#athena x mania

[mybisexualhell]

*KNOCK KNOCCKKK*

I NEED MANIA AND ATHENA HCS (OR LORE EITHER ONE) I need gay goddess in my life rn and BADLYYY

alright buddy! *cracks knuckles*

(Note: I would've wrote this sooner but I had major cramps yesterday but i'm fine)

Mania is Very big on cuddles, she loves being near Athena at all times so Athena rarely gets time to herself but Athena knows ways to distract Mania.

at times Mania will wrap her tail around Athena for reassurance that she's there.

Pet names all day from Mania.

Athena can and will hold Mania like how you would a cat.

Mania is a big food stealer!

Major "I love my tall wife!" energy from Mania.

Mania is the first one who throws hands Athena backs her up.

Pet names all day from Mania, Athena doesn't do that in public.

Mania fell first but Athena fell harder.

Mania classifies as a underworld god so Athena does have to stop Mania from messing with Hades, Thantos, Charon, etc..

Mania loves to bite, she'll do this at random ass times.

being the daughter of Nyx and Erebus, Mania can blend into the shadows, darkness, and night so she does spy on Athena who is aware of all this but too tired to say anything.

there are times where Mania wears Athena's helmet (yes she steals it).

first time doing headcanons so hope I did well enough

[ma1dita]

said he likes crazy

a ‘partners in crime’ installment - luke castellan x dionysus!reader

words: 2.1k

summary: (pre-established relationship) The one where only he can help you with a bad day, even if he's been avoiding you since your first kiss. Luke Castellan x fem!Dionysus!reader

a/n: SAID HE LIKES CRAZY GIRLS, BUT HE HATES WHEN I ACT CRAZY guys i didnt sleep for this pls tell me its ok

(posted 1/29/24, beta’d by the lovely ellie @lixzey )

—

He’s been avoiding you. 

To be specific, Luke’s been running away from you. Typical son of Hermes, and a typical teenage boy at that. But if anyone’s asked you what’s up (which, they all have, after almost 4 years of seeing you two not go a day without bickering), it’s just easier to say you’ve been busy.

Okay, so perhaps you’ve been avoiding him too.

Annabeth clocked you as soon as you turned tail after almost bumping into him after archery practice. Damn children of Athena; it’d be nice if they weren’t so perceptive sometimes.

“What did he do this time?” she pipes up, filling the silence of the Big House. It’s late now, and the cabin counselors’ meeting just ended.

“Seeing as you’re the one helping me with the paperwork tonight and not him, you can take a good guess, Annie,” you sigh.

Honestly though, who the fuck kisses someone senseless and then runs away? (Luke Castellan, that’s who.) You weren’t sure what to make of it. You’re a daughter of chaos, after all, not love. But if there’s anyone who can read your emotions better than yourself, it’s him. 

Annabeth stares at her idiot brother through the window as he wanders in the grass outside the Big House.

“That bad, huh?”

“He’s just…being Luke,” you say, blinking slowly as you shuffle through the last of the files you need to put on your dad’s desk before you mutter, “I’m just having a bad day.”

A noise of concern makes its way up Annabeth’s throat. You haven’t had a bad day in a while, in all honesty, not one that makes you act like this, admittedly not one that makes you act like you— the daughter of Dionysus, god of insanity, and not the daughter of Mr. D, camp director.

It was just a bad day until it turned into a bad week, and the voices in your head were starting to get loud without Luke distracting you. Because that’s what he ultimately is, a distraction from your camp duties. 

There’s so much to do and so little time, however, that you hide away your microexpressions that seem to be clawing at you from the inside. The anger, the mania, the hurt. If you unleash it, only the gods can predict how much of camp would be affected by your ‘outbursts’, as your dad likes to call them. Not like you had a choice in the matter. Your days of wreaking havoc are behind you, now presenting yourself as the stellar star of the Camp Half-Blood show. It’s almost a one-woman production with you picking up after your father and trying to tame the traits he passed down.

Thanks for that, D. 

So you give and you give and you give—all your attention and time and effort into keeping camp upright, into being the perfect daughter, that at the end of the day, you’ve drained yourself of who you are with who you try to be.

You look at your tired reflection in the window, before your eyebrow raises at the sight of Luke blending in with the shadows of the tree he’s leaning against. Idiot.

“Annie, would you mind…”

“Yeah, I’ll do cabin checks myself. Might drag your brother to do them with me,” she smiles, patting your arm before grabbing her bag.

“If he complains, let me know. Pollux has heard me bitch enough today.” The small girl raises an eyebrow at that, biting her tongue from responding. You chewed out a lot of people today, acting extra uptight and demanding of the counselors to “just do the right thing.” It was almost insufferable, but despite you trying to hold it in, your emotions bled into their own. Everyone was agitated by the end of the meeting, filing out quickly with biting words and hot tempers. You couldn’t help but notice Luke led them all out of there, and they also somehow got the feeling that he was to blame. 

