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a-reader-and-a-writer-for-all · 2 years ago

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Somewhere Out There Is Somebody (Part 1)

Fandom: Top Gun, Top Gun: Maverick, Jake "Hangman" Seresin, f!reader, Valentine's Day, Soulmate AU

Summary: On February 13, those over 16 receive an empty box in the mail every year. You place items in the box and they appear in your soulmate's box the following day. Until now, you haven't figured out who your soulmate is. But after an unexpected run-in with your least favorite aviator, you discover your other half may be closer than you think.

Word Count: 4030

TW: Soulmate AU, Fluff, Light Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Right in Front of You the Whole Time, Language

Note: Thank you to @wildbornsiren and @green-socks for helping me work out this concept. Your advice really gave me the confidence to pursue this idea! 💖 And also thank you for beta reading, Sam! 😘

I wanted to come up with an original concept for a Soulmate AU and I have not seen one done exactly like this so I figured I would give it a shot! I would love to know what people think of it as a concept as well as the execution in the fic! 🥰

Series Masterlist

Part 1, Part 2

You couldn’t believe it was already February 13th. You had been so preoccupied lately with the last few missions, increased training, and yearly inspections that it completely slipped your mind. Yet there was no denying the date when you checked your mailbox and found a red, heart-shaped box with a ribbon tied around it.

“Oh, shit,” you cursed under your breath as you picked the Box up. It looked exactly the same as it did every year since it had first shown up in your mailbox when you were 16. Just as it looked the same as every other Box that magically appeared in everyone’s mailboxes on this day once they reached that age.

No one knew exactly how it happened or when it started. Some say a form of the Boxes had been around since the 1800s, while others claimed to have found mentions of something like them back in the 1500s, while some scholars tried to argue the proof of their existence as far back as the 1300s or even crude versions in Ancient Rome. But in modern times, a holiday was formed around the arrival of the Boxes, one centered on love and giving. They called it Valentine’s Day after one of the earlier mentions of the event in a poem. And every year at that time, the same thing happened all over the world.

On February 13, the Box would appear in your mailbox. When it did, you would place items into it, things that either showed off who you were or showed your love and admiration for the person about to receive what you picked out. Then, you would place the Box back into your mailbox by midnight. The next morning, the Box would still be there, but it would now be filled with different objects. Objects that your soulmate had placed in their Box the day before.

Over the years, you had received a wide variety of trinkets from your soulmate: various types of candy, love-themed stuffed animals, the occasional jewelry, a wooden rose, a well-worn baseball, a picture frame left empty just waiting for a photo to go inside it, a bottle of half-used cologne, a stack of recipes.

And every year, there was a famous love poem nestled at the bottom. You often wondered if he would write you original poetry if it was allowed, but the Boxes didn’t permit that sort of thing. Nothing handwritten or originally composed, no photographs, no business cards, no blatantly identifiable items of any kind. Anything you placed in your Box that was deemed too telling by whatever magic or energy made the Boxes work remained in your Box when you opened it the next day.

It had only happened to you once when you tried to send a pin with the Naval Academy’s logo on it the year you were accepted, but apparently, it was too much of a hint as to your identity to pass on to your soulmate. It seemed as if the Boxes wanted to help you find your soulmates, but didn’t want things to be too easy for you either.

Glancing at your watch, you cursed even louder as you realized that at this time of night, the only places in the area that might still be open were convenience stores or the Walgreens a few blocks away. However, this close to the deadline, stores like Walgreens that catered to the Boxes were usually packed with last-minute shoppers or picked clean by now. So, with a sigh, you jumped back into your truck and drove down to the convenience store at the end of the block.

Unfortunately, there really wasn’t a wide selection to choose from. Just meaningless junk and useless items. Reluctantly, you settled on a California shot glass (broad locations were usually allowed and your soulmate had once sent the wrapper from a bottle of whiskey so you assumed he drank) and a car air freshener shaped like a heart in one of your favorite fragrances. It was pathetic, but at least it was something.

As you headed up to the sizeable check-out line, you stumbled to a stop as you recognized the man at the end of the line. You stared at the back of his head all day during briefings and meetings so even from behind, it was impossible to mistake him. For a moment, you considered waiting for him to finish checking out or even just leaving the store now without your purchase, but it was almost 11:30 pm and time was running out to get your items into your Box. So, taking a deep breath, you stepped into line.

Sensing someone approaching from behind, Hangman glanced over his shoulder and did a double take as he recognized you. He flinched slightly and his shoulders tensed, yet his usual cocky smile slowly spread across his face. “Well, well, well. Fancy seeing you here. I would have thought Miss Perfect would have had her gift planned out weeks ago. Cutting things a little close there, aren’t we?”

You felt the familiar heat rising in your chest that happened anytime you were around Hangman. Ever since the day the two of you had met at the Academy, you had gotten along like oil and water. Always trying to one-up the other or prove you were the best, your interactions usually ended with some sort of heated argument or screaming match. The universe seemed to enjoy your little feud because, by some bizarre twist of fate, the two of you had ended up in the same squadron after graduation. And you were both transferred together to the next one. Then to the same class at Top Gun. And yet another joint squadron change. It was practically unheard of, and yet, since the first day of either of your careers, you had been working together. But it never lessened the antagonistic tension between you. If anything, it only got worse as time went on.

When you were in the sky, the two of you could work together in perfect harmony and despite everything, you were the perfect wingmen for one another. Yet, the moment the two of you got face-to-face on the ground, that was when things became hostile. Just like now.

Trying your best to maintain your composure, you snapped, “We’ve been out of the country for the last two weeks. When was I supposed to get anything? Besides, you’re here too.” Looking down at his hands, you rolled your eyes as you spotted the fighter jet-shaped object he was holding. “A keychain? That’s the best you can do? Wow, Bagman. Some girl out there is so lucky to have you as her soulmate.”

Hangman’s jaw clenched tightly and you could tell he was trying his best not to start cursing you out in the middle of the checkout line. Instead, he just sneered, “Yeah, well, you’re one to talk. I’m sure your soulmate is going to love that tacky glass and a single air freshener.”

You felt your cheeks growing warm as you stared daggers at him, but it wasn’t all due to anger. Though you would never admit it, you knew he was right. This was a pathetic excuse for a present for the person who was meant to be the love of your life. He always gave you such lovely, meaningful gifts and this was the best you could do? You wish there was some way to explain what happened. That this was all due to bad timing and an insanely busy schedule and that you had wanted to give him so much more. But without a way to send personal messages, this was all you could do.

However, just because all of that was true, it didn’t mean you were going to let Hangman get away with pointing it out. Still glaring at him, you said, “As a matter of fact, I know this is exactly the sort of thing he will love. You don’t know anything about him or me outside of work, so why don’t you just shut the fuck up, and worry about your pathetic gift and how disappointed your soulmate is going to be in the morning.”

For a brief moment, the expression on Hangman’s face wasn’t one of anger or rage. It was one of pain. And you realized he probably felt as shitty about his gift as you did about yours. You knew there was more to Hangman than he ever revealed to the other aviators, and at this moment, you felt like for the first time you might have gotten a glimpse of this other side of him. But before you could say anything, he steeled his face once more and whirled around to face the counter without another word.

Even with his back to you, you could see he was still very upset. His broad shoulders were tensed as he stood slightly hunched over and drawn in on himself. Suddenly, you had the urge to wrap your arms around him from behind and press your face against his shoulder blades as you whispered soft apologies to make up for what you had said. But you quickly shook your head to snap yourself out of it. This was Hangman. The two of you fought more than cats and dogs. This was just how it was between you. And yet, as he finished paying and glanced quickly back at you one final time, you couldn’t help but wish you had apologized after all.

That night, you tossed and turned in bed, haunted by what had happened with your run-in with Hangman and how you should have handled it differently. However, all of it was forgotten the moment you woke up and remembered what day it was. Springing out of bed, you threw on some clothes and rushed out the front door.

As much as you wanted nothing more than to run downstairs and return with your Box as quickly as you could, it just wasn’t possible. The entire building had the same thought. As soon as you stepped out of your apartment, you were met with a crowd of people all struggling to make it to the stairwell. The landlord had hired someone for each floor to attempt to control the traffic, but as usual, it was a useless endeavor. There was nothing to do but wait your turn as the horde of people slowly made their way down the stairs and to the row of mailboxes by the front door.

When you finally made it to your mailbox and retrieved the package from inside, you hurried back upstairs with the Box clutched tightly to your chest. Some people couldn’t stand the anticipation and had ripped open their Boxes in the lobby, but you preferred to open yours in the privacy of your apartment. Luckily, getting back up was a lot quicker than getting down. The crowds had thinned as most people made it down to their mailboxes and you were able to make it back in only a few minutes.

Once inside, you leaned heavily on your door, trying to calm your excitement. You waited all year for this moment, to get just the tiniest glimpse into the person who was supposedly your other half. Yet no matter how happy you were, you couldn’t help but dread the feeling of disappointment he must be having seeing what you placed inside your box this year. You just hoped you could make it up to him next year, potentially even in person. But maybe that was too much wishful thinking.

Taking a deep breath, you opened the lid. The second you saw what was inside, you dropped the Box as if it had burned you, spilling the contents across the floor. Gasping, you slid down the door to the ground, your hands pressed tightly over your mouth. You couldn’t believe your eyes. There had to be some kind of mistake. Somehow the Boxes got mixed up and yours was sent to the wrong person while you received this one instead. Because this could not be your Box.

Yet, there was no denying the truth. A piece of paper stuck out of the Box. Glancing quickly at it, you saw that it was your yearly love poem, though this one had a theme of forgiveness and doing better in the future as well as love. As in, asking forgiveness for such a crappy gift this year. Because there, peeking out from underneath the table where it had landed, was the only other item from the Box: a familiar-looking keychain shaped like a fighter jet.

A million different explanations ran through your head as you tried to think of some rational explanation that didn’t end with your soulmate being your wingman. They probably sold these same keychains in thousands of stores across the country and maybe he finally figured out your clues and realized you were a fighter pilot. Maybe he got his pilot’s license this year and this was his way of sharing the news. Maybe he might have gone to an airshow and wished you were there with him. Or…. maybe the keychain you now held in your hand was the same one you had seen last night in the convenience store.

You had to find out for sure. There was no way you could go about your day until you had verified this was all just some big cosmic misunderstanding. So, you grabbed the keychain, your bag, your keys, and your jacket before hurrying towards the door.

Your jacket was only half on as you threw open the door and were almost hit in the face with a fist that was in the process of knocking. Dodging back, you saw Hangman standing in the hallway, his chest heaving as if he had just run the whole way here. Glancing down, you saw that in the hand he didn’t have raised, he was holding your shot glass and air freshener. So, it was true….

At the same moment, he noticed the keychain in your hand. His eyes grew wide as he whispered, “No fucking way…”

“How?” You stumbled backward, and for a moment, you thought you might collapse. But a large hand shot out and grabbed your elbow, steadying you. Hangman had touched you many times before, yet there was something different about this time. It felt safe and comforting and it sent a small shiver across your skin.

You wondered if Hangman felt it too because his grip tightened and he pulled you a little closer to him. His eyes searched your face as he asked, “Are you okay?”

No, I’m not okay! What about this situation makes you think I’d be okay? You wanted to scream at him, but you know it wouldn’t do any good. So, you just pull your arm out of his grasp and take a few steps back. “Yeah, I’m fine. I-I just need a minute.”

You hurried off into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water off the counter. Draining it in just a few gulps, you wipe the back of your hand across your mouth as you try to figure out what to do next. Your mind was running a mile a minute and all you wanted to do was to lay down in your bed, burrow under the covers, and forget this morning ever happened. However, this was not something you could just ignore for now and figure out later. Hangman was still in your living room just waiting for you to return. You knew you had to face him sooner or later, so it might as well be sooner.

As you walked back into the living room, you saw Hangman standing by your bookcase. When you got closer, he held up the picture frame you had received in your Box a few years ago. With a wistful smile on his lips, he said, “You still have this. And you kept it empty…”

With your arms crossed tightly across your chest, you gave a half-hearted shrug. “I never had the right photo with the right person to put in it.” As you reached out to take it from him, your mind flashed to the hundreds of photos with you and Hangman people had taken over the years. “Or I guess I did and just didn’t realize it.”

Jake ran his thumb across the back of your hand. “Sweetheart, I–”

The pet name was the final straw as you felt something snap within you. “No, no, I’m sorry.” You pulled away from his touch and placed the picture frame back on the bookshelf. “I’m sorry, but it can’t be you. It– It just can’t be.”

Hangman turned away but not before you saw the pain flash in his eyes. “Sorry to disappoint you. I guess you thought you’d be paired with someone better. Someone you could at least stand to be in the same room with.” He started heading towards the door, but you jumped in front of him to stop him from leaving.

“No, it’s not that at all. Hangm– Jake.” His head was still hung low so you took his face between your hands and turned it so he was staring at you. Taking a shuttering breath, you explained, “It can’t be you because I don’t think I can handle the fact that we’ve known each other for almost 10 years and didn’t know. That my soulmate was right in front of me this whole time and I never…. That I wasted so much time arguing and fighting with him that I never allowed myself to see him for what he truly was.”

But it didn’t matter how much you wanted things to be different. There was no denying the truth at this point. In hindsight, it all made perfect sense. That heat in your chest you felt every time Hangman walked into the room wasn’t hate at all. It was love. Love you thought you could never have so you used it to fuel your anger towards him. You had turned the magnetic pull between you into something ugly and bitter all because you were hurt he could never be yours. And because of that, you almost ruined everything.

Jake must have seen the tears forming in your eyes and the way your lip trembled as you tried to hold it together because his pained expression softened into one of understanding. “Oh, sweetheart.”

He softly took your arm and drew you into his chest. The gesture was so tender and soft that you couldn’t fight it anymore. Tears began to pour down your cheeks as you buried your face into his shoulder. Jake’s hand gently caressed your back, rubbing small, soothing circles across it while you sobbed. And it felt so right. The hot feeling you got in your chest whenever Hangman was around spread throughout you and when he lightly pressed his lips to the top of your head, you thought you might explode.

As your tears began to dry up and your sobs faded, you still remained wrapped in his embrace. In fact, you never wanted to leave it. But there were still some things you needed to figure out.

So, you lifted your head slightly, and whispered, “The worst part is, I know it’s you. I’ve known since the minute I first saw you back at the Academy. Sitting in class with that stupid toothpick in your mouth and the big ol’ grin on your face. You were the most handsome man I’d ever seen, and I instantly fell for you. For a moment, I even let myself imagine you might be my soulmate.” You tilted your head up to look him squarely in the face. “But when I asked you about one of the poems my soulmate had sent me, you said you’d never heard of it.”

Hangman smiled softly with a sorrowful gleam in his eyes. “I remember that day perfectly. You walked up to introduce yourself and when I saw you, I couldn’t breathe. You were the most beautiful person I had ever seen and your voice… When you mentioned the poem, I had a momentary flash of hope that it could be you. But it was a really popular poem and one I had sent a few years before, so I just figured it was wishful thinking. And I couldn’t admit it right then anyway. Because with her – with you – I was Jake. As open and real and vulnerable as I’ve ever been with another person. But when you asked me in class, in front of the rest of the cadets, you were talking to Hangman, and he would never be caught dead reading poetry. So, I lied. And it seems that I doomed us both.”

