort Fujitsubo.  These three women are more prominent in the real world timeline.  The Empress voicing one opinion about fiction as head of book club, Lady Koshosho being avid book promoter and introductory character who links scenes, and Murasaki being the godly author of the book.  Minamoto Maho as both Murasaki Shikibu and Consort Fujitsubo is fitting as the lofty author is as grand a figure in her fictional universe as the idolized woman Fujitsubo.  Genji has a complicated love-hate relationship with her that blurs the line between character and creator.  Not much to say about her as Fujitsubo since she just has to stand there and be pretty while Genji angsts in the foreground.  However, she really shines as the author.  Murasaki Shikibu within the play raises some interesting points regarding storytelling and fiction as we observe her life and the people impacted by her story and finding a place in history.  A lot of Japanese portrayal of women, even with women protagonists, write them rather passively.  In the case of this show, we see internal conflict and agency from Murasaki as she strives to finish her novel against criticism and backlash.  Also, I would be remiss to not discuss young Murasaki, played by a set of child actresses.  The one in my showing was very professional in her line delivery and performed well.  Of course, she was super cute.

 Even extras were noteworthy people with previous works in major franchises, some were household names by Japanese standards.  We had voice actor from a Final Fantasy mobile game, guy in BLEACH musical, and boy band member.

 Overall, all the actors brought their talent to the table so I have no complaints!

[thatepilepticfriend]

I just finished writing my first ever fic! thought I’d post it here (even if no one cares lol)  

The Trade Network

Summary : We all know that during Nico's travels he has met and even befriended the most random creatures and even some gods and titans. And he was the one who discovered the Romans first.

Taking advantage of the fact that he somehow knows EVERYONE, Nico has started up a trade network between the cultures. A sort of Mythology Black market being run by a 15-year-old.

“Chapter 1” - an introduction

 Nico leans against the shelves of boxes filled with extra camp shirts and tote bags in the dim back room of the Camp Store flicking through a pack of Mythomagic cards he had grabbed off of a nearby shelving unit. On the floor nearby Connor Stoll has opened and is looking through a cardboard box filled with a variety of trinkets and books. He looks up over towards Nico “send thanks next time you pass by the Sumerian Pagans over in Toronto, this is some good stuff. It’ll sell for sure, especially with Cabin 6.”  Conner gets a thumbs up in reply followed by “I’ve got one more delivery to deal with that should be dealt with by the end of the day, but after that this is everything for the month.”

As Nico leaves the Camp Store he gives a wave to Miranda who gives him a curt nod from behind the store counter. Stepping outside he see’s Will waiting for him, “you guys really shouldn’t be doing this” Will says once Nico is standing beside him. “We’re just providing the campers with merchandising that would be otherwise unavailable to them, really Solace what is wrong with that?” Nico replies as the two make their way to the infirmary. Just as Will is going to make a retort to his boyfriend's statement 3 campers he recognizes from Cabins 11 and 17 jog up to where they are at the entrance of the infirmary. “You have next month's store request form then?” Nico asks, “yup” the girl in middle replies as she pulls out a folded piece of paper from her back pocket and hands it over before the 3 run off towards the volleyball court.

“Ok, seriously” Will says exasperated “how many people do you and Miranda have involved in this trade?!”

 “Chapter 2” 

Will stands in the doorway of the Hades Cabin while inside Nico is tossing a variety of currencies, an energy drink and other nik-naks into a side bag with a large rectangular  box on the floor next to him. “I’m not coming with you Nico, ok.” “Ok, so our first stop is Puebla to get some old astrological mapping systems …. How's your spanish?” “I just said I’m not going!” Nico sighs and tosses the bag he was packing onto his bunk, he swings his arm over Will’s shoulder and walks him into the cabin. “Look William, I’ve already arranged with Connor to have Harley cover your general lack of presence for the day.” “You guys are completely insane. And who is ‘covering’ your temporary disappearance then?”  “Who, me?” questions Nico, “The second word people use to describe me after ‘creepy’ is ‘runaway’, I don’t need to worry about people wondering where I am if they haven’t seen me for a couple hours.” Nico then goes and grabs the bag off of his bunk, swings it over his shoulders, with a grunt, picks up the box on the ground and grabs Will's arm as he walks into a shadow in the corner of the room saying “now come on we have a schedule to keep with”.