Smiling at Annabeth in thanks, you watch her walk out to Luke before punching him in the stomach as he grimaces, meeting your violet gaze through the window as he raises a hand. It’s hard to tell if it’s to signal a truce or his embarrassment, but he trudges the way up the path and the door creaks open.

“Heard you were having a bad day,” he mumbles, scratching the nape of his neck. You look at him from the corner of your eye as you continue to write down the weekly to-dos and organize papers for your dad to sign and send back to Zeus.

“Why are you still here, Castellan?”

“So we’re back to that? I thought…” his voice trails off at the sound of his last name, not Luke, not angelface, or anything in between, and both of you are unsure how to proceed. Neither of you have done this before, at least not with each other. You tilt your head to the side, daring him to speak, and it reminds him of a week ago, you bathed in sunlight when he leaned in and kissed you. Though if he did that right now, he’s not sure how you’d react. 

“It’s just a bad day,” you whisper in defeat, lilac eyes wilting in front of him like an overwatered flower.

He realizes then that he cares for you more than he knows how to. And Luke knows what it means when you’re having a bad day.

There’s a deranged look in your eye, a subtle eye twitch and clench of your jaw that is almost insusceptible to the average demigod, but he knows you’re on edge, having taunted you mercilessly until you scream, cry, laugh, or all of the above. But most of all you look tired and in need of someone who knows how it feels to be underappreciated. 

“D’s a great dad to the twins. But I just feel like… maybe he wasn’t meant to be mine,” you whisper, rolling your tongue against the front of your teeth to push back the sob a 14-year-old version of you would let out deep in the dark of cabin 11, having been there for months and knowing Dionysus was your father and waiting for him to see you. To know you. 

“Giving me a hard time about all of this,” you say, hands gesturing to the things you have to prepare for him by morning. You’re overworked, underpaid, and definitely not appreciated— and Luke decides he hates your dad for what he puts you through, not just as a shitty camp director but as a shitty dad. He’s learned to live with the hurt—to use it to fuel his vengeance for how he plans to make the world better. But your ambition makes you change yourself constantly to try to be better. Both fatal flaws are fueled by the ignorance of your fathers. He knows the feeling all too well.

He knows you.

“What do you need?” he asks simply, stepping closer to your form hunched over the desk.

“I can do it, you know. D’s wrong about me,” you whisper, and the words come out sounding so desperate for him to believe the performance you always put on that you avert your eyes.

He doesn’t need to be convinced; instead, he holds his arms out waiting for you to let you make the next move. Luke is neither a fool nor a knave— there are no tricks here, no hidden agenda as he watches you try to compose yourself with a deep breath instead of showing him the real you. The one who’s beneath the mask of being head counselor, your father’s saving grace, and the one who carries her responsibilities like Atlas carries the weight of the sky.

“I know you can. You always have. You really think I’m here to help you file paperwork?”

“Will you let me?” Whether he meant sharing the workload or being there for you, you wouldn’t dare to ask. It’s all the same, anyway—laying yourself bare for someone to peek into your mind and have them not laugh at it.

Suddenly you speak, and the intensity of your tone makes him straighten his posture. 

“Sometimes… Do you ever feel the need to just…”

“What?” He reaches out to tug your hair, and in the dim light, he can see the bloom of your cheeks. You’re shy, and Luke thinks you look soft like this, wary of how he perceives you.

“I shouldn’t.” Fuck the gods. He can see the thought form in your eyes, the heat of your stare tearing through his, and his lips pull into a smirk.

“What was that, Trouble?” 

“Luke, don’t be an asshole…” You say warily, biting the inside of your cheek. There’s no way you’re going down in the history books for cursing the gods because Luke Castellan of all people made you. 

“I thought you liked me like that,” he’s grinning now, and grabbing your chin lightly, mouthing the words to echo your thoughts. 

Fuck the gods.

“Fuck.” you whisper, before your voice fails you, your eyes closing both from his touch and the genuine fear of the heavens falling down from the sacrilege falling from your lips.

“Louder,” he whispers, pulling your face up close to his, “come on, you used to be more fun, Trouble. I believe in you.”

“Fuck!” you say louder and he’s whispering in your ear, urging you to toe the line between perfect child and degenerate.

“Say it again.”

“FUCK! FUCK THE…” you yell before you sigh exasperatedly, eyes widening as you feel the breath release from your chest before your head lolls onto his shoulder. 

“Gods, you’re fucking insane, Castellan.”

He laughs lowly, and it sounds as sweet as sin. Your smiling lips make an imprint on his collarbone, and he wishes they would sear themselves on there for the rest of eternity.

“Hey, I get it from you. Feel better?”