You shook your head frantically. “No, Jake. This isn’t just on you. I lied too. I was so upset that you weren’t my soulmate that when you started asking me about what sort of music I listened to and you mentioned a bunch of artists, including the band whose CD I had sent you, I said I didn’t know any of them because I couldn’t handle talking to you right then. I just wanted the conversation to be over. But if I had just told the truth, you probably would have realized who I was. So, this is just as much on me as it is on you.”

“Thank you.” He placed another kiss in the middle of your forehead and a wave of warmth flowed through you all the way down to your toes. Then he chuckled, “I guess the universe knew we were idiots and needed as much help as we could get. Maybe that’s why we’re still stuck together through every mission and every transfer. Not even the United States Navy is a match for soulmates.”

“I guess not,” you giggled. Then, turning more serious again, you said, “I’m sorry for what I said yesterday. I am lucky to have you as a soulmate. And I’m not disappointed in the slightest.”

“I’m sorry too. I do in fact love my glass and air freshener.”

You rolled your eyes. “You called that glass tacky yesterday…. And you’re not wrong. You don’t have to pretend to like it. I know it’s crap.”

Jake grabbed your shoulders and held you away from him so you could see his face. “I’m not pretending! I really do like it!”

“Why?”

“Because you gave it to me.”

You groaned as a huge smile lit up your face and you playfully slapped his chest. “Oh, God. We’re going to be one of those super mushy, romantic couples that drives everyone crazy with how in love we are, aren’t we?”

“I’m counting on it.” There was absolutely no humor or playfulness in his tone. Just complete sincerity. And as you gazed into his pale green eyes, it felt as if you were staring directly into his soul. It felt as if you were staring directly into your own heart.

Jake’s fingers brushed against your cheek before gently tilting your chin back. Your eyes fluttered shut even before his lips pressed against yours. Before this moment, you thought you knew what a kiss felt like, what love felt like. And yet, nothing you had ever experienced felt anything close to kissing Jake. It was like sticking your finger into an electrical socket but instead of pain, your body vibrated with a euphoric buzz of pleasure.

And as he drew you in closer against his chest, it felt as if your hearts began to sync and beat in time until the two thumps melded into one. There was not a single sliver of doubt left in you. Jake Seresin was your soulmate and you couldn’t be happier about it.

When the two of you finally pulled apart, you continued to gaze into each other's eyes. You reached up and ran your finger across his kiss-swollen lips as you asked, “Well, what now, Jake?”

Jake took your hand and pressed his lips firmly against the back of it before he whispered, “Now, sweetheart, I think we start making up for lost time.”

Taglist: @valoraxxx-blog, @m3laniehearts, @autumnleaves1991-blog, @rule107, @vintageleather, @impossiblebagelcowboyfreak, @slutforadambanks, @americaarse, @reneki, @ynbutbetter , @sugarcoated-lame, @imagineadream, @sadpetalsstuff, @salty-thembo, @rachelizabethgraham, @duckandrobin, @queenbbarnes, @grincheveryday, @uselesslyromantic, @choochoo284, @littlebadariell, @blue-aconite, @thescarletknight2014, @dempy, @nik2blog, @dumb-fawkin-bitch, @shirley2996, @kkrenae, @zebralover, @startrekfangirl2233

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nerdthatsiriuslylovesteaxx · 6 months ago

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Helpless parts 1-10, it's it strange how nothing's changed

Nico was finally allowed to leave the infirmary, he'd been stuck there for three days because of Solace since apparently he 'was about to turn into a puddle of darkness'. He was mainly alone for the most part which was fine with him, but the Apollo kid wouldn't leave him alone half the time, Nico knew it was his job and everything but with the amount of people in the infirmary after the war you would think he has something more important to do. Nico was on his way to cabin 13 when he was intercepted by Annabeth and Percy,

"Hey Nico, it's camp fire time. You can't avoid social situations forever, you might actually enjoy it. Come with us." Percy said brightly almost like there wasn't a war three days ago, Nico was about to decline but for whatever reason decided to go. A decision he was sure he would regret in a hours time but still he replied,

"Sure why not."

***

Nico sat down next to Annabeth, gods what is wrong with me? Nico thought to himself as more people arrived; he was very quickly starting to regret his decision but he thought he'd try to stay. Annabeth gave him a smile and leaned over.

"Nico I promise you'll love it," she said quietly hugging him. Nico normally hated being touched but now it was strangely fine; the only reason Nico stayed was for Annabeth and he did end up kind of enjoying it. Everyone was singing loudly and they all seemed happy, forgetting momentarily about all that happened just a few days ago. Then he heard Will Solace sing, his voice sounded angelic which was surprising for someone so stubborn and annoying but hey people surprise you sometimes he thought to himself. The night passed and Nico was actually happy he had come; as he returned to his cabin with Hazel, but as hard as he tried he couldn't get his mind off of Will Solace.

---

"Morning Haze," Nico said the just as he woke up.

"Here we have a true miracle occurrence the Nico di Angelo is awake before 11am is this the real di Angelo or is it really a fake." Hazel said in a teasing voice, it was nice to be back with her.

"Very funny Hazel," Nico said petting her on the head. "Anyway how much longer do I have with you until you go to back to New Rome?"

"I'm leaving today at 10pm, after campfire." She responded hugging Nico. "I'm gonna go get breakfast, cya later bro." Walking out the door, right after that there's a knock on the door. Nico opens it reluctantly and saw Solace outside the door,

"Great you haven't left yet. Can you come back to the infirmary tonight at 5 and do that every Friday for the rest of the month? I was asking Reyna and Annabeth and they said you'd shadow traveled a lot recently which isn't good for you, also-"

"-No underworldly stuff, just because I'm out of the infirmary doesn't mean I'm okay and I have a bunch of deficiencies. Solace I know, you don't have to worry, I'm not too big a fan of passing out myself. Yeah I'll come down at five, I don't see any use coming till the end of the month but you're too stubborn and I do not have the energy to argue with you today." Nico finishes his sentence,

"Okay great, that was surprisingly easy. Bye Nico I'll see you this afternoon." He says smiling as he closes the door behind him, Nico realised that he was smiling and cursed under his breathe in Italian. There is no way he liked that annoying doctor but the only thing he could think about were his bright blue eyes and how they look like the ocean. How his hair was perfectly golden and he was almost glowing in the sunlight, fuck, no, he couldn't do this again. He couldn't like anyone again, that would mean he has to tell people, what if they abandoned him? These are the times he sadly requires advice from Jason Grace.

***

Nico knocked on the door of his cabin hoping he hadn't left yet, he get lucky.

"Hey Grace, can I talk to you?" Nico asked stepping inside, Jason was (aside from Percy and Annabeth) the only one who knew.

"Yeah sure," Jason said calmly, Nico was thankful he still wanted to talk to him considering last time they tried to have this conversation Nico swore he would never talk to him again.

"Well, um.. I feel like I should tell the rest of the seven and Reyna. Percy and Annabeth already know-" Nico starts but is interrupted by Jason pulling him into a hug.

"Oh sorry, I forgot you don't like being touched I'm just proud of you." Jason say's quickly.

"It's fine, I'm trying to get used to human contact. Just I also wanted to tell you, I like this guy...and he's so stubborn and annoying but at the same time I want him to be mine. It's....Will Solace and I just...yeah." Nico finishes, slightly blushing after and rushing the part about Will Solace.

"Nico I'm so proud of you for wanting to tell them, and if any of them react badly I will personally strike them with lightning while simultaneously getting Percy to drown them. But they won't , these people love and care about you Nico they won't hurt you. As for Will Solace, well I know he's friends with Leo but not much else, I don't really see him much but he's a cool guy. Good luck mate." Jason says keeping his voice stable and calm as always,

"Thank you Jason, I guess I should go and talk to the other five now." Nico says hugging Jason, it was kind of shocking but Jason didn't show his surprise.

“Good luck Nico, I promise it’ll go well.”

“Wait, um, could you please come with me? I was going to ask Annabeth but-“

“Yeah of course I’ll come with you.”And with that the ghost king and Superman were off.

***

“Guys umm… can I talk to you?” Nico said walking up to Reyna, Leo, Hazel, Frank and Piper, finding them sitting under a tree.

“Sure di Angelo, what’s up?” Leo said hiding his shock that Nico di Angelo was willingly talking to someone who wasn’t Hazel, much more with Jason standing beside him. He looked like he was barely breathing so Jason placed a hand on his shoulder, whispering something in his ear. Nico (much to Leo’s surprise) smiled and continued, “Well….shit.., Jason I can't.” Nico says shaking.

"Breathe di Angelo."

"I fucking can't, what if they-"

"-I promise they won't react badly."

"That's what I thought about- doesn't matter."

"I know it's hard, especially after living in the 1930s for most of your childhood. Nico, are you sure you want to tell everyone, you're shaking."

"I SAW PEOPLE GET KILLED FOR IT, what....what if they hate me?"

"You don't have to tell them if you don't want to."

"I want to I'm just, scared."

"They care about you di Angelo, I swear on the River of Styx they won't hate you." Nico took a deap breath and continued.

"I'm..I'm gay.." he tenses up, waiting for someone to call him a fag and yell that he was going to burn and potentially try to kill him. After no such reaction he continued,"Also I may or may not have fallen for that insufferable doctor, Solace. Percy and Annabeth already know,” Nico turns around and hugs Jason,

“Good job Nico; damn three hugs in one day. You’re progressing,” Nico was tempted to yell ‘shut up Grace’ but decided against it. He broke the hug with Jason after he was able to keep his breathing under control, suddenly he was suffocated by a hug from Piper and Hazel

“Can’t. Breathe.” Nico muttered quietly and the girls let go,

“Thank you for telling us,” Piper said “I’ll look into Will for you.” She grinned walking off giving the siblings some privacy,

“I proud of you for telling us.” Hazel said hiding a grin,

“You don't hate me? You already knew didn’t you?” Nico asks,

“Well I had some suspicions.” Hazel said smiling,

“How? I didn’t talk to anyone?” Nico says failing to suppress his laughter,

“Younger sister magic. Also Nico why would I hate you?"

"Bianca..."

"Nico, you're my brother, I couldn't hate you. I can't imagine what you've gone through but I'll always be here for you."

"Thank you Hazel, I love you."

"Love you to bro." Hazel smiled and kissed Nico on the cheek, by then Jason was talking to Leo.

“Nico, I’m proud of you. Hope Solace likes you back, maybe impress him with Jules-Albert. If anyone hurts you because of it then I will send the Roman Legions on them. ” Reyna said, messing up his long black hair that went a couple of inches past his shoulders before leaving not giving Nico time to reply. Nico smiled, pathetic, I haven't smiled this much since I was ten year old he thought to himself.

"Di Angelo! I'm warning you about Will, his sense of humor is worse than mine and Percy's combined and do not and I mean do not ask him to sing unless you are prepared to listen to him for three hours. Also um.. good job on telling us," Leo said patting Nico on the back.

"Thanks for the advice Valdez, but I'm not sure it is possible for someone to have a worse sense of humor than you." Nico said bluntly yet still smirking,

"Good luck on Solace, Nico. Proud of you for telling us, if anyone ever gives you shit I'll turn into a poisonous snake and kill them. Everyone will think it was an accident." Frank says so seriously that Nico almost shakes, Nico has to look up to meet his eye. Frank was a foot taller than him,

"Thanks Frank, but let's try to avoid murder for now." Nico smiled, this was going much better than he expected.

"Thanks for coming with me Grace." Nico said,

"No problem Nico, I'll catch you later yeah?

***

It was almost five and Nico had embarrassingly spent the whole day thinking about Will Solace, he was stubborn and got on his nerve but he was cute in a way. Nico headed to the infirmary where Will Solace stood there waiting for him,

"Hey Nico." Wil called out brightly,

"Hello Solace." Nico said coldly, this Apollo kid could not know anything. Will did the routine of lecturing him about how he needs to eat more, his severe vitiam D deficiencies, iron deficiencies and about twenty more that could never remember.

"Okay so, I'm giving you some vitamins. Take this one with breakfast and the blue one before you sleep, also I looked through the tests you did. You have PTSD and depression, I would recommend therapy but then you would send an army of skeletons after me, pass out and potentially die and I really don't want you to die. I think we have reached a level of kind of friendship and would not like you to die right now, take one of these a day first thing in the morning with water before you eat anything." Will said walking around the room picking up three different containers and placing them on a table in front of Nico.

"Solace I'm fine. I'm not taking them." Nico spoke bluntly,

"Yes you are, doctors orders. I will be telling your sister to make sure you take them and after she leaves I'll make sure you do." Will respond firmly,

"Solace you aren't my father, I don't need you checking in on me. I won’t take them, I am fine." Nico said avoiding eye contact as the blonde boy towered over him.

"Nico di Angelo, it is my job to make sure you are healthy. I do not care whether you like it or not, you need to take the medication. I don't care if I have to shove it down your throat, I can't have you dying on me di Angelo so take the fucking pills. Please for the love of Apollo or I guess Hades just take it, I don't care how much you say you're okay, you are not. Do you know how many times I have considered putting you in the infirmary on an IV because you looked like you wouldn't last another day? Have you even eaten today Nico? It may seem shocking to you but I actually care about you, I don't want you to drop dead." Will finishes, his usual gentle voice lost replaced with a shaking yet harsh one."Shit, Nico I'm really sorry I just, I'm really concerned about you. Please just take the pills, doctors orders." Will replies in his usual gentleness.

"Okay I'll take them, I swear I'm trying to eat more it's just I forget I need to. Spending years with ghosts and then trapped in that jar I always forget I'm meant to eat." Nico whispered, he was actually trying to eat, but it just makes him feel sick.

"It's at dinner I'll sit with you and Hazel at the Hades table." said Will.

"I thought you weren't allowed to do that?" Nico wondered.

"For medical purposes, I am." Will added simply, Nico didn't argue after that. Seeing Will speaking in that harsh voice, it made him seem more real. He didn't want to admit it but after that he wanted him even more.

***

They walked to the Hades table,

"Oh hey, Will Solace right? I thought you were an Apollo kids, why are you sitting at Hades?" Hazel asked,

"Medical reasons; you're Hazel I presuming?" Will responded, after that they started talking. They got on quite well. With Will there Nico felt more pressured to eat, even then he barley finished half a plate. "It's getting better, just try to eat a bit more each day. I'll see you at campfire, yeah Nico?" Will said before walking away.

"So that's loverboy?" Hazel grinned as Nico tried to hide his blushing,

"Shut up Hazel, there's no chance he likes me." Nico responded softly, looking down. "Especially after today, I'll see you at campfire Haze." He finished before leaving.

***

"Gods Will, just tell him." Annabeth sighed,

"There's no chance he likes me back. I quite literally yelled at him today because he wasn't taking his medication."

"Will, please if Nico di Angelo was going to get scared by yelling he would not have survived Tartarus."

"I know but what if he's straight?" What if he was homophobic.....he was from the 30s...Nico probably didn't know he was bi since he was never at camp constantly. Will didn't say anything to Annabeth but the thought was in the back of his mind. Annabeth thought quickly, she didn't want to out Nico but also he didn't want Will to think he had no chance, he'd been pining over Nico for so long it was kind of hopeless.