‘“Chapter 3”

As the two stepped out of the shadow, they entered an alleyway beside a series of looming buildings. The sound of a big city all around them, Nico temporarily put down the box he had brought with them and grabbed one of the energy drinks from his bag. He had already chugged about half of the can before Will spoke up “well it’s clearly too late to not be involved, so mind telling me where we are? Or maybe why are we here?”  Nico raised his eyebrow as he looked in Will’s direction. “Were you even listening? I’ve got a whole 3 way trade underway and this is the first stop.” Nico picks the large box up off the ground again and continues, “but…. We’re in Puebla”,  “wait Mexico!” Will says in a panicked voice. “Well yeah, I did ask how your Spanish was? We could have also been going to Spain I suppose…” Will just stares at him for a minute as a car horn blares in the background “I had thought your guys’ little out of pocket store was just between Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood?” 

Nico gives a little laugh and starts walking from the back of the alley towards the sidewalk, motioning with his head for will to follow behind him. “Oh William, that’s hilarious, no this is much much bigger than that.” “Ok then” Will following slowly behind begins, “so we’re in Puebla. Now, who is it that we are going to see?” After a few more paces they turn a corner to face a large apartment building. “The Mayans, not actually sure what we’re picking up today. But Sadie Kane from the Brooklyn House has been in contact with Bonaventura Escarcega, one of the main kids that run the show in town. And all I know is what l need to bring in order to get the final package from Brooklyn.” With that Nico pushed open the door into the lobby and walked into the apartment complex swinging the door behind him. Only just barely not hitting Will in the face as he made his way quickly in behind Nico. 

“Chapter 4 - Xamaiqinqu patron god of merchants and travelers

The lobby of the apartment building was surprisingly large, white tiled floor, white and gold walls, fluorescent lights shining down, black leather couches scatered around the room and 3 sleek silver elevators side by side on the back wall. But what really stuck out was the grand wrap around hotel style desk in the middle of the lobby with a short man in a rather elaborately bejeweled jacket standing behind said desk. 

Nico dropped the box he was holding with a thud beside Will and walked up leaning on the desk casually saying, “we have a meeting in office 12 at 2:30.” The man blinks at him and slowly drawls out “I’m afraid you must have the wrong address. This is an apartment complex not an office building”. That got him a are you serious look from Nico “an apartment building that no lives in longer than 2 weeks at a time? I know it’s you xamaiqinqu, I’ve got a trade deal with ‘tura. You really gonna stop a trade from happening? That’s like your whole thing.” The man sighed and rummaged through a drawer in the desk. “I suppose, you have built up a reputable reputation. But who's that other guy?” Nico turns around to see Will standing awkwardly beside the large box that had been placed on the floor. “Oh that’s just my boyfriend Will, you don’t need to worry about him”

Xamaniqinqu tosses Nico what looks like a security pass that he had pulled out from under the desk and tells them to “take the far right elevator to floor 5.”  Nico picks up the crate once again and the two make their way to elevator. Once inside with only Taylor Swifts shake it off playing quietly in the background Will looks over and finally asks, “ok who was that guy, and why does he remind me of Mr. D?” Nico shifts how he’s standing. “To answer the second question, I think it is just a result of being forced into a job that causes you to be grumpy. And for the first, that was Xamaniqinqu the Mayan patron god of merchants and travelers.”

A ding and temporary stop to the T Swift tells them they have reached the 5th floor. As they exit the elevator into the hallway they can clearly see office room 12 in front of them. A large golden double door at the end of the hallway with the number 12 engraved into the door in a shiny red. Walking up to the door Nico takes out the pass he had been given at the front desk and inserts it into a small key slot to the right of the entrance. A loud click can be heard and the door swings open. 