To be seen is a fickle thing. But to be known is something more intimate, and nothing will be able to erase the connection you both share—fatal flaws and all. There are things you can’t change about people, what they are at their core, and so he takes what you hate about yourself with both hands and pulls you towards his chest until you settle against him with a sniffle. Luke tilts your chin up again, a rough thumb wiping away evidence of your watery smile. He thinks he sees a glimpse of a past you—a younger one that dyed his socks purple to make him feel like he belongs here. And he knows now that he does belong with you, right here as he holds you in the quiet of the Big House.

“Ugh, I’ll kiss you later, I still have to finish up here. You’re not off the hook, angelface.” You sigh, pushing away from him before he tugs you back, your feet stumbling as you roll your eyes at his impish expression.

“Let me make it up to you then, Trouble.”

“What, so you run away again?” you scoff, snickering at the sight of his ego being taken down a notch.

“I’ve just….I don’t know how to do all of this with you. Guess I’m worried it won’t meet your expectations, Miss Head Counselor.” A boyish sort of bashfulness crosses his features, and he’s twirling a piece of your hair in his hands like spinning silk.

“I just hope you never stop surprising me. That’s all I ask.”

Your hand touches his wrist lightly, and he sighs like you’ve already taken his breath away.

“I keep my promises. Do you?”

“Who said a kiss was a promise? I meant it as a threat,” you laugh before he’s pressing your hips into the table, nose nudging against yours and suddenly work is off the table for the rest of the night.

You on the table, however, well... that could be negotiated.

“I knew something was wrong with me when your so-called threats got less scary and more sexy,” Luke teases, running a finger on the side of your cheek. His breath tickles your lips, and you can imagine the rage your father would feel if he caught the two of you in his office like this. Besides the blatant defiance, you briefly wonder if your rebellion would get him to respect you more. An interesting thought.

“You’re absolutely terrible. I need to get this done… The gods don’t wait for us.”

A weak sigh leaves your mouth as your brain is already riddled with thoughts of him and he closes the gap between your lips.

“They can wait until morning. For now, you’re mine.”

��

“You can’t love someone unless you love yourself first — bullshit.

I have never loved myself.

But you —

Oh god, I loved you so much I forgot what hating myself felt like. (via swxrn-in)”

ask to be added to general/luke taglists!

luke taglist (some won't let me tag, turn on my post notifs?): @kissingyourgrl @dorcas4meadowes @lorarri @andrewgarfldsgf @noodlesketchbook @10ava01 @poppysrin @ashisabitgay @timhalamet @liv1104 @leeknows-wife @mxtokko @bugcuti3 @luvvfromme @midmourn @2hiigh2cry @yuminako @niktwazny303 @lukecastellandefender @intergalactic-padawan @iliketopgun @annybah @dangelnleif @thegrinningghost @alyssajunelle @obxstiles @m00ng4z3r @visndcaitswhore @b0ok-lover @elegant-face-tree @this-barbie-is-having-breakdowns @amortencjja @idonevenknow1359 @maliaaaa @targaryenluvs @sakyira @dhdjdjjdhsjdiri @number-onekidqueen @nininehaaa @bradynoonswife @stevenknightmarc @hoodedhavok @happy-mushrooms @homebyeleven @anotherblackreader @too-deviant @liviessun @lilacspider @theadventuresofanartist @sucker4seresin @simpforsunwoo @zanzie @starrystormwritings

[lee1504]

pjo x nevermore

lenore: daughter of mania

annabel lee: daughter of athena

duke: son of laverna

pluto: son of selene

berenice: daughter of hermes

ada: daughter of narcissus

morella: daughter of hestia

eulalie: daughter of hecate

montresor: son of chaos

prospero: son of erebus

will: son of koalemos

[ultramagicalternate]

Alphabetical Character Encyclopedia

Here is the Alphabetized character encyclopedia. There will be spoilers throughout, so read at your own discretion.

Chronological encyclopedia

Master Post

A

Abezithibod

Abraham Van Helsing

Achasiah

Adam Frankenstein

Adelaide Sallow

Albert Dirks

Albrecht Schindewolf/Allan Erkstrom

Alfonso Pari

Amadeus Briggs

Amanda Briggs

Amon, Duke of Hell

Andelin Sylvia Lillemor Lindbek

Andrew Gruell (The Ragdoll of Old)

Antares Briggs

Antonio Pari

Aoife Crawford (ULTRAMagic Devil)

Spiritus Magni Aphrodite

Asclepius, Son of Hermes

Spiritus Magni Athena

Auda Willfort

Aureolus Schindewolf (ULTRAMagic Disciple)

B

Bai’sin

Barna Schindewolf

Barry Esko Boyle (ULTRAMagic Hunter)