"You won't know until you talk to him Will."

"I swear he hates me, he won't even say we're friends."

"Will, Nico does not hate you. If he did he would have made that very clear."

"But-"

"I promise he doesn't hate you Will, trust me."

"Okay Annabeth I trust you, but I still think there is no chance Nico di Angelo, the living embodiment of darkness will ever fall for the son of Appollo." With that Will walked off to the infirmary, just as Percy and Jason came running in.

"Hey Wise Girl." Percy said while kissing her,

"Hi Seaweed brain." Annabeth replied as she messed up his hair,

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I did want to tell you two something." Jason said, "Nico came out to the rest of the group today as well as Reyna. "

"Wait really? Gods I'm so proud of him." Annabeth said, she felt a strange amount of protectiveness over the son of Hades. He'd gone through so much and she was so proud of him for telling everyone.

"I'm guessing I'm still not his type? Wait there's no one I need to drown right? Because I gladly will drown anyone if required,"

"Thankfully no, but I did also offere to strike anyone with lighting if required." Jason responded as he and Percy high fived. Piper walked towards them after leaving a group of Aphrodite kids, she had a look in her eyes which Annabeth could only assume meant she was planning something.

"Guys so you know how Nico likes Will-"

"Wait what?" Annabeth said shocked.

"Nico said you and Percy already knew?" Piper said extremely confused,

"So his type is blondes? " Percy asked,

"Well um..anyways what's the chance that they get together? I need to hear your predictions, Aphrodite kid tradition except they don't know this time so I thought I would ask you guys."

"80%" Percy and Jason said in unison before Annabeth just smiled and said,

"100" and walking off.

"Anyways bye you two, I should probably go and help plan that date for Clarisse and Chris. I told Clarisse we would have it planned by campfire." She said kissing Jason and walking back to where her siblings were.

"Bro I bet I can beat you in a sword fight right now." Jason said,

"Not a chance, your on. No prep time allowed."

"Let's go then."

Percy and Jason both ran off to the forest likely going to do something extremely stupid and probably electrocute a few people but honestly no one cares as their fights were some of the most exciting things to watch.

***

Will was headed back to the infirmary until he saw a very stuck Leo laying under what looked like 3 tonnes of metal, Will could barely lift it but managed to life it up enough for Leo to get out. Thankfully he was extremely scrawny so that didn't require much lifting,

"Leo I just have one question, why were you laying under sheets of metal? Also infirmary, now. I very much doubt that you don't have a single broken bone after having something tripple your weight laying on top of you." Will asked mildly concerned yet laughing.

"Well I was carrying metal sheets to the forest on Festus so I could make a guard around everyone else when Jason and Percy fight because while it is fun to watch people also do not like getting drenched apparently. Who would have thought? But turns out duct tape was not the answer this time and a few of them fell on me." Leo explained as they walked to the infirmary.

"Duct tape has let you down, I hope you can recover from this sense of betrayal Leo."

"I don't know man I just didn't think I would ever be betrayed so deeply." They both burst out into laughter as they reach the infirmary. They walk into a room

"I'm going to take a guess and say your leg isn't broken considering you walked here but still is there any pain?" Will asked him,

"Just a bit in my arms but like that's it mate, I think I'm fine."

Will feels the bones on Leo's arm's checking for any broken bones.

"Well your definition of fine is quite different to mine considering you've broken your left wrist, and your right arm is fractured in two places." Leo cracked a smile, like he didn't feel any pain.

Will hands him some ambrosia,

"Leo, you know how you managed to make an immortal girl to like you? Specifically one that hated you?"

"If you want romantic advice you have come to the wrong person, I'll try to help but like I have no clue how I got Calypso. I think she liked me more when I stopped talking to her and I don't think that normally has the same effect on most people. "

"You're the only person I know who has managed to make someone go from hating you to loving you so I'm gonna take my chances."

"Sure mate I'll try," Leo laughed as he pulled something out of his pocket and started mindlessly fiddling.

"Well, I need to make Nico di Angelo stop hating me."

"You're gay? Was I meant to know this information pre-hand because you are acting like you have told me this before." Leo asked, looking slightly confused.

"I'm bi, it was probably before you came to camp when I came out, but basically the whole camp knows." Will said, for better or worse he thought but didn't tell Leo that.

"Yeah probably, now I'm giving you a heads up before you continue. If Nico hated you, you would be dead by now so you already have that section cleared." Leo said grinning.

"Well how exactly do I change from kind of not hating to hopelessly in love with me?"

"Mate I'm barley passed the I will kill you on the spot stage, but I guess show him you care. Jason said that's what he did and I think it worked out pretty well for him."

“Thanks mate, if you want you can leave the infirmary but no life risking events or anything that requires your hands for 24 hours.”

“I’ll try but no promises mate," Leo said laughing as he walked out."I'll catch you at campfire, yeah?"

"I'll see you there Valdez." Will nodded as Leo walked out the door likely getting himself severely injured, Will knew that he would probably get himself hurt again, Leo was like a magnetic for injuries.

***

The Ghost King finally stands up and splashes his face with some cold water as he started to clean up, no one needed to know. He would be fine, it'll go away soon enough. Every single time he had eaten since being in that jar he had thrown up, his eating had never been very stable but ever since the jar it had gotten a lot worse. When he was on the Argo II he had mostly gotten away with not eating but now with Will Solace watching over him like a hawk he would actually have to eat, Nico hoped he wouldn't realise but he probably would soon enough. Still there was no reason for him to find out any earlier than that, maybe if he got lucky it would fix itself and no one would know but Nico had learnt to not test his luck as it could always get worse. He had left the table as soon as he could and hoped that Hazel wouldn't come back to the cabin too soon.

***

"Good match Jace," Percy sighed, struggling to catch his breath after their fight. They did this a lot to fill in boring parts of the day, or to put on a show. It was also a great way to get your mind off of the last few years when you are nearly killing your friends for fun, the healers had given them many lectures about electrocuting and drowning each other many times but hey they weren't dead yet so they must be doing something right.

"Back at you bro." Jason said putting his shirt back on, "Percy I just realised. We don't have a ship name for Will and Nico, wait Will is bi right? I think I overheard someone talking about it before we went to New Rome."

"Yeah, Annabeth told me that he came out to the whole camp a few days before you, Leo and Pipes came. Now ship names....Wilco?

"Bro that's a terrible ship name, come on we can do better mate."

They both thought for a solid 10 minutes until Jason faceplamed and said,

"Bro, Solangelo, it's so simple yet so perfect."

"Did it really just take us that long to think of that?"

"We've lost our touch bro."

The two boys were laughing as they walked back out of the forest to join the rest of the camp for campfire.

***

Nico had regrettably made the decision to show up at campfire, later making the even worse one to sit with Percy Jackson. He didn't realise how bad of an idea this was until he heard Percy sing, it sounded kind of like a dying bird. Sadly Nico had a lot of experience with dying animals and thought that it almost sounded worse. The hour was going by, then Will started to sing again. Nico didn't know the song, he just watched Will. The light from the hearth made his blonde hair almost glow, his blue eyes were so bright they reminded him of the ocean. His voice was spinning though the cold wind, Nico couldn't control himself, he stared at the Apollo boy until he finished singing. He was there laughing with the rest of his cabin, Nico looked away before Will found out he was looking.

***

"Bye sis, I'll miss you." Nico said pulling Hazel into a hug,

"I'll miss you to, you'll visit New Rome yeah? Frank, Reyna and I'll miss you."

"Course Haze," Nico said kissing his sister on the forehead and pulling her into a hug. A single tear fell from her eyes as she got on the bus, heading back to New Rome.

"Bye di Angelo, it was nice getting to know you. I hope you visit soon, and good luck with the healer." Reyna said pulling him into a hug, Nico had blushed at the last part.

"Send an Iris message when you get there yeah? I'll miss you Reyna." The Ghost king said holding back tears, over their journey he and Reyna had become close. Nico walked over to where Frank was standing, "Good luck on your new role as Preator Frank. Take care of Hazel while you're at New Rome, if I hear one word that you're hurting her in any way I will make you wish you were dead." He said looking up at the boy,

"Don't worry Nico, I'll take care of her. I'll see you next time yeah." He said before getting on the bus, the sky was dark, covered in stars.

***

Nico woke up shaking, his screams muffled in his pillow. Nightmares, Nico stuck in the Jar, Tartrus, Bianca dying, Hazel hurt, the battle of Manhattan, the last time he talked to Bianca. Everything was so realistic, he couldn't control the tears. Nico checked the clock, 12:07 shit he thought to himself as he took the small pill the blonde boy had given him. He could barely swallow it, he hadn't stopped shaking. The nightmares hadn't been as bad with Hazel there but alone they were so vivid and realistic, he couldn't get the images out of his head. He opened up his bedside table and pulled out a pocket knife, another thing on the list that no one could know. He wanted to die, he was cursed, everything good in his life was overrun by fear and sadness. By the end of the night his is arms were covered in shallow cuts, they would heal soon enough and he knew they wouldn't scar, no one has to know. Nico barely slept the rest of the night, the less sleep he got the less time for nightmares.

---

Nico woke up to a loud knock on the door, he had slept in his jeans and camp shirt so he just put on his jacket and ran his fingers through his hair before opening the door. Standing there, with far to much energy for someone to have in the morning: Will Solace.

"What in the Hades are you doing here Solace?" Nico asked rubbing his eyes before spotting the sun towards the east, well it wasn't past 12, truly a miracle. "And what time is it?"

"It's 9:30 and I am here to make sure you take your meds, it's protocol to make sure it's been taken."

Nico rolled his eyes as he grabbed the container that was next to his bed as well as a glass of water that he had left there, as he swallowed he said.

"Happy now Solace?"

"I told you it's protocol, normally we get someone else from the cabin to check but Hazel went to New Rome."

"Aren't you head? Doesn't that mean you made the protocol?" Will put his finger to his lip before responding with,

"Bye Nico, I'll wait for you at the Hades table for breakfast. Oh and watch out for Piper, she is insistent on taking you shopping and Chiron already agreed to letting her take you." He said as he walked out the door. Nico sighed, well there was no chance he was getting out of something if Piper wanted him to do it. He needed a new jacket anyways.

***

Will had annoyingly made sure Nico got food, he picked up a single slice of toast and was forcing himself to eat.

"Neeks don't forget to take the other one as well."

"Don't call me Neeks." He said grumbling as he put the pill in his mouth and swallowed.

"It's a cute nickname."

"Would you like an army of skeletons chasing you? Is that cute enough?"

"No underworldly stuff Neeks, or else-"

"You're kidnapping me and locking me in the infirmary again."

"Exactly." Will smiled resisting the urge to ruffle the Ghost Kings long hair. Then Piper ran up to them,

"Nico I'm taking you shopping today. You can't stop me, I've already asked Chiron and he agrees you need more social interaction." Nico gave her dagger eyes, the Apollo kid had already left to go to the infirmary seemly please with Nico's eating. "Also you need a haircut-"

"Not a chance McLean, I do not trust those people."

"Nico it'll be fine, unless you would rather me cut it."

"No chance."

"One or the other, come on di Angelo. Son of Hades scared of a haircut?"

"Oh fuck you McLean."

"You aren't denying it...."Piper grinned as Nico thought about his options, he knew he wasn't getting away, Piper would probably charmspeak him into getting it cut anyways so there's no point resisting.

"I hate you so much McLean, either way I trust you more." Nico sighed, Piper's face lit up.

"You're the best Nico, trust me I know what I'm doing. Oh you're still not getting out of shopping by the way, you need to own something that isn't black."

"I don't think I do,"

"You act like you're allergic to colour I swear, hey you might even enjoy it."

"Impossible."

"We can go to McDonalds? I remember Percy saying something about you loving that place."

Nico considered the offer, it had been two year's since he had gone to McDonalds. He was almost certain Piper had charmspoke him considering after that offer he agreed.

"Great, I'll meet you at thirteen in an hour." Piper said before walking off to celebrate her success with Jason. Then he reaslied what he agreed to, Piper would probably find out about his eating thing. Fuck. At that point though there was no going back, 'well let's hope that Piper McLean can keep a secret.' he thought before walking to the Hades cabin and throwing up everything he had eaten. He still thought it was a miracle no one had found out, he always made sure to be in his cabin before it happened. People worry about him enough already, he didn't need them worrying even more, he would be fine, it would fix itself.

***

Nico heard a knock and went to open the door, Piper looked back at him with a smile.

"Hey McLean, please do not make me regret this."

"Trust me you won't Nico, and you do realise that people have first names right?" Piper smiled as she walked inside; Nico rolled his eyes at the comment and closed the door. As they walked inside the bathroom the Aphrodite girl pulled out some scissors, a comb and a spray bottle filled with water. "Okay so since your hair is straight so it'll be easier to cut while it's wet, I'll cut it to around your shoulders and add some layers, any objections?"

"You forced me into this, I'm hoping you know what you're doing."

"You have so much confidence in me, why are you so against getting your hair cut anyway? I'm genuinely curious."

"Reason."

"Great explanation." Piper muttered as she started brushing Nico's hair, it was soft and wasn't that thick but not thin either.

"Last time I got it cut was like two years ago, I asked for it to but cut around my shoulders and this bitch cut it shorter than Jason's saying it 'Wasn't right' so now I refuse to have it shorter than my collar to spite her."

"I'm surprised you didn't kill her, I probably would have." Piper laughed as she continued brushing,

"Well social anxiety is a real bitch." Nico smiled as he said it. The daughter of Aphrodite started to spray his hair with water and cutting carefully half an inch above his shoulder and adding layers into it. Nico stood perfectly still the whole time, neither talked until Piper had finished.

"So di Angelo, thoughts?" Piper asked,

"You're surprising good at this McLean." Nico smiled, a often a rare occurrence for the child of. Hades yet it had become more common in the last few days.

"Don't be so shocked Nico, my mother is Aphrodite, Goddess of beauty." Piper said as she handed him some hair ties, "You'll need these, I have no clue how you've survived so long with your hair out but you don't have to suffer any longer. Also Will would love it." Piper winked, Nico rolled his eyes.

"Oh leave me be McLean, but thanks for the hair ties." he said as he put them around his wrist. The two cleaned up, Piper started collecting her things and glaced at her watch.

"I'll go get ready, meet you back here in twenty minutes." She said running out of the door, giving Nico just enough time to overthink. Piper had actually done a good job at cutting it, he ran his fingers through it, pulling some part from the sides in front of his face. It was shorter than he was used to but it probably looked more decent, the longer hair had started getting on his nerve either way and he mentally noted to thank Piper for cutting it. He wondered what the Apollo boy would think; he took one of the hair ties off his wrist and tied his hair back, trying to stop thinking about it, before getting ready to be dragged out by Piper. He wore the first pair of black jeans he saw with a black T-shirt and his aviator jacket, he suspected the colour may be making less of an appearance in his closest after Piper was done.

***

The two stepped into a mall in New York that Nico could not bother to remember the name of, Piper grabbed his hand dragging him through the mall. Nico constantly reminded himself that human contact would not kill him and that it was probably a good thing Piper was dragging him along considering he had no idea where he was going.

"I still don't understand why I couldn't just shadow travel us here."

"Will threatend to kill me and Chiron if we let you shadow travel."