“Chapter 5 - the first trade off”

Office room 12 was not as glorious on the inside as it seemed on the outside. A typical board room, it consisted of a large table that had an array of papers and scrolls scattered all over it. with 15~ faded black office chairs scattered around. 3 large windows on the side wall faced out onto the bustling of the big city below.  But what or who they came for where the 2 young pre-teens standing on stools in front of a giant white board that spread over an entire wall, playing what seemed to be their 17th game of hangman. 

Taking a step inside Nico leans towards the table and nocks on it with his fist, causing the tweens by the board to turn around suddenly. The slightly younger looking boy being smacked in the face by the girl as they look towards the door.  “Afternoon Bonaventura, Nora” Nico said, giving a little wave and elongating his words before walking over to the table before dropping the box they had brought with them onto the table one last time. “Heyyyyyy!!! You made it, good to see you again long time no see ya know?” Said Bonaventura, the 12 year old’s words coming out at the speed of light as he bounced up and down on his toes.

 Having walked towards the table the older girl, presumably Nora, started picking at the cardboard box. “You brought everything than?” she questioned not turning around, still looking throughout the box sitting on the table. “Have I ever disappointed during a trade, yeah it’s all in there. 23 slates of celestial bronze and 14 of imperial gold.” Stepping away from the table Nora calls to her bouncing companion “Alright then ‘tura, you want to gather up the those maps for Chicago.” As the smaller kid started packing up all the papers and scrolls that had been scattered on the table, Will cautiously walked up besides Nico looking around him before asking “where did you get all that metal, surly the Hephestus wouldn’t let you take that much celestial bronze from the forge?” Getting only raised eyebrows and a look that can only be described as saying oh but wouldn’t they in response Will sighs “Leo let you take it didn’t he, he’s involved as well?” “Good to see you’re catching on.”

With that Bonaventura came up to them holding a cloth bag full of scrolls and file folders. “Now make sure they take extreme care of these things over at the Brooklyn house” he urges, “some of these planetary maps are over 3 thousand years old.” “Yeah yeah” Nico mumbles as he hands off the bag to Will. 

Saying their goodbyes to the young teens the boys make their way back down to the building lobby. Xamaniqinqu sat a stool that definitely wasn’t there when they entered the building, working on what seemed to be a crossword puzzle. When Nico went to toss the security pass he had been given back onto the front desk, Xamaniqinqu looked up briefly. Picking the pass up he held back out to Nico “keep it why don’t ya, I suppose you’ve proven your trustworthy by now.” Looking a little surprised Nico gives him a little smile and nod while taking the badge from the patron god. With that Will and Nico leave the skyrise to be greeted with the sounds of city traffic and streets lined with a mixture of tall buildings and storefronts. 

“Chapter 6 - A different side of New York”

Walking down the sidewalk for a few minutes they turned down a different sidestreet than where they had originally come from before taking a turn into a shadowy alleyway. Nico turned to Will who was carrying the bag filled with papers, threw his arm around Will’s shoulder and took a step into the shadows of the brick alley saying “next stop, a different side of New York.”

They came out of the shadows on the steps of what could only be described as a mansion. “Wow” was all Will could manage as he looked up at the large house that loomed in font of them. “Welcome to the Brooklyn house” Nico said as he rapped on the front door rather loudly. “So if Puebla housed the Mayan gods, than who’s in Brooklyn?” Questioned Will as they waited for someone to answer the door. “A few Magicians this is the 21st Nome, though they are scattered all around the main hub is the House of Life underground the Cairo airport.” “Well I guess that’s not any weirder than Camp funding itself by fronting as a Strawberry Farm” commented Will in reply just as the door swung open to reveal a teenage girl who definitely was not dressed as though she lived in a giant mansion. “I was starting to think you weren’t going to show, well come on in. Though I suppose a vampire like yourself needs to be specifically invited don’t you. Come welcome into my home”  Her voice dripping with sarcasm by the end of the sentence. The pair entered, Nico shaking his head the whole time “ seriously, how many times do we have this conversation Sadie. I am not a vampire!” Laughing she went over and lightly punched Will in the shoulder saying “than why do you dress and act like one huh?” 