Baphomet

The Beast of Old

Beauregard

Berislav Briggs

Bethany Briggs

Bileth, King of Hell

Blood-Wraith Raynot

Blythe “Witchblade” Finely

Boris Lazarov

Brendan Devilfay

Brenna Thompson

Bronislav

Brooklyn Langley

Brunehilde Skull Thrasher

Spiritus Magni Brutus

King Brutus IV

Buster Ash

C

Caius

Carol the Traveler

Charles Blackwell Ford

Chernobog

Claudius Alfieri

Cliff Steele

The Colossus of Old

The Conspirator of Old

Cordelia Willfort

Corentin Schindewolf

The Crimson Abyss

Cronus (ULTRAMagic Reaper)

D

Daniel

Darkness

David Livesey (ULTRAMagic Magistrate)

Deimos (Eustorgio, The Mage of Old)

Desislav Robles

Dionysus, Lord of Madness

Dolus & Iocus

Donia Albronda

Dragoslava Raynot

Drazhan Thornefield

Spiritus Magni Drusa

Dunja Schindewolf

E

Ekaterina

Elaine Gabriella O'Nessie

Eleanor Albronda

Duke Eligio Moretti

Ellen the Wayward

Empress Eliza-Rex/Eloise

King Englehart Schindewolf

Erika Storm

Sir Erling Vang

Dr. Ethan Luminate

Evan Dunn

The Evangelist of Old

F

Fausta Dracul

Faustus Ashman

The Fear of Old

Fenrir

Folkvar Haugen

The Forest of Old

G

Gabriella Pari

Gilgamesh, King of Uruk

Gostislav Robles

The Great Unspeaker

The Grass God

Gratiana Arlotti

The Grave God

Grendel Bombastus Scarfe

Gustav Dahlberg

H

Hades, Lord of the Underworld

Hannibal Skull Thrasher

Hanzou Nagasawa

Heinrik Rofocale

Herman Lydon

Hermes Trismegistus

The Hunger of Old

The Hydra of Old

I

Ignatius Darren Ford (ULTRAMagic Infinity)

Inkblot Fischer

K

Karnage

Katsuko Yoshinaga

Kresimira Raynot

Kyu #9

L

Leif/Tyrant (The Dragon of Old)

Leonardo Hammond O'Nessie

Logan Bonneville

Loki

Lucifuge Rofocale

Ludwig Leichenberg (Rebirth - Red Suit)

M

Mable Acheson

The Madman of Old

Chief Magnus Scully

Mal (The Malformed of Old)

Marion "Tanya" Devilfay

Mary Pickford

Maya Athenon

Mayhem Highland

Spiritus Magni Maxima

Maximus Raynot (The War Machine of Old)

Mazatl Nakahara/Adrien Irons

Mercurius II

Milan Proch

Milosh Proch

Mira Ashman

Mizuki Kitagawa

The Monolith of Old

Morana Dracul

Morrigan Devilfay

Mortis Theodore Kidd

N

Nathaniel "Haunt" Fernsby

The Night God

O

Spiritus Magni Octavia

Octavius

Odin

Sir Odo, Knight of the Unlight

Olivia Briggs

Orion

Ornias

P

Persephone, Lady of Darkness

Proteus (The Ocean of Old)

Q

ULTRAMagic Quasar

R

Duke Radovan Raynot

Raguel

Randalph Theoprastus Scarfe

Razor Scully

Rebis

Regnault

Dr. Reynard Woodall

Richard Callahan/Rostislav Dracul (ULTRAMagic Richter)

Captain Roger/Spiritus Magni Manius

Duchess Rose Raynot

Ryota Tsukumo (ANTIMagic Inferno)

S

Saul Bonneville

Seishin Mikoto

The Screaming God

Shigeko Tsukumo (ANTIMagic Mania)

Chief Sigmund Willfort

Six-Eared Macaque

Skari Willfort

The Sludge God

King Sten Haugen

Stolas, Prince of Hell

Stolon, Duke of Hell

Sun Wukong

T

Taro Miyazaki

Teunis Van Hautum (ULTRAMagic Ex)

The Taffy of Old

Theobold

Thor

Thora Willfort

Threrth

ULTRAMagic Thunder

Tiberius Philipus Skull (ULTRAMagic Scholar)

Timothy Finnegan

Torunn Craddock

Trevor MacQuoid

Trumna Wintergate

Tusk Willfort

U

ULTRAMagic Ultimatum

Umbra

V

Valentina Pari

Vexation (Ermenrich Denzell)

Victor Von Frankenstein

Vlad III Dracula

Vlad IV Dracul

Vladislav Velimir Dracul

Vlastimir Bartholomew Dracul

Voltage Tessla

W

Walter Nithercott (ULTRAMagic Walker)

The Watchman of Old

Weaver Craddock

Will-15

Wilhelm

William Ford II (ULTRAMagic Shadow)

Sir Wolfgang

X

The Xanthous King

Xavier Dufort

Y

Dire Fairy Yale

Queen Yngvild Haugen

Z

Zal-Rint

Zoltan Tenebrae Raphael Dracul

[wrestlingisfake]

Mania Weekend: Thursday March 31

I'm trying to map out all the minor-league shows that will be running in Dallas over Wrestlemania weekend. There's a lot! This post will just cover Thursday, so check back later for the rest.