"Of course it was Solace, I would expect nothing less from him." The son of Hades said, rolling his eyes. The two demigods walked through the stores both trying on different clothes and Piper this time failing to convince Nico to get anything that wasn't black. All while Piper teased him about a certain son of Apollo,

"Be realistic Piper, he's probably straight anyways."

"No he's not actually, he's bi. Leo was going to tell you but he couldn't find you, apparently the rest of Camp knows." Nico's face lit up for a second before looking back down.

"There's still no chance. He is literally the embodiment of sunshine, I am the child of Hades, God of the fucking Underworld. There is no sunlight there."

"Nico he clearly cares about you."

"It's his job."

"But he checks in on you so much more than anyone else."

"Because he doesn't trust me to stay alive."

"If he didn't trust you to be alive he would have kept you in the infirmary."

"There's still no chance he likes me."

"You're the only one who thinks that Nico, he gave you a nickname for Aphrodite's sake. He doesn't do that with anyone else who is 'just a patient'"

"He did that to get on my nerve."

"Gods you're so dense, wanna go to McDonald's now?"

"Oh, sure." Nico said trying to hide the shake in his voice.

"Oh and di Angelo, Will threatened to kill me if I didn't make you eat a full meal so yeah."

"Of course he did."

***

They finished ordering, Piper had only gotten some fries and a drink because apparently the vegetarian options 'were so bad they tasted like grass'. Nico just nodded, not pointing out the fact that not ten minutes ago she was threatening him to eat a full meal today because Will would kill her if he didn't and here she was barely eating herself.

"Number 57!" Nico walked up and grabbed the tray, he breathed in deeply. He'll be okay, if he acted calm then he could play it off. He would just walk off for a bit, Piper didn't have to know. The two started to eat, it still tasted as good as Nico remember but he could barely get anything down his throat. He already felt sick but he knew he could withstand at least another five minutes without throwing up, he tried to keep conversation to a minimum putting all his energy into seeming fine. After another few minutes passed, then Nico muttered,

"Bathroom." Before walking away, he tried to keep his pace normal but already knew he was walking away too fast and Piper would know something was up. He quickly walked inside and was extremely thankful the bathroom was empty, he went into the stall furthest away from the door. He threw up everything he had eaten like countless other times, at that point he was just hoping no one would walk in. He cleaned himself up a bit and headed back towards Piper,

"Okay tell me. What happened?"

"What?"

"I know something happened, you're biting your nails and you looked sick before. Also you practically ran and you look nervous."

"Nothing happened."

"Nico don't lie, I know something happened. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Piper desperately wanted to know what had happened to the Hades boy but she knew when to stop pushing, she didn't want to charmspeak it out of him, that's purely invasive. He'll tell when he's ready.

"Come on, I want to do something I'll regret in a week."

"Which is...?"

"I'm getting my ears pierced."

"Oh my Gods, yes. That is an amazing idea; if they say you look too young to do it without parents concent, I'll charmspeak them."

"Thanks McLean, didn't particularly like the plan of asking the God of the Underworld to come to a mall in New York." Nico was relieved Piper had either forgotten to continue interrogating him or was leaving the topic for now, he had been meaning to do this at some point either way and this seemed like a good occasion.

***

Piper had to do some charmspeaking, but finally Nico had gotten them done. He decided to get doubles since he was going to regret it anyway might as well go all out, he hadn't even flinched when it happened. After that they went to a few more stores and Piper finally convinced him to get something that wasn't black, instead a very dark blue.

"I would ask if you are actually allergic to bright colours except I've seen you in a bright red shirt so that clearly isn't the case."

"I just like black, is there a problem?"

"It makes you look like the Grim Reaper."

"I was hoping for that."

"You're hopeless di Angelo."

"Finally you're giving up, took you long enough."

"Nope, simply stating facts. If I can bring a metal dragon to life I can make you look less like a ghost without the use of charmspeaking." Turns out however that she could not, maybe some tasks really were impossible.

"I'll shadow travel us back, it's not that far."

"Nico, I would get killed by your loverboy if you did that. We'll just take the-"

"That is probably more dangerous if we're being perfectly honest, also shut up."

"Never. By the way not that many people died, it was-" but the daughter of Aphrodite didn't have time to finish. A wooden club hit her over the head, Nico cursed under his breath and pulled out the only weapon he had, a small pocket knife, he knew he couldn't do much against a fully grown cyclopes. He didn't know where it had come from but that wasn't important, the monster had probably found them because of his blood, children of the big three were the easiest to be tracked by monsters. He had skeletons but there is no way he could stab it with the celestial bronze blade, Piper had passed out and was bleeding on the floor. Meanwhile Nico was struggling to not get hit by the 15 foot cyclopes, he didn't know what everyone else had seen but they didn't pay much attention. He raised a few skeletons to try and keep it in place, he felt himself getting weaker. He knew he shouldn't be doing these things but he was fine for those years he was alone, he would survive now. Piper had lost a lot of blood, he didn't know how well this would go, he had some squares of ambrosia but couldn't get it to her without dying. There was nothing else he could do, he grabbed her wrist and shadow traveled back to camp, but still got hit with the club before he was gone. His head hurt and he tasted blood in his mouth, he collapsed as he showed up somewhere in front of cabin 13.

---

"Nico, God's you scared us."

"What? Am I in the infirimry? Is Piper okay?" He said barely able to speak, coughing after each word.

"Piper woke up in an hour, you've been out for three days Death boy."

"Don't call me that, wait WHAT? I've been out for three days?"

"Try to breathe, I'll get you some water and then I'll explain." The blonde boy walked of and Nico tried to comprehend what had just happened, he'd passed out for three days. Shit, what had happened with the cyclops. Solace had returned with a glass of water and handed it to Nico after he had sat up, "Jason's been worried sick about you, I finally forced him outside today to get some food. You had a concussion and you were practically dead, I forced as much necter down your throat as I could without killing you."

"I didn't kill the cyclops, what happened after?" Nico coughed as he spoke, Will ruffled his hair.

"Neeks it was handled, but right now that isn't important. Three days rest in the infirmary, no underworldy things for 11 weeks 6 for this time, 5 for last time. I'll go and get you some food it'll probably help. Also I'll get Jason, he's hasn't slept for the past three days and would kill me if I didn't tell him instantly." Nico wanted to protest but he physically couldn't, he just nodded as the golden boy walked off. He wondered how longs Jason had been waiting and instantly felt guilty, he also desperately wanted to see Piper to make sure she was okay but right now he could barely breath. Jason ran into the room wrapping his arms around Nico,

"I was so fucking scared di Angelo, I thought you were dead."

"S-sorry.." Nico muttered,

"What are you apologising for?"

"Will told me you haven't slept for three days."

"Well yeah, I was worried about you, not exactly your fault you got attacked. Nico you don't know how bad it looked, you we're laying on the floor covered in blood with Piper on top of you. When we first took you to the infirmary sometimes you would go through solid objects like you were turning into a shadow, you had a broken arm and were barely breathing. Fucking hell Nico I'm so happy you're alive."

"Is Piper okay?"

"Yeah she's fine, just gave her a bit of ambrosia and she woke up. She's been beating herself up over not noticing the cylopese before though."

"That's what she's worried-" Nico started coughing violently before he managed to drink some water, before wincing at the pain in his ribs.

"Nico! Are you okay?" A mixture of fear and panic washed over Jason's face,

"Fine. Go back to dinner, you look like you haven't eaten in far to long."

"Irony," Jason smirked before walking out the door.

***

The Apollo boy walked in carrying two plates of food, placing one on an empty table and handing the other one to Nico.

"Neeks you okay?"

"Hurts...to...breathe." The blonde boy quickly walked up to Nico lifting his shirt and touching his torso feeling his ribs, the son of Hades flinched at the contact.

"Sorry," Will said, yet still keeping his hands on the small boy.

"Still getting used to human contact." Nico mumbled, the Apollo boys hand was warm on his skin.

"Shit, Neeks. It's broken, I should have checked but I completely forgot with the whole passing through solid objects and hoping you would wake up. I'm really sorry." He pushed on the bones a bit, it hurt but Nico showed no reaction. Then he started softly singing a hymn, Nico felt warmth rushing over his body. He exhaled softly as the blonde boy that he just realised had been faintly glowing faded, he lifted his hands off leaving Nico's skin warm. "That should have fixed it," Will said as his bright blue eyes locked with Nico's. "You okay Neeks?"

"Yeah, fine." Nico muttered realising he had just frozen, he quickly grabbed his shirt and pulling it down before starting to process the fact that Will Solace can heal when he sings and glows.

"You seem surprised," Will noted, he was as well, his healing had been less reliable after the Gods disappeared for months.

"YOU HEAL PEOPLE SINGING? FUCKING SINGING OF ALL THINGS?!?" Nico said in pure shock,

"Apollo's the God of music, healing and the Sun..?"

"But just imagine if you get stabbed and someone just starts singing."

"It makes more sense on paper okay!" Will says raising his hands in surrender, "Nico you should probably eat something, you've been on an IV for three days." Nico glanced over realising the needle was in his arm.

"I'm not hungry." Nico muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Wil to hear.

"Neeks you haven't eaten in three days, just try to eat something. It'll make you feel better, you'll need it." Nico knew that he wouldn't be able to keep anything down, but maybe if he acted right he could play it off as a one time thing, he just felt bad this time thing. Will started eating an apple,

"What happened to an apple a day keeps the doctor away?" Nico smirked, before forcing himself to take a bite of a sandwich and instantly regretted it. Will just smiled and rolled his eyes at the comment; Nico kept forcing himself to eat, no matter how sick he felt. He was hoping that Will would leave soon but doubted he would be that lucky, the Apollo kid seemed insistent on keeping him company. Will looked over to the small boy realising how sick he looked,

"Neeks you alright?" Nico just shook his head, Will quickly handed him the closest bin and held back Nico's hair as he threw up the sandwhich he had just forced himself to eat.

"Cazzo." He muttered under his breath, normally he could force himself to last a bit longer but after the last three days he couldn't handle it. Will gave him a glass of water before sitting down on the bed next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. After a few minutes he ran his fingers through Nico's hair, taking out every tangel.

"Di Angelo, you should probably get some rest, it should help you feel better. Tomorrow morning see if you can eat anything, we'll keep you on the IV for now." Nico just nodded already half asleep leaning against the blonde boy. Will lifted up the sleeping boy with ease, laying him on the bed. He was too light, he weighed 90 pounds at the very most which was dangerously underweight. Will made a mental note to talk to him more about that; he looked at the small boy laying there. He seemed so peaceful, he had gone through so much, this was the first time Will had seen him relaxed, even in his sleep. Last time he'd been in the infirmary he had slept for most of it but he always seemed ready to attack or run, Will couldn't help but smile at him. He flicked off the lights and checked his watch, 8:42, that meant he would have some time to talk to Annabeth before campfire.

***

"How's he doing?"

"He woke up today, turns out he had a broken rib and I didn't fucking realise."

"Will, he almost died. You were panicking, you helped him in the end, don't beat yourself up."

"It's a fucking broken rib not a paper cut."

"I know and normally I would be scolding you over it but this is a different situation, anyway any progress?"

"Well I mean he didn't threaten to kill me when I touched him and he talked to me so that's something I think...?"

"See he doesn't hate you!" She says punching him in the shoulder lightly,

"He's so fucking hot, how the Hades is someone allowed to be that hot?"

"Damn Solace, you're more obsessed than I thought."

"No shit. Also how do I get past the 'I won't kill you but I don't like you very much' stage?

"Try to talk to him, make him play 20 questions with you? Then he can interrogate you while you interrogate him, but also have few skips. He's gone through a lot, you don't want to force him to answer if he doesn't feel comfortable."

"Thanks for the advice Anni-Annabeth." He catches himself before using the nickname, he knows it's the one Luke always used.

"No problem Will, I wish you the best of luck in not getting killed."

"Hopefully I won't need it." he sighed with a smile before walking off to join his siblings. Annabeth smiled to herself, this would be entertaining. It was honestly painful to watch them pining over each other like this much while being so clueless about the other, it took all of her willpower to not lock them in a room together until they kissed.

---

"Morning Death boy." Will smiled as Nico got up,

"So creative, how long did it take for you to think of that?"

"Would you prefer Neeks? Or Doom and Gloom?"

"You are a child, Sunshine."

"Wow Nico di Angelo has discovered nicknames; anyways how do you feel?" It still surprised Nico how quickly Will could go from joking around to very much serious,

"I'm fine."

"Do you think you can eat anything?" Nico shook his head, as Will checked his pulse and breathing before taking out the IV needle. "Neeks I'm gonna take a blood sample, we need to see if the underworldly things have any other effects." Nico nodded but Will noticed the uncomfort on his face, he decided not to point it out but made a mental note. Nico didn't flinch at the needle but he looked like he was re-living something, Will didn't ask but wished he knew. "You feel alright to get up?"

"Yeah,"

"Great we're going outside, you need sunlight."Nico muttered something under his breath not loud enough for Will to hear.

"Aren't I on infirmary arrest?"

"Technically no, but it's either stay in the infirmary or have a healer with you at all times right now."

"Amazing," Nico grumbled following Will outside towards the edge of the forest.

***

"So Solace what exactly are we doing?"

"Down to play twenty questions?" Nico considered the offer and smirked,

"Sure." The two sat down next to each other on a log.

"Two skips each, but they get replaced with other questions."

"What's something that isn't a secret but most people don't know about you?" He was ridiculously bored and thought he could use this game to his advantage.

"I'm not actually blonde."

"Explain. Now."

"I was brunette but when I got claimed any part of my hair that was in the sun turned blonde." He pulled out a piece of his hair that wasn't normally visible, it was a light chesnut brown colour.

"Well that's shocking, you know when I asked that question that was not an answer I was expecting."

"I'm a mysterious person di Angelo, now, do you have any exes?"

"Solace I spend most of my time avoiding people."

"In hindsight that was a pretty dumb question."

"Too late, if you had to kill all the people in one cabin which one would it be?"

"Demeter. That was a bit of a violent question." He tried to play it off but his answer had been so quick and confident Nico started to wonder what had happened. "Have you ever drunk?"

"More than you would expect."

"Neeks! You're fourteen, have you ever wondered why there are age restrictions?" Nico just smirked,

"You asked Sun boy, anyways technically I'm older than that. What's the worst crime you have ever committed?"

"Love how you just assume I've committed crimes, but assult. The only reason it wasn't murder is Annabeth pulling me off."

"The fuck Solace, are you going to explain that?"

"I'd rather not, let's just say I was pretty...pissed that day."

"Well that's terrifying."

"I told you I have secrets di Angelo, who's someone you used to care about but now hate?"

"Skip."

"Is it true you liked Annabeth?"

"Really Solace? No it is not, otherwise Percy would have already murdered me."

"Had to ask, the Aphrodite cabin was trying to figure that out for two years."

"Truly incredible, can you fight with a sword?"

"Not in the slightest."

"I'm teaching you, archery will be useless in close combat. You will die in a matter of seconds ."

"You have so much confidence in me Neeks, but thanks for the offer."

"Wasn't an offer, more so a kidnapping where I teach you by force how to fight."

"Okay then...do you prefer the 1930s or now?"

"Now, better arcades."

"Great reasoning."

"What's your worst fear?"