As they continued to walk through the house Will spotted another few kids and teens scurrying around, one particularly young kid even seemed to be chasing after a penguin. When they finally made their way back to the houses Library. Again if it even really could be called a ‘house’, Nico took the bag Will had been carrying from him and handed it over to Sadie. “Here this is all of them, now I given instructions to inform you to make sure to take extra care of these ones due to there age.” As she carefully looked through the contents of the bag Sadie gave him a glance in response that one could tell even without words meant do you think I’m stupid. 

After looking through the bag and finding the contents adequate Sadie placed it gently on a woden table to the side. Turning over to the boys she motioned them to follow her “Walt brought these down earlier” they approach a back wall with a desk and office like set up. Sitting in the middle of the seemingly hand carved elaborate redwood desk, on top of a mountain of papers all written in Egyptian hieroglyphics was a small gold box with jewel detailing all around it. As Nico went to pick up the box and put it into his backpack Sadie grabbed his hand. “Now wait, if anything you need to be careful with these. You sure you and your people know what to do with them?” she asked. This got her the same do you think I’m stupid look that Nico had been given earlier. As Nico was putting the container into his bag however Will slowly raised his hand “umm actually I have no idea what is in that box or what I would do with it”. Nico looked at him like are you serious, “don’t worry about him Sadie he’s not going to be using them, and I’ll make sure everyone who does gets a full run down.” The blonde gave a sigh before saying “ok, but I’m not taking any legal responsibilities for anything that might happen. If you use them wrong. Now get out of my house before I either change my mind or my brother finds out I’ve got use involved in a cross mythos Trading scheme. We’re already on thin ice with the House of Life.” 

“Chapter 7 - the drop off” 

After Sadie sends the two back on their way to camp in fear that her older brother Carter might return from his outing with two of the students Shelby and Julien at any moment. With the golden box safely tucked away inside Nico’s backpack the boys arrive at the edge of the North Woods of camp just before 4:30. Done with the fiasco of the day Will and Nico split ways, with Will giving Nico the very legitimate reasoning for running off of “I need to go make sure everyone finished their chores today. You know Austin, would rather spend his day playing the guitar than make his bed….” and dashing off in the direction of the Cabins. 

Shaking his head and giving a little sigh, Nico started his way across the camp and up towards The Big House. 

Finally arriving up at the house, he began making his way through the Big House and quickly Nico made his way to the the Camp Store. When getting to the store Miranda could be found working behind the counter. Barely looking up from the papers she was dealing with, which from the looks of it they were another report of an attempted break in from Conner, and gave him a slight nod before going back to her work. 

Shrugging his backpack off and lifting it up onto the counter, Nico tried to Casually look around to see if anyone who might call them out was in the store. Seeing only Harley in the back corner, who was too distracted by the comic stand that had recently been brought in from New Rome to even notice that Nico had entered the store. He slowly pulled out the shiny chest from his bag, sliding it across the surface of the counter towards Miranda. As she quietly grabbed the chest and discreetly put it away under the counter neither making eye contact. Nico than swung the backpack back over his shoulder, grabbed an energy drink from the cooler beside the counter, paid 2 drachmas and then quickly made his way out of the store. 

And started strolling down to the cabins, getting ready for Ancient Greek at 5 before Chiron noticed was anything off. 

Chapter 8 - the finale 

The next morning as per usual Nico spent breakfast sitting alongside Will and the rest of his siblings at the cabin 7 table ‘per doctors orders’ of course. Nico having finally managed to convince Will that everything was completely fine after having an argument that was more sarcastic remarks than anything, but Nico ended up ‘winning’ Will over with the argument of,

“I mean we get sent on these life threatening quests, and fight in wars. Whats wrong with a little bartering between acquaintances?”   