Since I won't be in Dallas, I'm just focusing on the ones that I know will be streaming live. I'll call out some of the matches that catch my eye, but for the full card I recommend googling each show or checking the promotion's Twitter feed.

Glory Pro Wrestling: Cemetery Gates [The Collective]

12pm EDT (11am CDT) - $12.99 on Fite or part of The Collective bundle (12 shows for $139.99)

Glory Pro is an indy promotion that mainly runs in the St. Louis/East St. Louis area. I mainly hear about them because of Davey Richards and WARHORSE, but they're also turning out a lot of up-and-coming Black wrestlers like Tootie Lynn and Mike Outlaw. I believe this is their first Mania weekend show so I hope they do well.

Josh Alexander vs. WARHORSE

Davey Richards & Rocky Romero vs. Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett

Jake Something vs. Max the Impaler

Tootie Lynn vs. Janai Kai

Mike Outlaw vs. Bryan Keith

and more!

GCW: Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8

4pm EDT (3pm CDT) - $19.99 on Fite or part of The Collective bundle (12 shows for $139.99)

I've never actually checked out Bloodsport before. As I understand it, it's meant to be a hybrid of MMA and pro wrestling that emphasizes grappling and strikes without all the flips and dives. If you dig Jon Moxley and Minoru Suzuki matches, you'll probably love this shit.

Jon Moxley vs. Biff Busick (Oney Lorcan)

Minoru Suzuki vs. Chris Dickinson

Josh Barnett vs. JONAH (Bronson Reed)

Marina Shafir vs. Zeda Zhang

John Hennigan (John Morrison) vs. Simon Grimm (Simon Gotch)

Masha Slamovich vs. Janai Kai

and more!

AAA Invades WrestleCon

6pm EDT (5pm CDT) - $14.99 on Fite or part of the WrestleCon bundle ($74.99 for 5 shows)

The top promotions in Mexico are CMLL, which is entrenched in traditional lucha, and AAA, which goes all out with ridiculous overbooked clusterfucks. Do you enjoy heel referees, fucky finishes, scary dives, endless run-ins, false advertising, and unprofessional conduct? Well, even if you don't, AAA has a certain car-crash appeal.

Psycho Clown vs. Black Taurus

AAA cruiserweight title: Laredo Kid vs. Flamita vs. Bandido

NWA tag title: Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf vs. Aero Star & Drago

and more!

GCW: Joey Janela's Spring Break 6, Part 1

9pm EDT (8pm CDT) - $19.99 on Fite or part of The Collective bundle (12 shows for $139.99)

This is the centerpiece of GCW's sprawling empire of Mania weekend shows. I've never watched a JJSB but I've always spent Mania weekend hearing all about it. I expect at least one deathmatch on this show, but for the most part this looks like it'll be more about big names than blood 'n' guts.

GCW world title: Jon Moxley vs. AJ Gray

Joey Janela vs. X-Pac

Mickie James vs. Allie Katch

GCW tag title: Nick Gage & Matt Tremont vs. Mark Briscoe & Jay Briscoe vs. Mance Warner & Matthew Justice

GCW ultraviolent title: Alex Colon vs. John Wayne Murdoch

and more!

WrestleCon: Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow

9pm EDT (8pm EDT) - $14.99 on Fite or part of the WrestleCon bundle ($74.99 for 5 shows)

WrestleCon has been a fan convention over Mania weekend since 2013, and the Supershow since 2014. The show was renamed in 2018 to honor Mark Hitchcock, a member of the con's team. This show is running head-to-head with JJSB, which should get more buzz, but this one's arguably got the biggest star power of the night. Incredibly, the Briscoes are booked for both events, which are three miles apart, so I guess somebody's going to give them a ride.

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Timothy Thatcher

Minoru Suzuki vs. Biff Busick (Oney Lorcan)

Athena (Ember Moon) vs. Mia Yim

Johnny WrestleCon (John Morrison) vs. Taya Valkyrie (Frankie Monet)

Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Homicide & Low Ki

Bandido vs. Mike Bailey

and more!

Control Your Narrative: The Awakening

9pm EDT (8pm CDT) - Free (with ads) on Pro Wrestling TV

After EC3 was released from WWE he turned "Control your narrative" into a catchphrase, a mantra, and now a wrestling promotion. This isn't CYN's first show, but it's gotten a lot of negative buzz, due to its weird rules and the booking of problematic wrestlers like Austin Aries. (There was also a crazy Reddit post claiming the whole thing is a right-wing operation backed by Donald Trump, which is absurd, but the upshot is that a lot of people are rooting for EC3 to fail.)