"Pass, I would never hear the end of it."

"Can't be that bad."

"You would never shut up about it Neeks, I can guess that much." Nico locked eyes with the blonde boy, he considered the question he was about to ask.

"Do you regret coming out to all of camp?" So he did know, Will thought to himself. He didn't answer instantly but he didn't want to pass it either.

"Well, um.."

"You have skips, you don't have to answer Will." That was the first time Nico had used his actual name, Will desperately wanted to kiss him.

"I want to answer it just, thinking. I'm happy they know and I don't have to hide it but...some people aren't the nicest. Cabin four has the most for whatever reason, they seem to get joy out of making me feel like shit. Most people are nice enough, with the rest, well you get used to it." Nico grabbed his hand,

"Who. Has. Been. Giving. You. Shit? Give me a list, I will make sure they'll never do anything again."

"Neeks it's fine, I don't need you threatening them."

"I'll be doing a lot more than threats Solace, give me a list of every single person who has hurt you."

"Nico it's okay."

"Did I ask? You're a ball of sunshine, no one and I mean no one has any reason to hurt you."

"They do, there's so many people I couldn't save, I killed them. I deserve to suffer because of that, they deserve revenge on me for killing their friends." Will had tears forming in his eyes.

"Will it's not your fault they died, and either way you shouldn't have to go through this."

"Nico, are you straight?" He froze for a second, he had still been holding Will's hand but he didn't want to let go. He was warm, his thumb was stroking his hand warming up the usually freezing Ghost king. After Will had told him so much he couldn't lie, he always had a skip but part of him wanted Will to know.

"..n..no...I'm gay. Not that many people know, the seven and Reyna that's it. Please don't tell anyone." Nico shakes a bit and a few tears fell, he didn’t want to cry in front of him but he couldn’t help it. Will wrapped his free arm around Nico and pulled him closer to himself,

"Thank you for telling me, I know it's hard Neeks."

"How did you tell so many people?"

"Didn't like people assuming things, also I just...didn't want to hide I guess. Still though, I've been too scared to tell my mum, barely seen her since I'm here all year but even if I had the chance to I probably wouldn't tell her. As for the actual time well it was a while after Percy was missing, before Jason, Piper and Leo showed up, campfire, just kinda said if at the end."

"Did anyone know before that?"

"I told Annabeth first but Kayla and Austin found out by themselves pretty quickly. Who was your first crush?"

"Do not hold this against me, it was Percy." Will started grinning,

"Same, half the camp has liked him at this point I swear."

"Half of camp is pathetic."

"You're including yourself in that statement you know."

"I am fully aware, honestly I should have given up on him when I saw him talking to Annabeth the first time."

"Didn't they hate each other for a few years?"

"Hate is a strong word, I prefer to use hopelessly in love and oblivious."

"Lovely wording; I gave up when my brain started working and I realised he is straight."

"You think Percy is straight? Have you talked to him before?"

"Percy isn't straight?!"

"With the way he talked about Luke? Not a chance, and that was after he betrayed him. I can only imagine him pining over him at the age of twelve, completely oblivious, then also being hopelessly in love with Annabeth and being a helpless simp once more."

"So you are telling me Percy Jackson liked Luke Castellan, aka. the person who tried to kill him multiple times?"

"When he was twelve definitely, at least in the way he talked about what he was like before when I met him. Don't know if he realised it then, but he is not straight. You haven't seen him and Jason talk, if I didn't know how much he loved Annabeth, going to Taturus with her I would have been sure they're secretly dating."

"The more you know I guess. What's something you can do that no one knows about?"

"I can braid hair, I mean Hazel knows that but still."

"Emo Death boy can braid hair."

"Firstly, I'm not emo."

"Keep thinking that Neeks."

"Secondly, this is why I don't tell people this."

"Honestly the fact you can braid hair is adorable, also it proves that you are no where near as scary as you think."

"I could kill you right now."

"You sure about that di Angelo? Right now you can't do much without melting into a puddle of darkness, you're just a nerd that's pretending to be dark and mysterious."

"Oh shut up Solace."

"Never."

"Have you been on a quest?"

"Nope, I just try to prevent deaths after them."

"How many languages can you speak?"

"Wait give me a second, Itallian, Greek moderen and ancient, Latin, English, French, Spanish, Swedish, Portuguese, Polish, Finnish, German and Dutch. So that's twelve and a half I'm fluet in and I'm trying to teach myself Russian and Japanese." He said counting them off on his fingers

"Gods Nico, what exactly do you do with your free time?"

"Well first four are pretty obvious but Bianca taught me French and Swedish and the rest I've taught myself, writing's hell with dyslexia but I've survived. It's a pretty useful skill when you randomly show up in different countries."

"I can barely speak English properly half the time!"

"That sounds like a problem on your side Sunshine." He said messing up the blonde boys hair, Will desperately tried to hide his blushing. "Have you ever passed out because you healed too many people?"

"Yeah, happens quite a bit." Nico slapped him, not that hard but hard enough for it to hurt. "Hey what was that for?"

"You can't be overworking yourself like that Solace, you're a doctor for Zeus's sake. What help is it going to be if you pass out while healing someone?"

"It's the most effective way, plus I get more people healed."

"So let me get this straight, you risk your own health while telling people not to?"

"Okay when you put it that way-"

"Yeah it sounds bad! Please do not do that, can't have you dying on me Solace"

"I thought you were plotting to kill me anyways?"

"Exactly, can't have you dying before I kill you myself."

"Sure di Angelo, have you ever killed anyone?"

"Pass." He had become friendly with Will, he didn't need anyone else leaving him.

"Cats or dogs?"

"Do hellhounds count? I have a pet hellhound called Mrs O'Leary."

"Was that a gift from Hades?"

"Nope, from Percy."

"Wait what? I'm just going to accept that at this point."

"Good idea, I wasn't planning to explain."

"Course you weren't," Will checked his watch. "Come on Neeks, it's time for lunch, we got through ten questions each, same time tomorrow?"

"I don't have a choice do I?"

"Nope; head to the infirmary I'll get you some food."

"I'm not hungry."

"You haven't eaten for a few days, just try to eat a few bites."

"Fine.." Nico muttered before walking off to the infirmary.

***

----------

I really hope this helps peeps :)

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no-phrogs-in-hats · 2 years ago

Text

If I could Turn Back Time

Larissa Weems x fem!reader

Warnings: Argument with your mother

Chapter 13

I was pulled from my doze by voices. Opening my eyes, through the dim light of lamps, I saw Larissa on the other side of the room at the door in a white satin robe. She stood tall and was obviously shielding me from someone’s view.

“Is he alright?” Larissa whispered.

The other voice, who I recognized as Marilyn's, seemed frantic. “We don’t know. He’s been taken to the hospital. They said he’s in critical condition.”

“Alright, Miss Thornhill,” Larissa said. “Thank you.”

After closing the door, Larissa turned back around to the bed. “Oh, you’re awake!” She climbed in and immediately pulled me into her arms. “I didn’t mean to wake you, darling. I’m sorry.”

I pecked her on the cheek before snuggling into her. “It’s okay. What was that about?”

“A student was attacked in the forest,” Larissa sighed. “Apparently he’s in critical condition.”

I gave no response, and instead, laid there. As I listened to her steady breathing, I began to doze off again until I heard Larissa’s soft voice. “What’s…what’s your Outcast ability?”

I hummed and looked up at her. “It’s the trickiest and most consequential ability of all time.”

“And what is it, darling?”

“Time manipulation.”

Larissa’s eyes narrowed. “Most consequential ability of all time,” she repeated before giggling. “Oh, I get it. Of all time. You time travel…alright.”

I giggle alongside her, my hand reaching up to play with her hair. “Time travel is one term for it.”

“How often do you do it?” she asked.

“Well,” I said, “not much anymore. I really discovered that I was able to do it around thirteen years old–I went to bed one night and woke up in the middle of the middle of the 1800s. Every night would be different. And then, I finally decided to tell my grandmother. She knew exactly what was happening, and she gave me a pocket watch that would let me control it. Now, I never travel back in time unless I want to.”

Larissa smiled. “You’re rarer than me!”

“I am!” I laughed. “Not many time manipulators have been documented. But, a few of my ancestors were. The watch is a family heirloom.”

“What’s your favorite year that you’ve been to?” Larissa asked.

I huffed, thinking hard. “Oh, god…I don’t think I have a favorite year or a favorite event. Each one I’ve witnessed has been so different and incomparable to the next. The women’s suffrage movement is definitely in the top. I’ve been able to read the first published copy of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.” Larissa giggled at that and I continued. “I’ve been within five feet of Queen Elizabeth I. I watched the Boston Tea Party happen.” Each experience I list off, Larissa seems more and more mesmerized. “I use my ability more for my students’ benefit rather than my own. I have to be really careful when I go back in time. I’ll observe events, if I’m able to, but I won’t partake. Is there anywhere you’d like to visit?”

Larissa smiled. “I’ll go wherever you think I’d like to go.”

“Hmmm…I think you’d like the Renaissance,” I said. “Maybe…1504? When Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa? Or…maybe 1512, after Michelangelo finished painting the ceilings of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. What about…1789? The inauguration of George Washington? We’d have to stand back a bit, and find suitable clothes, but I think you’d enjoy it.”

With a peck on my lips, Larissa takes my hand in hers and threads our fingers together. “All of those sound wonderful, my love.”

“Y/N!”

The sound of my name drew me from the papers I was grading. In front of me, Marilyn walked up, a salad in hand as she took a seat.

“Where were you the rest of the night?”

I stared blankly at her. “What?”

“Friday night?” she clarified. “I couldn’t find you when I came back.”

“Oh! I–” I tried to come up with an excuse that wasn’t ‘I was having sex with my boss’. “I wasn’t feeling very well. I’m sorry, Marilyn. I heard it was quite the night, though! How’s Eugene?”

Marilyn sighed. “He’s stable.”

“Well,” I said, “that’s good. Let’s just hope he wakes up soon.”

There was silence between us for what felt like hours. The silence that I shared with Larissa–calm and mild, pleasant and tranquil–was the opposite of this. This was tense and Marilyn obviously had something to say.

It was seconds later that she blurted it out. “Would you, maybe, wanna go out sometime?”

“Um…” I set down my pen gently and took a sip of water. “Well…I’m sorry, Marilyn, but, I’m kind of…involved with someone.”

Marilyn’s face grew red. “Oh…Right. Sorry, I just–”

“No, no!” I said. “Don’t apologize! I’m flattered. Really.”

A hesitant smile quickly flashed, and soon, the tension and silence became unbearable. I quickly gathered my things and gave her my kindest smile. “Well, I have to go! I have a meeting soon. I’ll…see you around.”

“Hi…” I slumped into a chair in front of Larissa’s desk and sighed.

She looked up at me from her computer. “What happened, love?”

“Marilyn…” I almost hesitated saying the next part, not wanting to set Larissa off in some way. “Um…She asked me out…on a date.”

Larissa stopped her work immediately. She looked at me and–to my surprise–seemed completely unphased. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”

“What?”

She chuckled, going back to typing away on her computer. “Have you seen yourself? I almost asked you out the second you ran into me with that coffee. Also, she’s been drooling over you since you arrived.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I scoffed.

“It’s true,” Larissa said. “She and I were talking during your first couple of days here. She told me she was thinking about asking you out. I didn’t think she'd actually do it, but then I overheard your conversation at the dance, and–” she stopped typing again and grinned at me “–I just knew I had to step in.”

My cheeks flushed. “Well…You definitely stepped in.” When Larissa went back to working, I gathered my thoughts. “I just…ugh…I felt so bad rejecting her.”

“Sweetheart,” she said, “you shouldn’t feel bad. You didn’t lie to her. You weren’t rude. She’ll get over it.”

I wish I could believe Larissa, but there was something about Marilyn that just didn’t feel right.

Parents Weekend rolled around quicker than I would’ve liked. Thursday night, in Larissa’s office, I sat beside her, going over the outline and helping her with any last minute needs.

“It always hurts to see the children who have absent parents,” Larissa sighed, scribbling a couple things down on a post-it note. “Reminds me of when I attended.”

I looked at this woman, who was always so stone-cold with a facade of strength and dignity and elegance, and for the first time ever, I saw it drop. It was barely there, but it was noticeable. “I’m sorry,” I said, leaning over to wrap my arm around her waist and press a kiss on her cheek.

The facade that had slipped quickly revived itself and Larissa smiled softly. “It’s not your doing, darling. But, thank you.”

The following evening, parents arrived. I sat at a picnic table in the Quad with students as Larissa stood at a microphone, going through the itinerary and various events we had planned for the next couple of days–picnics and trivia, bonfires and three-legged races.

A dinner at the dining hall took up the rest of the night. I was truly hoping for no surprises, and it was going well–until about half way through when I heard my name called. I broke my conversation with Larissa to turn my head and to my demise, it was my mother.

She walked over to our table, smiling and reaching her hand out for Larissa to take. “Wendi Foster. Y/N’s mother. A pleasure to meet you.”

As usual, she wore a dark skirt suit, her frame heightened by small black heels and her arm occupied by a purse and a white lab coat. Before either me, or Larissa, had a chance to respond, she sat herself down in the empty seat beside me.

“Why didn’t you tell me you got fired from Jericho High?” she asked–too loudly, in fact. People turned their heads to look at us as soon as the words passed through her lips.

I sighed, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. “Mom, please, can you not be so loud?”

“Sweetheart,” she said, “I’m from New York. I’m going to be loud.”

“Well, can you be loud quieter, please?” I asked. “Or, can we at least go somewhere else? People are staring.”

Down the hall, in my classroom, my mother and I stood at the front of the room. As always, the confrontation turned into shouting.

“All I’m asking is for you to call your mother every once in a while!”

“Why should I, when every time we speak, this ends up happening!?” My throat became tight and my lip quivered as my frustration boiled over. “I know! I know I didn’t turn out how you wanted! I’m not a physicist like you! I don’t have some fancy doctorate degree that took me a decade to achieve! I’m sorry! I’m sorry I wanted to be my own person rather than follow in your every single goddamn footstep!”

“I just don’t want you to regret anything!” she yelled.

At this point, I was sure we were yelling so loud that the entire school could hear us. Sobs finally choked my words and my head was pounding. “I don’t regret anything!” I cried. “I love my life! I love my job! I love my students! I have someone who I love and who I’d give everything for! Why would I regret any of that?” My chest heaved. “Get out! Get out of my classroom! Now!”

My mother stood there with a clenched jaw and flared nostrils, red cheeks and balled up fists. She angered me in every way possible. With no words, she let out a simple huff, leaving the room, and slamming the door.

As I wiped away my tears, the quiet sound of the door opening set me off again. “What?” When I turned around, I met the sheepish face of Larissa. I instantly felt like shit. “Larissa, I’m s–”

She walked over quickly and gathered me in her arms. “Don’t apologize, love. It’s alright.”

Larissa was more than I deserved. She let me cry, she let me scream my lungs out, cursing the universe and everyone in it–except for her. She drove me home that night, not wanting me to be by myself. After helping me get ready for bed, she moved to open the door, but I stopped her.

“Will you stay here tonight?” I asked.