As campers slowly started to filter out of the Dining Pavilion of the course of the next half hour as they finished breakfast and made their way to various morning activities, Nico noticed Harley Davidson one of the younger campers from the Hephestus cabin weaving through the various tables towards where the Apollo cabin was eating. Clearly nervous, which was strange for the in Nico’s opinion slightly deranged child who had come up with genius idea of sending them into the labyrinth for fun and games. Shuffling right up to Nico Harley looked around nervously before informing him that 

“Chiron wants to talk with you up at the Big House during your Foraging for Survival 101 session.”  Given fact that he confused Baneberries for Cranberries just last week mixed with the look in the kid’s eyes told Nico, that Chiron didn’t want to meet up at the Big House to inform him that his identification of edible plants was so good that he didn’t need to take the sessions anymore.

Will gives him a look of I told you so, and before leading his siblings off to their morning activities gives Nico a little hug and leaves him with “I’m not going to say it…. But I mean…. What did I say??”  Nico just glares at his boyfriend before starting the trek towards the House with Harley trailing behind him. 

As they approach the front porch of the Big House, Nico isn’t quite sure why the son of Hephestus is following him. At least why this one is, Leo he might understand a little more. He can see Chiron and Mr. D sitting waiting for him to arrive. It isn’t until he steps up onto the deck that he sees the aren’t alone, standing with her head down off to the side of the porch is Miranda Gardiner. 

“Glad you could join us Mr. di Angelo, I’ve noticed some interesting changes in stock at the store recently. I was wondering if perhaps you knew anything about it.” Before Chiron could continue Mr. D interrupted, “you know I don’t really see what the problem is. Mindy and Nico here were just exploring the world of business and showing their skills as budding entrepreneurs. Now what’s the harm in that? In fact I’m a tad proud of the annoying little beasts.” 

Giving only a disapproving sigh Chiron turned his attention back to the two teens that stood before him. Just as the teacher went to open his mouth to try and get to the bottom of the entirety of the scheme they, and perhaps whoever else was involved, had been conducting. And figure out how to move forwards. I mean could he really just let them continue? But at the same time in a way Mr. D was right they really hadn’t been doing anything wrong other than leaving camp without permission. And di Angelo did that all the time anyway. 

But just then, not aware of the fate he was running towards. Connor Stoll came dashing up to the Big House basically yelling, “Nico wait!! I think Chiron might have found one of our order sheets! He knows about the business, don’t say anything!!!” 

It’s right than that Connor sees everyone standing around the porch and he stops in place so fast Nico is convinced there will be skid marks under where he’s standing. 

“Uhhh, good morning Chiron how are you doing on this lovely day” Connor stammers out.  With a slight grin he answers simply “So thoughtful of you to join us Mr.Stoll.”

[thessaliah]

You mentioned how Marisbury could have altered the timeline using Rayshifting after losing the Grail War. In section 12 of the Solomon Singularity Roman states that when he was Solomon he sent one ring to the future which Marisbury used to summon him. The thing I find suspicious about it is that Roman said he didn't know why he sent it to the future and assumed it was just "another of God's whims". In LB6 Morgan Rayshifted her thoughts to her Lostbelt self. Marisbury could have tricked Solomon.

Note this is a tinfoil theory lol. Not a main one or anything.

I think Sion did it (she's the one who immediately recognizes what Qin's doing - before even getting a step in the singularity), not Marisbury. She's the one cut from "Panhistory." The ending of last year epilogue hints about some plan she had working on, and the two of them were working together, in a contract. I think Marisbury didn't find the ring originally (which Solomon movie refers it as the strongest/best catalyst possible for a Grail War), and so could not summon Solomon and Chaldeas was not activated. They had no hand in Solomon's sending the ring, but rather finding it later because Sion needed Chaldeas to exist. 

They are trying to create and make ascertain a future for humanity, but it may be too late. And -due to their meddling- set this doomed belt as Panhistory.