I've read this will be exclusive to a new streaming venture called Pro Wrestling TV, which tweeted that the show will be free. But PWTV's site is very short on details, which isn't very promising. We'll see what happens.

EC3 & Adam Scherr (Braun Strowman) vs. Damo (Killian Dain) & Erick Redbeard (Erick Rowan)

Westin Blake (Wesley Blake) vs. Austin Aries

Dirty Dango (Fandango) vs. Flip Gordon

Killer Kross (Karrion Kross) vs. Vincent Marseglia

and more (maybe?)

GCW: Planet Death

12:59am EDT (11:59 CDT) - $12.99 on Fite or part of The Collective bundle (12 shows for $139.99)

GCW loves doing these midnight shows. This looks to be the real deathmatch show, for anybody who thinks there isn't enough broken glass on the rest of the lineup. I'm not familiar with anybody announced for the card, so I take that to mean they're deathmatch specialists that make Nick Gage look tame.

Hoodfoot vs. Mad Man Pondo

Slade vs. Bam Sullivan

Shane Mercer vs. Neil Diamond Cutter

Sawyer Wreck vs. Brandon Kirk

and more!

[yandere-wishes]

Isolation  //Yandere Hermes x reader//

This is a christmas gift for @yandere-romanticaa I hope you like it darling!

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

Somewhere along the last few decades, Hermes the God of messages, thieves, travel, trade, wealth, luck and music had fallen in love with a peculiar mortal girl.

(Y/N), a basted born child, who, out of her mother's shame had lived in the woods for her entire young life. In an almost complete solitary.

When (Y/N)'s mother had dragged her into the depressed woods she'd been no older than 12 months. Too innocent and unaware of the miserable life ahead of her. As the years went by (Y/N) frantically searched for a friend. As a chubby child, she'd wobble outside attempting to talk to the birds and squirrels. Yet soon she learned they would not reply. Her next target came to be the flowers and trees, but as alive as the flora seemed it too never responded. The poor girl would beg her mother to be let into the civilizations she'd read in her books. To meet and speak to other humans, others that looked like her, spoke like her, other of her species. But vicious isolation had long since driven her mother to the brink of madness. The old woman feared the society that had sunned her. In her sick mind, she'd warped people to appear as hideous beasts waiting, lurking to sink their fangs and claws into her and her precious little daughter. She refused her daughter's request every time. Looking into the young girls (E/C) eyes with her hallow ones and proclaiming lovingly that she must stay here away from the world in order to remain safe.

As (Y/N) hit the age of 7, insanity threatened to abduct her mind just as it had done with her mother's. She'd speak to the walls and the wooden floor. She'd sing to doors and dance with the blankets. It was only a matter of time before her mind was last too.

Fortunately for the doomed darling, one day, a certain god only slightly older than a millennium was flying around in the same dreary forest. Having engaged in a rather competitive game of hide and seek with his older brother and sister Apollo and Artemis. The young god known to most mortals as Hermes dodged trees and sore above bushes. Giggling joyfully as he attempted to find an adequate hiding place. His stary blue eyes looked up observing the treetops for a split second. 'No' it would be the first place they look. His gaze than wondered to a nearby pond, glittering and glistening in Helios' rays. He thought, brain pondering for a fraction of a second, he decided against it. No point in getting himself all wet over a silly little game. Finally, the messenger's eyes landed onto the forest ground. Surely there must be a certain rabbit hole or grassy hill. Those would be perfect, not even Athena's mind would consider searching for him there.

As the young god descended he looked took in his surroundings. It was much darker down here, the trees were thicker and an odd musty seem filled the air. Little Hermes walked around for a bit desperately trying to find a place to hide. 'Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to let them find me' he thought silently to himself. The reached smell was getting worse and frequently the young god was rather scared of the dark. He walked further in arms rubbing at his shoulders. He was mortified! Something was going to leap out from behind one of those bushes and attempt to consume him!

As fear ran a mock in Hermes' brain a bizarre noise made its self known throughout the silent woods. It caused the young immortal to practically leap out of his skin. What was? Was it some sort of beast? Maybe a nympho or maybe something worse? Gulping down his courage the god followed the sound. Walking wand walking until he made it to to a tree. The noise was loudest here, he looked around trying to find the source of the noise. When he finally turned to look at the other side of the tree he noticed a small human child curled into a tight ball making the bizarre noise. For endless seconds Hermes started at "it" trying to comprehend why the mortal girl was in such a position and why she was making such a racket. It took him some time before he builds but the courage to kneel beside her and poke at her side. Slowly the girl untwisted her self form her ball like forme. She turned her head to see who was being such a nuisance.