She smiled at me before stripping her clothes and climbing into bed. I followed her actions and tore the nightshirt from my chest, eager to feel her bare skin against mine. There was nothing sinister about this. There was no ragged breathing and overwhelming pleasure clouding our thoughts. There were no mumbles of curses and there were no soft moans gracing ears.

This was simply without sin.

This was simply holding each other close, refusing to let go.

This was simply love.

Before I dozed off, Larissa spoke into the darkness one last time. “Oh, by the way…I forgot to say. Your nose looks a lot better now that the splint is off.”

#gwendoline christie #larissa weems #larissa weems x reader #wednesday #fanfic #gwendoline christie x reader #mommy issues

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dekusheroacademia · 2 years ago

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#bkdkapology party (fandom history! 11 March 2023 - 12 March 2023) - cd, tag, Deku's VA and more

Just a small recording of our bkdk fandom on twitter and the trending of the #bkdkapology tag!!!

This happened just after episode 23 of season 6, where the class works to get Deku back, and Bakugou apologizes for everything he had done.

The tag was a nostalgic one, initially used in 2021 when the chapter originally came out. Here is an example:

You can still see the most popular tweets from 2021 using the tag #bkdkapology when you click on popular ones, after searching.

At the time I am not sure if the tag itself trended, but it was a popular one.

@/Meylovesbkdk on twitter suggested to celebrate the adaptation of the apology with the tag #bkdkapology, and when the episode came out it quickly trended, with people retweeting and tweeting and using it and celebrating (AND CRYING!).

People shared amazing fanarts in the tag, polls about who sighed when Deku fell into Bakugou's arms (the majority voted Bakugou), memes, pictures, screenshots, tears and crying reactions and so much more.

Two important additions that were often shared in the tags were the back-cover of the opening, apparently drawn by Eve and the interview by Deku's VA.

You can find Deku's VA presentation and feelings about the episode (with summary) here.

Eve is the singer of the season 6 opening "Bokura no". The back of the cd was not revealed until now... the realease (3/22) is the same number of the Bakugou apologizing chapter of the game (322), and shows an illustration of Bakugou and Deku staring at each other (drawn by Eve himself).

The song "Bokura no" reminded people of Bakugou's apology and feelings since it came out, with the back cover confirming that the singer/author was really thinking about them when he wrote it.

A lot of people were also contributing with amazing analysis here on tumblr, so if you want to read about the use of "you" by Bakugou in the apology (and other scenes), please read this amazing meta.

Another thing worth mentioning is this beautiful art shared by one of the animators of the anime. We see the class hugging Deku happily, and Bakugou smiling, reaching for his hand.

THE TAG

The tag #bkdkapology trended for about 22 hours, starting with the end of the episode to the next day. Keep in mind that all the data here will use the Rome timezone.

Rome timezone: Episode came out 11 March 2023 at 9:30. So the tag trended till 12 March 2023 at about 8:00 am (last recorded! it might have trended more later, but I don't have data on it).

I tried to record every hour, but of course I could not! Some amazing people on twitter helped me, in particular @/wanderingzygote (who sent me some updates during my nighttime :D), @/Meylovesbkdk, @/meiru, @/JoIyne_wifey, @/yokkynny, @/sherurose, @/Loriqod, @/Lutina_shock, @/lilizyo, @/Millenia_by, @/x_regrets, @/bdkdtrsh, @/DD_my_space (let me know if I missed anyone!).

Here I made a small graph with the data collected. Keep in mind that the timezone is Rome, so the episode started at 9:30.

The double lines that you see around 14:40 and 17:00 are there because they represent absence of data, as during that time, and before 4:00 (am) I could not collect data.

As you can see there was a pretty quick increase of the tag until the end of the day, with a slowing down later on.

For the first 12 hours after the start of episode, users were sharing about 1200 tweets with #bkdkapology every hour!

The tag reached 20k tweets at about 23:30, which is about 14 hours after the episode!

I also used the website Dashboard Tweet Binder to check the tag itself! I did so at 11:30 am, which is about 3 hours after the tag stopped trending.

So in about 25 hours, the tag reached 24720 tweets!

You can also see the peak here:

The highest use of the tag was between 8 am and 13:00 (1 pm). The episode came out at 9:30 am and ended at 10am, so just after the episode and during the episode there was the highest use of the tag with almost 2k tweets.

The website also offers the "most liked and retweeted images" but this analysis is region specific. So in Italy, these were the three most liked and retweeted pictures with #bkdkapology

Amazing work bakudekus!! I look forward for the next two episodes

#my hero academia #bakudeku #bkdkapology #meta #dekubaku #bkdk #fandom history

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aphroditestummyrolls · 2 years ago

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Ohhh for the WIP game -- I am very much asking about your Primo fic!! 👀👀👀

My friend! My beloved primo fic!!

The primo fic is a 3 + 1 fic that basically boils down to “3 times Stefano was scared for Primo, and 1 time he was scared of him”. It’s all in Stefano’s observations of his little cousin in his first visit home from rome— since they had last seen each other, primo’s mother had died, and apparently he had changed. (Primo is 13-14, and Stefano is about 18).

Stefano is continually more and more worried, from seeing the pushing and pulling of primo’s relationships with his father and Salvatore, then hearing about the extent of the abuse and neglect his father is inflicting on him, and then seeing the aftermath of it with his own eyes. And then there’s the +1.

TW: non-graphic allusions to suicide

The fic focuses a lot on primo’s relationship with his mother. She was an outsider who married into the village when she married primo’s father, and I see her as trapped and miserable and completely isolated. Maybe mentally ill, and definitely using drugs to cope (everything that primo would also grow into). Primo is the one that finds her when she passes, and the question of whether or not she meant to die hangs around the village like a thick, oppressive fog. And it hangs on primo too, but he’s the only one who knows the truth for a fact. The rumor mill of the village is rife with it, even going as far as to say maybe primo killed her.

One of Stefano’s biggest questions throughout the story is whether or not primo has become capable of murder. at the end, in the plus one, he finds out. And the question that he continues to ask, all the way through canon until the end of his life, is who or what made him that way.

#tw child abuse #tw suicide mention #primo nizzuto #trust fic #one day it’ll get finished #I will never stop chewing drywall about primo nizzuto #tag game #Thanks for asking!#ask

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singofsolace · 2 years ago

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"Ocean's 12"... and a rant about how Clooney and the boys were assholes during press...

Continuing to make my way through Catherine Zeta-Jones' filmography, I decided to watch Ocean's 11 and Ocean's 12 (which I'd never seen before--shocking, I know!). I was mildly entertained by these movies, but that's pretty much the nicest thing I could say.

I enjoyed Catherine Zeta-Jones as Isabel, and I thought her chemistry with Brad Pitt was convincing, but ultimately, most of what we learn about her character's background is outright told to us by Rusty, instead of revealed naturally within the story, which bothered me. I wanted more screen time for CZJ so that the movie felt more balanced in its game of cat and mouse.

Also, I hope I'm not alone in saying that I genuinely did not understand the "plot twist" at the end of Ocean's 12, or rather, I understood it, but didn't understand why the writers chose to end it that way. The "oh, actually, the heist you just spent two hours being invested in? yeah, no, that was all fake. They were just going through the motions. They'd already stolen the real egg before they did the heist shown in the movie, and therefore there were literally no stakes in the heist that you just watched them try (and fail) to do. Surprise!"

I feel like that ending doesn't work for the same reason that no movie since The Wizard of Oz can successfully pull off the "it was all a dream" ending without the audience feeling cheated. And why would anyone want to rewatch the film, then, knowing that a significant portion of the movie is spent planning and performing a heist that's already happened in a different, less interesting way, off screen...?

Also, if the LeMarc reveal was meant to be as poignant as CZJ's acting was trying to convey, I really needed more screen time for her that established the stakes of her relationship to her father, and how Rusty knew things she didn't even know about her parents. Having Rusty tell us that her dad was a thief who died when she was young doesn't convey any of the emotion of that situation, and then when we see her mother's funeral, we again aren't told why that death is significant to the story, until Rusty springs that information on both Isabel and the audience at the same time. Which is why it doesn't work, because the writing keeps the audience so in the dark as to make a sudden random beacon of light seem artificial and contrived.

And don't get me started on Julia Roberts playing Tess playing Julia Roberts... whoever thought that was a "clever" or funny idea should've been fired before it ever made it to the screen.

All in all, I enjoyed seeing CZJ in another big action film after Entrapment, but I can see why she wouldn't want to return for Ocean's 13.

It's also worth noting that according to information shared from the police investigation, Catherine was being stalked and threatened by Dawnette Knight during the filming of Ocean's 12. The Amsterdam hotel where she was staying received several phone calls containing death threats and other disturbing messages that made CZJ fear for her life. She had to increase her security detail from one person to four, and apparently greeted fans from behind a bullet proof shield at one point. Crowds that gathered to watch the filming process had to be pushed back even farther than normal because of fears that someone would make good on the threats to kill her. CZJ even called her husband, Michael Douglas, at one point after finishing her scenes in Rome to say that she was so distressed by the messages she feared she was having a heart attack or a stroke. (x)

The fact that she was able to still do her job through all of that is frankly mind-blowing to me, and that's why I hate that George Clooney and the other boys repeatedly made jokes during press about Catherine having a restraining order against Clooney that made it difficult to film because he had to stay 50 feet away from her. Don Cheadle also joked in this ScreenSlam interview that the restraining order was because Catherine blew a "groping" incident way out of proportion, and Brad Pitt advised them jokingly to stop talking and "let the courts handle it."

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I don't know how all of them saw her in fear for her life every day while filming and decided to joke about it during press...? Like what kind of people do that?!? Maybe I'm jumping to an unfair conclusion here, and the boys genuinely had no idea what was going on with Catherine, or why the crowds had to be pushed back, but assuming they knew at least a little bit, because it did impact filming... if my colleague was receiving death threats and was perilously close to a nervous breakdown, as CZJ later admitted she was, (she also mentioned during an interview with Matt Damon if any of the boys gave her hard time during filming, she immediately would start to cry, so they stopped messing with her right away because her reaction was "just sad"), I don't think I would joke about her filing a restraining order against Clooney for groping her...? Like there's pretty much no scenario where joking about sexual harassment is funny, but it's particularly vile to make those jokes when 1) the tabloids were already speculating about Clooney and CZJ having an affair, which Dawnette Knight used as ammunition in her death threats, so joking that she took legal action because Clooney groped her isn't going to fucking help that situation, and 2) a violent stalker was actively threatening to kill her at the time that these tasteless jokes were made...?

I recognize it was a series of jokes that were meant to be just that--jokes--but when someone is suffering, and you make them the butt of the joke, it's not only unkind, it's downright cruel.

#ocean's 12 #catherine zeta jones #george clooney #matt damon #brad pitt #stalking tw #Youtube

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andronetalks · 4 months ago

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Hunter Biden asked US Embassy in Italy for help landing Burisma deal while Joe was VP: report

New York Post By Victor NavaPublished Aug. 13, 2024Updated Aug. 13, 2024, 10:41 p.m. ET First son Hunter Biden, acting on behalf of a Ukrainian energy company, requested help from the US Embassy in Rome to land a lucrative business deal, while his father, Joe Biden, was vice president, according to a report. Hunter’s big ask and apparent attempt to use his father’s position of power to land the…

#Business #Crime #News #Politics #World

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ikuharaisabitch · 8 months ago

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Excerpt from the link:

When Marius Michel’s Peinture Religieuse was reviewed in Goupil’s L’Exposition des Beaux-Arts published for the 1882 Salon, an unnamed reviewer took the very odd approach of belittling the portrayed female painter. He began by questioning what country is she from? He continued by mocking the apparent diligence she has applied to her task, concluding that no matter how hard she works painters such as Velazquez need not worry. He does not attack Michel or the actual painting, only the imaginary woman.[1] Such a review demonstrates two of the prevailing prejudices of the period, a very strong anti – immigrant sentiment and the overriding belief that the creation of serious art was strictly a male profession. And in all likelihood the provoking of such a review was Michel’s intent.

In Michel’s painting, set in a shabby room, a seated young woman in black paints a porcelain figure of the Virgin and Child. A finished St. Francis of Assisi is on the floor. Other projects line the walls, along with a few props, and some small, framed works. On the stool in front of her is an almost empty glass of absinthe with a half-full bottle on the floor. At the edge of the right side of the table is a German beer stein, holding an assortment of brushes, decorated with a partly visible brewer’s star, a symbol identical to the Jewish Star of David. Michel painted this during a period of rabid antisemitism and surging hatred of foreigners ignited by the crash of the Paris Bourse in January 1882 for which Jewish banks were wrongly blamed.[2] By the facile use of a single partially obscured object, the painter triggered thoughts of his subject as possibly being Jewish as well as foreign.

As the painting further attests, Michel was certainly aware of the hardships female artists endured. His own instructor Carolus–Duran had run a studio for women since 1874, as they were not allowed entrance to the École des Beaux-Arts. Women were also ineligible for the Prix de Rome, medals, official commissions, the Légion d’Honneur and the Institute of France. With men as well in control of the press and art market, the chance for a successful career by a woman in the arts was extremely slim.[3] Instead they were steered towards the painting of porcelain. The prevailing male view was that women were “somehow biologically fit for making domestic wares” being more “dexterous, delicate, and meticulous”. Further it was felt that their retiring and modest nature “made them particularly well suited for the semi –skilled repetitive work”.[4] Michel succinctly captured this dilemma, depicting a woman caught in a downward spiral, emblemized by the absinthe which was regarded as a destroyer of life. While creating a potential target of derision, Michel by means of a beautifully painted canvas with exquisite details presents a sympathetic rendering of a unique subject.

We are indebted to Dr. Sanford M. Jacoby, Distinguished Research Professor of the University of California, Los Angeles for his invaluable help in writing this entry.

Sources below the cut.

[1] See “La Peinture de Genre”, L’Exposition des Beaux-Arts, op.cit., p. 69.

[2] David Glasner, Thomas F. Cooley, “Depression of 1882 – 1885” in Business Cycles and Depressions: An Encyclopedia, Taylor & Francis, 1997; Vinay Swamy, Interpreting the Republic, Marginalization and Belonging in Contemporary Novels and Films, Lexington Books, Lanham, MD, 2011, p. 2; and James McAuley, The House of Fragile Things, Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2021, pp. 54-55.

[3] Laurence Madeline, “Into the Light”, pp. 16, 26-27, and Richard Kendall, “Women Artists in A Man’s World”, p. 48 in Women Artists in Paris 1850 - 1900, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2017.

[4] Pamela Simpson, “Review Potters and Paintresses: Women Designers in the Pottery Industry 1870 – 1955” in Women’s Art Inc., volume 13, no. 2, p. 47; and Dr. Ilya Sandra Perlingieri, “Paintresses: Victorian Women China Painters and Potters” on www.antiquesjournal.com., p. 3.

Marius Michel - Peinture Religieuse (or The Jewish Paintress), 1882

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ramrodd · 8 months ago

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How Greek Mystery Cults Shaped Christianity | Dr. M. David Litwa

COMMENTARY:

The Cult of Mithras was a front organization for the t secret Christian church of the Italian Cohort that resulted from the unilateral covenant cutting ceremony that began with the splitting of Jesus and the Talking Cross. As Dr. Litwa's research indicates, the Mithras Cult was present where ever the legions were and are "Those from Italy" Theophilus refers to in Hebrews 13::24. The Talking Cross is the :tidings lf joy" that inspired Pilate's lost euangelion to Pilate cited by Tertullian in Book V, Apology, Cornelius, the centurion featured in Acts 10, is the author of the Gospel of Mark and conveyed the contents of Pilate's euangelion to Peter at that meeting, which became the basis for The Gospel of Peter an element of the euangelion Peter employed to vet Paul in Acts 15:7, Cornelius was the senior centurion in Caesarea and Pilate's administrative chief:: he was in the room with Pilate during the interrogation of Je Jesus and the centurion in Matthew 8 and Luke 7, He is the curator of Quelle which was the intelligence archives of the 10th Legion. Cornelius is denominator in all the Gospels and Acts. Theophilus is Pilate's and Cornelius's direct report with the Italian Cohort in Rome, The Italian Cohort is the hard core of the Praetorian Guard and the founding military organization of the administrative state of Rome, By the time Paul and Luke get to Caesarea, Theophilus is the Bishop of the Church of the Talking Cross, which is embedded throughout the legions, which is to say, all the roman legions were christian. Theophilus was an equestrian and part of the executive leadership of the Italian Cohort, In terms of intelligence from the field, he had a role similar to George Smiley's in John LeCarre's MI5 and issues the official finding regarding the Talking Cross, the Letter to the Hebrews. He was part of whatever imperial court sat in judgment of Pual one can infer result in Paul's end zone celebration in Philippians. The thing abouut Constantine is that, at the Milvian Bridge, he discover that the soldiers on both sides were Christian, the difference being that the legions he brought back from Britain had marinated in the Druid culture fro two centuries and had adopted the abiding spirit of Boudicca, Queen of Battle, The Chir Rho symbol his sodliers painted on their shields was a Druid talisman and represented the moral advantage for Constantine, Constantine's fatal blunder for the future of the Empire was to dismantle the Preaetorian Guard as a consequence of their role in the Milvian battle, The Praetorian Guard was the iron jaw of Daniel's vision and the centurions the iron teeth, They also represented the horizontal strauture, solicologically, that ensured the stability of the Empire. Within the century, the Roman Empire ceased to exist. The thing is that the Pagan soldiers of the legions were God Fearers long before they encountered Judaism The apparent divinity of Jesus merely validated their battlefield experience of The One, There is more truth in the axiom that there are no atheists in foxholes. It is useful to understant that Jimi Hendrix was a Starship Trooper and his cover of The National Anthem at Woodstock is what it is like to follow Yaweh, Queen of Battle, into Hell as a Starship Trooper, going back to Rome,

#youtube

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newmusicradionetwork · 1 year ago

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Leo Sawikin Joins Jon McLaughlin Holiday Tour This December

The former front man of the indie band The Chordaes wrote this uplifting song about the joys of coming home again and seeing your surroundings with a fresh pair of eyes after being away for a long period of time. “I wrote the song last year on my first solo trip to Europe, “ says Sawikin. “I took the train from Rome to Barcelona, stopping in several cities along the way. The wonder of it all really allowed me to step outside of my head and just be alive to what was around me. I felt a bit reborn and excited to bring this new perspective, new pieces of myself really, home to New York City.” The song, featured on Americana Highways today, said, “Leo Sawikin carries us to the heights of splendor of celebrating ones place in the thriving metropolis and glorious cultural mecca that calls people home from all around the globe.” Sawikin will bring these songs and more when he joins Jon McLaughlin of his 10-city 2023 Holiday Tour beginning December 4 in Atlanta (all dates listed below). Sawikin’s self-described style of “indie folk pop with a dreamy shimmer” is apparent in the three singles he’s already this year beginning with the May 5 release of “Hold On” which Earmilk calls “a “…masterpiece.” And said the song “…takes listeners on an emotional rollercoaster that they won’t soon forget. The song showcases Leo Sawikin’s innate talent and ability to craft introspective and relatable songs.” His August 22 release of “The Same Mistakes” had Celeb Mix saying the songs is “…a low-slung, softly gleaming guitar topped by Sawikin’s oh-so evocative voice, at once tender and wistful…rolls into a delicious, throbbing rhythm, swaying on gentle undulations. Slowly building, the tune takes on a glowing wall of sound, full of enveloping resonance and gorgeous, shimmering coloration.” Neufutur hailed Sawikin’s vocals on “Don’t Pass It By,” released October 13, as “…a deeply felt, attentive, and highly musical performance… That falsetto note during the song’s chorus puts a graceful touch on an already elegant performance…” Sawikin released his debut album Row Me Away in 2021 during Covid. American Songwriter said of the album’s first single, “Golden Days,” “We’re in contemplative times, and ‘old soul’ Leo Sawikin followed the path paved by pop music’s classic songwriters, effectively capturing the longing for the simplicity of the past on his debut single…” He released two other tracks, “A Whole World Waiting” and “Born Too Late,” that scored indie radio spins in the U.S. and the UK. Sawikin sees the lockdown era as a creative dividing line between Row Me Away and the exciting new material he wrote for his upcoming album. Whereas the music on Row Me Awaywas steeped in a sense of anxiety and dread, the new songs are about learning to live and find peace in the moment, even in the face of an uncertain future. Musically, Sawikin says that he wanted to approach the sessions with Phil Ek differently from both his 2021 solo work and his time with The Chordaes. “I’m always trying to develop and explore new musical possibilities for myself,” he says. “For one, I wanted to do a record that showcased my chord voicings in a way that was much more up front than I had in the past. And on previous recordings, I worked with a full backing band, but this time Phil encouraged me to do all the guitar parts myself and to come up with and play all the keyboard parts as well. It was quite a challenge, but I feel like there’s more of me on these new tracks, and that we really were able to distill the songs to their essence. Now, I’m just looking forward to seeing how people respond!” Website Instagram X YouTube Spotify Read the full article

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stonewallsposts · 1 year ago

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September Reading

Rome and the Mediterranean- Livy (27-9 BC)

This book contains books 31-45 from Livy's collection of histories. They cover the years 201 BC to 167 BC. The last book, Rome and Italy, covering Livy's books 6-10, alternated between political struggles in Rome and the wars Rome was fighting. This is primarily because they affected each other. The plebians had extracted political power from the patricians through the strike, or the threat of one. Since Plebs made up a disproportionate amount of the fighting men, they were able, when Rome was threatened, to basically say: "What's in it for us? We fight, risk our necks, and the patricians get all the glory and plunder. Meanwhile, our farms are neglected, and our families indebted. So, we refuse to fight, unless you grant us (fill in the blank with whatever concessions the plebs wanted at the time). With enemies pressing in on Rome, this put an extra impetus on the ruling class to grant the plebs concessions. So there were lots of these intramural political battles happening in the middle of the struggles with the external enemies.

But this later volume recounts Rome's battles throughout the Mediterranean, so less of the home political struggles. I'm not as personally invested in reading how each battle played out: which general moved his troops where, etc., etc. There are some interesting (to me) bits about the diplomatic attempts and how they were handled. But this larger volume; 650 pages as opposed to 350 pages in the last, was less interesting to me overall.

L'arminuta- Donatella di Pietrantonio (2017)

Arminuta apparently means 'returned' in the Abruzzese dialect. The story concerns an unnamed 13 year old girl who was raised in one family in the city, then abruptly returned to her real family in the country at age 13. We don't find out until the story is almost finished, but the family she was adopted out to, returned her because the mom, cousin to her real mom, who was thought to be unable to have children, had gotten pregnant by a man who wasn't her husband, and there was a split coming up. So the girl was sent back to her birth family.

The story is of the girl's learning to deal with all of this emotional upheaval at the same time as being thrust in to a new living situation- one radically different from her old comfortable upbringing. Now she has to fight for her food in competition with three other siblings and too little food. She has to deal with moving from the city into the country with a strange dialect, and the distrust of the new kids.

Fall of the Roman Republic- Plutarch (110 AD)

Plutarch was a Greek-born Roman citizen who lived from 45 – 120 AD. Plutarch, like every other Roman historian of the time, noted the republic's end was caused by its increasing moral and political decline. He valued the peace Rome brought, but also noted the Roman's obsession with wealth and luxury, and imperial and military expansion.

His major works were the Parallel Lives and Moralia, and this collection put together by Penguin Classics, comprises excerpts from the Parallel Lives. The six lives covered are Marius, Sulla, Crassus, Pompey, Caesar, and Cicero. Each of these lives is examined for the part they play in the end of the Republic.

Two elements stand out in Plutarch: the first is the unbridled pursuit of personal power, and the second is the coverage of wars, both internal and external. The standard perception of the public was that the ruling class had destroyed itself and the system of government it claimed to cherish by its own greed and quest for personal power.

The republic had been a time of constant warfare, and Romans understood why: success in war was the surest way for an individual to increase his wealth and standing, and the ruling class had an interest in making sure that well didn’t dry up.

The republic's dominant feature had been aristocratic competition for power, which found expression through wars of expansion, and ultimately self-destruction.

Rubicon- Tom Holland (2003)

I've had an interest in the fall of the Roman Republic because the lessons of its demise holds interest and insight for us in these days. But after this book, I'll be moving on to later epochs of Italy's history, to hopefully broaden my understanding before I get to Rome at the end of November.

Tom Holland's differentiating contribution to my understanding of what happened in Rome might be the nature of the Roman's psyche. Like most people pre-Christianity, the derived their morality from external sources. The roman mindset was for glory and honor in the eyes of their peers. This is not unique; even today nearly everyone the world over wants to be thought highly of by their peers. But in Rome, that desire, coupled with the growing reach of Rome over the known world, translated into the leading characters at the center of politics continually raising the stakes to grab glory, which would lead to adoration from the people. This would probably inevitably lead to the destruction of the republic.

Dubliners- James Joyce (1914)

This is a collection of 15 short stories- snippets of life lived by the denizens of Dublin.

Brighton Rock- Grahame Green (1938)

Short novel about a murder committed by a 17 yo gang member, Pinkie Browne, and the aftermath. The murder is deemed a suicide, but that seems fishy to a local woman, who begins asking questions. This causes the boy, Pinkie, to start cleaning up the loose ends, which means more murders. When a 16 year old girl, Rose, is involved, he decides he will marry her to keep her the police from forcing her to testify against him. Rose is from a troubled background and falls in love with Pinkie, even though he literally hates her and even hates the idea of physical or emotional attachment. She agrees to a suicide pact as the authorities close in them but she is 'saved' just in time. She resents this however, swearing that the people trying to save her don't know anything about her love.

Italy in the Early Middle Ages: 476-1000- Various

This is a collection of essays written about various aspects of Italy in this period: Invasions and ethnic identity, public power and authority, the aristocracy, ecclesiastical institutions and the papacy, rural economy and society, changing structures of settlements, the cities, and lay and ecclesiastical culture.

A Clockwork Orange- Anthony Burgess (1962)

The story is told by the central character, who narrates it first person in an argot of British English and Russian words that have been anglicized. It is a pain in the butt to read, and the main character is an complete violently criminal douchebag. He is caught and put in prison where he undergoes a new treatment to reform him. I can't say I enjoyed this one much.

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32310305 · 2 years ago

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13.04. READINGS WEEK 12.

PAOLO CIRIO’S ESSAY “EVIDENTIARY REALISM” AND FULLER, WEIZMAN’S INTRODUCTION FROM “INVESTIGATIVE AESTHETICS” CONVEY COMPELLING VIEWS ON THE RULE OF CONTEMPORARY ART IN THE XXI CENTURY.

THE CLAIM PROPOSED IN THE SOURCES IS THAT TO BE PROPER MILITANT ARTISTS TODAY, THERE SHOULD BE A FOCUS ON THE INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION OF REALITY.

THE CASE OF FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE EXEMPLIFIES THIS: A GROUP OF RESEARCHERS FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS COLLABORATES ON THE ANALYSIS OF VARIOUS FOOTAGE FROM VARIOUS WAR SCENARIOS TO DECONSTRUCT THEM AND PRESENT THEM FACTUALLY VIA 3D RECONSTRUCTIONS.

FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE CONTAINS ALL THE COMPONENTS WHICH RENDER CONTEMPORARY ART APPEALING: THE COLLABORATION OF PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT STUDIES, THE USE OF DIFFERENT VISUAL MEANS AND THE APPLICATION OF CONTEMPORARY TECHNOLOGY FOR CONCRETE CIRCUMSTANCES.

WHAT IS APPARENT FROM THE READINGS OF CIRIO AND WEIZMAN IS THAT ART NEEDS TO SPEAK ABOUT THE TIME IN WHICH IT IS CREATED AND CONSUMED.

THIS ALLEGATION MAY SOUND NATURAL TO YOUNG REVOLUTIONARY SPIRITS. HOWEVER, WHEN WE COME INTO CONTACT WITH THE MAINSTREAM ART SCENE OF A CITY LIKE ROME, OPEN-AIR MUSEUM AND HOMELAND OF THE 60S ITALIAN AVANT-GARDE, WE REALIZE ART IS PERCEIVED AS SOMETHING ELSE.

WHEN ANALYZING THE ROMANIAN CURRENT ART EXHIBITIONS SCENE FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF AN EX-STUDENT OF A COLLECTION BUILDING AND MUSEUM STUDIES COURSE, ONE CANNOT HELP TO REMEMBER INSTRUCTOR SARAH LINFORD’S WORDS ON THE “BLOCKBUSTERS” EXHIBITIONS, MEANING TEMPORARY EXPENSIVE SHOWS THAT NONETHELESS CAPTURE THE ATTENTION OF A VAST PUBLIC.

EXHIBITIONS LIKE THE €15 CHIOSTRO DEL BRAMANTE’S “MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO: INFINITY”, THE €13 MAXXI’S “BOB DYLAN RETROSPECTRUM”, OR THE €10 MOST CENTRALLY LOCATED PALAZZO CIPOLLA’S “RAOUL DUFY: THE PAINTER OF JOY” ACT, EITHER FOR THE ARTWORKS SHOWN OR FOR THEIR CURATION, MORE AS 19TH-CENTURY PEEPSHOWS THAN AS THE SAME-CENTURY EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS.

PROOF OF CHIOSTRO DEL BRAMANTE'S ENTRY FEE. OTHER FEES FOR THE ABOVE CITED EXHIBITIONS CAN BE FOUND HERE -SECTION "VISITA IL MAXXI AND HERE

IN AMY F.OGATA “VIEWING SOUVENIRS, PEEPSHOWS AND THE INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITIONS”, OGATA DESCRIBES 19TH-CENTURY PEEPSHOW SOUVENIRS FROM THE FIRSTS WORLD’S FAIRS AS EXAMPLES OF WHAT WALTER BENJAMIN DESCRIBED AS THE “PHANTASMAGORIA” RELATED TO THE EARLY STAGES OF MASS CONSUMPTION.

BY SHOWING EXHIBITIONS THAT PASSIVELY ENCHANT THE VIEWER INTO A “PHANTASMAGORIA” WORLD MADE OF RECOGNIZABLE ARTISTS, IDENTIFIABLE ART MOVEMENTS AND INTERACTIVE INSTAGRAMMABLE CORNERS, THE ROMANIAN ART SCENE RENDERS ART A MASS CONSUMPTION PRODUCT.