The girl's eyes went wide. It was some sort of sparkling creature. To an extent, it looked like her and her mother. Crunching down on two legs, having two arms and an oval face with a nest of messy blond hair laying on top of it. But this "person" had flappy white wings on their heels and gold particles floated around him, making him appear as though he was the sun god himself. The girl screamed, who was the person? She tucked her head between her knees and continued to cry. This was so so scary, where was her mother? She wanted her mother now! Loud sobs started leaving her mouth, her body was quivering. Fear was the only thing present in her mind.

There it was again, that bizarre noise. Why in Zeus' name was this mortal child making it? "Hey, hey you!" Hermes proceeded to poke her, shake her and yell at her. "Stop making that noise, it's annoying!" but the young god's demands went unheard.

Hermes stepped back, he pondered some way to get the girl to stop her dreadful noise making. He threw his head back and groaned, uncle Poseidon was right humans were exasperating and preternatural creatures. The two sat like that for some time, both mentally alone, trapped by their worries and fears.

'Please go away! Leave me alone'

'Stop making that noise, talk to me tell me why you're doing such a thing!'

Slowly a plan started forming in Hermes' mind. He quickly summoned his staff, pointing it towards the ground underneath the mortal girl. Large olympian flowers sprung from the ground, they tied together, creating a bed that lifted the girl slightly off the ground. It stopped the noise momentarily, as the human unwrapped herself and looked around.

"How did you do that!" she asked in her soar and broken voice.  Astonishment shone in their large eyes. Hermes let out a giggle, humans were amby such little things. "It's easy really just a simple mind spell that Apollo thought me years ago!"  For a second all went silent...

....

.....so...

YOU KNOW THE GOD APOLLO!!

Hermes stepped back, letting out a gasp of shock and surprise. Why was she so surprised? Had this mortal no idea who he was? Wasn't it obvious? "O-of course I know him....haven't you figured out who I am?" Hermes' was offended, this mortal had no idea who he was? Why was she so strang?    

Whilst glaring at the girl, Hermes proudly puffed up his chest a loudly declared.

"I am Hermes' God of messages, thieves, travel, trade, wealth, luck, and music! You, mortal are in the presence of the greatest deity in all of Olympic history-"

"Aaahhh"

A golden arrow flew through the air, landing directly in front of Hermes' sandaled feet.  Both human and god quickly turned to see who had tried to attack them. In the distance, a stunning woman in a deep purple toga stood, bow in hand and a smirk dancing across her face.

"Come on Hermes' time to go..."

The demand floated around the air for a brief second. So he wasn't lying, (Y/N) thought to herself.  She stared up at the by - no God- as he slowly started making his way over to the woman. Briefly, he turned around and shot her a sweet smile and a wave before he and the woman vanished. Leaving behind a dumbfounded (Y/N) who now regretted having lost her chance to maybe make a friend.

Yet the next day the god boy returned. Under the pretext that (Y/N) had merely piqued his interest. And yet again the day after he yet again returned. This had been the norm for roughly 14 years now. Hermes had watched as (Y/N) grew from a curious child into a lovely young woman. Through the years the pair had grown close, doing practically everything together. But things, especially the good ones never last for too long.

Hermes now sat at the edge of mount Olympus overlooking the mortal world. His posture was hunched over, propping up his head with his fist. A dreary expression masking his entire face. Today was it, today was the dreaded day. The day his beautiful (Y/N) would escape from her forest cage and finally find the freedom and civilization she'd spend her whole youth attempting to discover.

All that just meant that Hermes no longer had (Y/N) all to himself. For all these years (Y/N) had looked up to him as her savior from the madness that had come with her isolation. Now she no longer needed saving, no longer would she need Hermes to be her hero nor her friend. There would be others who could save her, the "real" mortal heroes and surely she too like all mortal women would fall in love with them. It was such an annoying though to bear.

Hermes flopped on to his back starring up at the clouds that made up the higher levels of Olympus. Oh, how he wished that (Y/N) could be all his. He closed his eyes for a moment savoring the wish, please, please come true he begged in silent. When he opened his eyes again the air had gotten colder, the atmosphere was much darker tainted with blood red. He could feel an anonyms presence towering over him.

"I hear that you have fallen in love, young Hermes."

"What the-"

Hermes turned, his eyes wide and fear slithering into his flesh. Before him stood the underworld goddess of madness, insanity and maniacal love,  Mania. She was a horror legend on Olympus, one of the only goddesses to not fearing to be a rival to Aphrodite and undoing most of her work. It was said she was the reason behind Hades stealing away poor Kore and all so many Olympians claimed to have seen her right before abducting their darlings.

Why was she here? Was she trying to seak an audience with him? The youngest of all the Olympians.

His body shook, words bubbled up to his tongue and then died there. His lips quivered as he attempted to open them. "W-wh w-w-why wh-why a-are y-y yo-y y-you h-her here?" His words came out in shards glistened in his fear.

The Goddess let out a haughty laugh, "Why little Hermes you summoned me here with that tiny wish of yours. I'm here to help you, darling!"