NONETHELESS, WE ARE LED TO COMPREHEND SUCH DECISIONS IF WE COMPARE THE ANNUAL BUDGET OF THE ITALIAN MINISTRY OF BENI CULTURALI (1.6 BILLION EUROS, 2019) WITH THE ONE OF THE FRENCH MINISTRY OF CULTURE (3.8 BILLION EUROS, 2021).

FRANCE IS, NONETHELESS, THE SAME COUNTRY WITH REGIONAL FUNDS FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS.

HOW MUCH VALUE CARRIES A STATE-FUNDED ARTIST IN COMPARISON TO AN INDEPENDENT ONE?

AMONG THE FUNDING ORGANIZATIONS FOR FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE, ONE FINDS:

THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH COUNCIL;

OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS ($18 BILLIONS)

OAK FOUNDATION (£481 MILLIONS);

SIGRID RAUSING TRUST (£429 MILLIONS);

TO BE FOUNDED BY PROMINENT ORGANIZATIONS OBVIOUSLY DOES NOT REDUCE THE VALUE OF AN INSTITUTION.

HOWEVER, IT POSES A DOUBT OVER THE CONCRETE CHANCE OF INDEPENDENT ARTISTS TO REALIZE A PROJECT LIKE FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE.

THERE COMES THE QUESTION POSED BY FULLER AND WEIZMAN TOO, WHETHER IS THIS ART OR INVESTIGATION.

TO THIS STANCE, ONE MAY FIND HESITATIONS IN THE OUTCOMES OF PAOLO CIRIO’S PROFESSED EVIDENTIARY REALISM.

CIRIO AND WEIZMAN RELY ON DIGITAL TOOLS TO CONSTRUCT A FACTUAL DEMONSTRATION OF REALITY, WHICH OPPOSES THE XXI CENTURY NOVICE REGIMES’ MANIPULATION OF THE TRUTH MADE POSSIBLE BY ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGICAL DEVICES.

THE DOUBT LIES IN WHETHER, BY IMPOSING A PRACTICAL TRUTH ON ITS PRODUCTS, AS PAOLO CIRIO’S INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPHS FROM BRECHT’S WRITING THE TRUTH DEMANDS, EVIDENTIARY REALISM IS ACTING AGAINST ART’S DEMAND OF POSING DOUBTS IN THE VIEWERS.

IF WE NEED TO RELY ON TECHNOLOGY TO DEMONSTRATE A FACT, ARE NOT WE CLAIMING THAT HUMAN COGNITIVE CAPACITIES CAN BE EXCHANGED WITH AI?

IN RESPONSE TO PAOLO CIRIO’S CLAIMS, ONE COULD POINT OUT THE CASE OF PIERPAOLO PASOLINI’S LAST MOVIE SALÒ.

PASOLINI' SALÒ POSTER

BY SHOWING THE “PHANTASMAGORICAL” ATTITUDES OF A GROUP OF FASCISTS TOWARDS EVERY FORM OF VIOLENCE, PASOLINI COMMUNICATES EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT HE IS SHOWING.

ULTIMATELY, A COUNTER-RESPONSE TO PAOLO CIRIO AND WEIZMAN’S DEMAND OF CONTEMPORARY ART TURNING TO REALISM COULD BE THAT ART CAN BE ABOUT THE REAL, WITHOUT BEING REAL.

IN THESE TERMS, A LAST REFLECTION BY TOMASO MONTANARI ON WHAT IS ART TODAY PROPOSES AN ANSWER BY USING THE EXAMPLE OF GIOVANNI DE GARA’S INTERVENTION ON THE BASILICA OF SAN MINIATO, IN FLORENCE.

youtube

ART HISTORIAN TOMASO MONTANARI LESSON

IN 2018, THE ARTIST TREATED THE ROMANICHAL BASILICA’S FAÇADE WITH GOLD THERMAL BLANKETS, COMMONLY USED WHEN RESCUING MIGRANTS.

GIOVANNI DE GARA - ELDORATO - JUNE 2018 - BASILICA OF SAN MINIATO - FLORENCE

BY COMMENTING ON THE THEME OF HOSPITALITY PERSONIFIED IN THE DOOR ELEMENT, AND MAKING A STATEMENT ON THE ROLE OF CHRISTIAN’S MANTRA OF “LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF”, THIS INSTALLATION PROVES HOW ART CAN TALK ABOUT THE REAL WITHOUT BEING RELATED TO DATA AND TECHNOLOGY.

#Youtube

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eli-kittim · 2 years ago

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The Gospels are Nonhistorical Theological Documents: Only the Epistles Give Us the Real Jesus

By Bible Researcher Eli Kittim 🎓

The Theological Gospels Versus the Prophetic Epistles

First, the epistles are the more explicit and didactic portions of the New Testament.

Second, they are expositional writings, giving us facts, not theological narratives with plots, subplots, characters, etc. The gospels are more like broadway plays (theatrical productions) whereas the epistles are more like matter-of-fact newspapers.

Third, the epistles are not only devoid of all the legendary elements of the gospels, but they also apparently contradict the gospels with regard to Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection, by placing them in eschatological categories. For them, Scripture comprises revelations and “prophetic writings” (see Rom. 16.25-26; 2 Pet. 1.19-21; Rev. 22.18-19)! According to the NT Epistles, the Christ will die “once for all” (Gk. ἅπαξ hapax) “at the end of the age” (Heb. 9.26b), a phrase which consistently refers to the end of the world (cf. Mt. 13.39-40, 49; 24.3; 28.20). Similarly, just as Heb. 1.2 says that the physical Son speaks to humanity in the “last days,” 1 Pet. 1.20 (NJB) demonstrates the eschatological timing of Christ’s initial appearance by saying that he will be “revealed at the final point of time.”!

Was There An Oral Tradition?

The oral tradition is hypothetical and presupposed. There is no evidence for it. In fact, the evidence seems to refute it.

There Was No Pre-Pauline Oral Tradition

First, the gospels are written anonymously.

Second, there are no eyewitnesses.

Third, there are no firsthand accounts.

Fourth, how is a supposed Aramaic story suddenly taken over, less than 2 decades after the purported events, by highly articulate Greeks and written about in other countries like Greece and Rome? Do you realize that none of the New Testament books were ever written in Palestine by Jews? None! That doesn’t make any sense and it certainly casts much doubt about the idea of a supposed Aramaic oral tradition.

When, Where, and By Whom Was Each Book of the New Testament Written?

Fifth, you can certainly compare a novel with the gospels. Almost every event in Jesus’ life is borrowed from the Old Testament and reworked as if it’s a new event. This is called intertextuality, meaning a heavy dependence of the New Testament literature on Hebrew Scripture. A few examples from the gospels serve to illustrate these points. It’s well-known among biblical scholars that the Feeding of the 5,000 (aka the miracle of the five loaves and two fish) in Jn 6.5-13 is a literary pattern that can be traced back to the OT tradition of 2 Kings 4.40-44. Besides the parallel thematic motifs, there are also near verbal agreements: "They shall eat and have some left” (2 Kings 4.43). Compare Jn 6.13: “So they gathered ... twelve baskets ... left over by those who had eaten.” The magi are also taken from Ps. 72.11: “May all kings fall down before him.” The phrase “they have pierced my hands and my feet” is from Ps. 22.16; “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst” is from Psalm 69.21. The virgin birth comes from a Septuagint translation of Isaiah 7.14. The “Calming the storm” episode is taken from Ps. 107.23-30, and so on & so forth. Is there anything real that actually happened which is not taken from the Jewish Bible? Moreover, everything about the trial of Jesus is at odds with what we know about Jewish Law and Jewish proceedings. It could not have occurred in the middle of the night during Passover, among other things. This is historical fiction. That’s precisely why E.P. Sanders once called the book of Acts (the so-called fifth gospel) historical fiction:

“The majority of New Testament scholars

agree that the Gospels do not contain

eyewitness accounts; but that they present

the theologies of their communities rather

than the testimony of eyewitnesses”. — Wiki

“Many biblical scholars view the discussion

of historicity as secondary, given that

gospels were primarily written as

theological documents rather than historical

accounts”. — Wiki

Scholarship is not necessarily a bad thing for evangelical Christians. It actually helps them to clear up the apparent theological and historical confusion.

8 Theses or Disputations on Modern Christianity’s View of the Bible

What About the Extra-Biblical Sources that Seem to Support the Historicity of Jesus?

First, Jesus is not your everyday, garden-variety Jew, as most apologists depict him when trying to explain why Jesus is never mentioned by any secular contemporary authors.

Mark 1.28

“News about him spread quickly over the

whole region of Galilee”.

Mt. 4.24

“News about him spread all over Syria.”

Matthew 4.25

“Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and

the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea

and from beyond the Jordan.”

So why is it that in approximately 65 years there is not so much as a single word about him in any extra-biblical book?

Why aren’t the meticulous Roman historians (who wrote just about everything) mentioning Jesus? Why is Plutarch and Philo unaware of Jesus’ existence? You’d think they would have, at least, heard of him. So something doesn’t add up. Not even the local Jewish writers mention Jesus, even in passing.

Second, the so-called extra-biblical sources that briefly mention Jesus have all been tampered with. The first mention of Jesus outside the New Testament was at the close of the first century by Josephus’ Testimonium Flavianum. Scholars know that this account is inauthentic and unacceptable, containing an interpolation. Josephus scholars suspect that Eusebius might be the culprit.

Third, Pliny the Younger, writing from the 2nd century, was in communication with Tacitus so his account cannot be viewed as an independent attestation.

Fourth, the Talmud was written many centuries later and contains no eyewitnesses. It is totally irrelevant.

Fifth, Tacitus’ Annals was in the possession of Christians (Medicis) and was most probably altered by 11th century monks:

“It is the second Medicean manuscript, 11th

century and from the Benedictine abbey at

Monte Cassino, which is the oldest surviving

copy of the passage describing Christians.

Scholars generally agree that these copies

were written at Monte Cassino and the end

of the document refers to Abbas Raynaldus

cu ... [sic] who was most probably one of

the two abbots of that name at the abbey

during that period”. — Wiki

Moreover, Tacitus probably lifted the passage from Luke 3.1 and even got Pontius Pilate’s title wrong. Scholars have found traces of letters being altered in the text, and they have pointed out that Tacitus, an unbeliever, would not have referred to Jesus as the Christ. Besides, these Roman writers were not even eyewitnesses and are too far removed from the purported events to have any bearing on them. If we can’t make heads or tails from the second generation Christians who themselves were not eyewitnesses, how much more information can these Roman writers give us, writing from nearly one century later? So it’s a strawman argument to use these 2nd century writers, who were drawing on earlier materials, as independent attestations for the existence of Jesus.

Sixth, a consensus can also be used as a fallacious argument, namely, as an appeal to authority fallacy. We know of many things that were once held to be true that were later proven to be false. Like the idea that everything revolved around the earth. That was once a consensus. It was false. Similarly, the current consensus concerning Christ may be equally false! If Bible scholars reject the historicity of Noah, Abraham, and Moses, then why do they support the historicity of Jesus? If there were no eyewitnesses and no firsthand accounts, if Paul tells us almost nothing about the life of Jesus, if the Testimonium Flavianum and the Annals of Tacitus are inauthentic, and if Bertrand Russell and world-renowned textual critic Kurt Aland questioned the existence of Jesus (as if he were a phantom), then on what grounds does the scholarly consensus affirm the historicity of Jesus? It seems to be a case of special pleading. A nonhistorical Jesus would obviously put a damper on sales and profits. Jesus sells. Everyone knows that. Perhaps that’s the reason why the consensus is maintained!

But Didn’t the Early Church Fathers’ Writings Attribute Authorship to Jesus’ Disciples?

Let’s cut to the chase. The gospels were written anonymously. There were no firsthand accounts. And there were no eyewitnesses. The names of the authors were added in the 2nd century. Even the second generation Christians who wrote the gospels don’t claim to be eyewitnesses. They claim to know someone who knew someone, who knew someone, who knew someone, and so on. The earliest case of attributing a gospel to a particular person comes from the writings of Papias, whom both modern scholars and Eusebius distrust. Eusebius had a "low esteem of Papias' intellect" (Wikipedia). And scholars generally dismiss Papias’ claim that the original gospel of Matthew was written in Hebrew.

As for the purported authorship by the disciples themselves, that is utterly impossible for three main reasons. One, they would have been long dead by the close of the first century. Two, they were illiterate fishermen from the backwoods of Galilee. See Acts 4.13 in which Peter and John are described as uneducated and illiterate (ἀγράμματοι) men. Three, they were unable to write in highly sophisticated and articulate Greek. Not to mention that the authors of the gospels spoke very sophisticated Greek and copied predominantly from the Greek rather than from the Hebrew Old Testament. So, the traditional story that we’ve been told just doesn't hold water. It needs to be revisited.

Am I Inconsistent in Trusting Only Part of the New Testament While Tossing Out the Gospels and Claiming to Be a Follower of Christ?

First, I know what Christ’s teachings are by way of direct revelations from the Holy Spirit, similar to those Paul experienced and wrote about in Galatians 1:11-12 (NASB):

“For I would have you know, brothers and

sisters, that the gospel which was preached

by me is not of human invention. For I

neither received it from man, nor was I

taught it, but I received it through a

revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Second, I’m not trusting only part of the New Testament and tossing out the gospels, while claiming to be a follower of Christ. I actually believe in the entire New Testament. I have a high view of scripture and I believe that every word was given by inspiration of God (including those of the gospels). The Bible has many genres: poetry, parable, metaphor, wisdom, prophecy, apocalyptic, history, theology, etc. If someone doesn’t interpret poetry as history, that doesn’t mean that he’s tossing out the poetic part of scripture and claiming that it’s not inspired. He’s simply saying that this part of scripture is not meant to be historical but rather poetic. Similarly, my view that the gospels are theological doesn’t mean that they are not inspired by God or that they’re false. It simply means that I’m interpreting genres correctly, unlike others who have confused biblical literature with history, and turned prophecy into biography. It appears, then, that the theological purpose of the Gospels is to provide a fitting introduction to the messianic story beforehand so that it can be passed down from generation to generation until the time of its fulfillment. It is as though NT history is written in advance. So the gospels have a certain role to play.

There’s No Such Thing As a Follower of Christ

I keep seeing profiles on Facebook and Twitter where people claim to be “followers of Christ.” What does that even mean? You’re either in-Christ or out-of-Christ. Only someone who is not in Christ is a follower of Christ. People often confuse the terminology. They think that a true Christian is a follower of Christ. False! A true Christian is not following Christ. He is in Christ! Only those who have not yet been reborn are “followers of Christ,” seeking to become united with him. Those who are already reborn from above through the spirit (Jn 3.3; Acts 2.1-4) are already in-Christ. They’re not followers of Christ. And you don’t get to be in-Christ through belief alone (Jas. 2:19), professions of faith, the sinner’s prayer, altar calls, by an intellectual assent to the truths of Christianity, or by following Christ through performance-based behaviors (i.e. observing the commandments, etc.). These are all false conversions. You must first get rid of the false self and put on God as your new identity (the true self). I’m afraid there’s no other way.

How Are We Saved: Is It Simply By Belief Alone, Or Do We Have To Go Out Of Ourselves Ecstatically In Order To Make That Happen?

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