Hermes stared at the goddess something wasn't right here. Was he about to do something dreadful? Was (Y/N) going to be in danger because of him?

"How"

The goddess smirked a sadistic joy danced in her eyes "You desire that mortal girl all for yourself, right love? Well, why not simply take her?"

The messenger pondered the proposal for a moment. It really would solve all his problems. But would (Y/N) be happy with the whole outcome. She was just about to reach her freedom, could he be so insensitive to strip his dearest friend of her lifetime wish?

When Mania noticed the young boy's hesitance she lifted an eyebrow becoming him to speak his mind.

Hermes gulped than stated his worries. Yet barely had he begun that the insane Goddess let out another burst of laughter. "Hermes my boy you wouldn't be taking away her freedom quite the contrary! You'd be gifting her a much better sense of freedom here on mount Olympus!"

"But I thought that only deities may enter Olympus?"

Mania's smirk grew wider she reached into the pocket of her blood-stained toga and lifted out an old looking bag. It was small, able to fit completely in Hermes' palm. "This bag" Mania started "contains a spell that I mastered in order to help Apollo bring his darling to Olympus, I'm sure you too will find t useful. Just get her to eat one of the candies inside and all should work out from there. Good luck"

With that, she began to vanish, particle by particle until noting was left.

Hermes let out a breath, clutching the bag tightly to his chest. "You heard what she said (Y/N) this is for you. I'm doing this so you can have your freedom!"

(Y/N) ran down a path in the woods, she'd been on it hundreds of times. But this was the day! The day she'd follow it to the end. She's been able to meet actual live people who she could talk to, interact with maybe even feel in love with! The pure excitement made the young girl walk even faster, she was all so close!

"Where you going to leave without saying goodbye?"

(Y/N) stopped in her track a large, bright smile blossomed on her face! She quickly turned around and joyfully ran to the source of the voice! "Hermes! I knew you would pop up before I made it out of the woods!" She tackled her friend in a bone-crushing hug, it could possibly be their last.

When (YN) stepped back she noticed a grim shadow  Hermes's face. Something was off about the god but she just couldn't pinpoint what it was.

"Hey" Hermes was the first to break the silence. "I got you a parting gift." He outstretched his hand and in the palm, a decorated piece of chocolate appeared. Astonished by its beauty (y/n) quickly took the candy and gulped down in one quick bite. Right as she swallowed it the world began to spin everything went in circles faster and faster and faster. She shut her eyes almost as a refelex. Only to find that she couldn't open them again. what the hell was going on! Her mouth wouldn't open to yell for help. Slowly she started to slip from concludes.

Hermes stood beside the body of his dearest friend. He watched as a golde light traced around her limp body. Slowly he kneeled and cradled her in his arms, burying his face the crook of her neck.

"I'm sorry (Y?N) this is all for you... I swear"

[back-and-totheleft]

Gonzo the great

On a cold winter’s day in 1984, exiled by Hollywood and with his career seemingly kaput, Oliver Stone bought a cooked lamb and offered it up with fire, incense, and prayer in a ritual sacrifice on his front lawn, begging forgiveness from Pallas Athena, goddess of wisdom. “It was a strange and solitary ceremony, witnessed only by my two ravenous dogs,” Stone explains, adding that he let his hungry pets chow down when he was done. “After all, what did the Greeks do with all those fine oxen and sheep that were sacrificed on Homer’s pyres?”

That an Oscar-winning screenwriter might attempt to fix a career slump by freaking out his neighbors with a ritual sacrifice of store-bought lamb is the kind of colorful anecdote you could hear about any Hollywood flake. But the intense sincerity of the ceremony––the 100% irony-free belief that Pallas Athena would indeed be listening––well, that could only come from Oliver Stone, a larger-than-life character who sees himself as a figure of modern myth. He’s often ridiculous but not entirely wrong. Stone’s compulsively readable new memoir CHASING THE LIGHT chronicles the first half of his career with the kind of grand, go-for-broke immediacy that defined his early films. I couldn’t put it down.

It’s a life of such bold gestures the book could rightfully be written in all caps. Born to a wealthy stockbroker and his French war bride, William Oliver Stone dropped out of Yale to write the Great American Novel at the age of nineteen. When it was rejected by publishers, he hurled the manuscript into the East River and enlisted in the Army, requesting assignment to the Infantry to prove his mettle on the battlefield. Stone later shaped his wartime experiences into “Platoon,” the 1986 release of which to rapturous acclaim, boffo box office, and four Academy Awards serves as the ending of this book, the catharsis at the end of a long and tortured path home from Vietnam.

After returning from the war, Stone almost immediately landed in a Mexican jail for smuggling drugs, rescued only by his father’s connections while the rest around him were left to rot. He finally found his calling at NYU’s film school, where a fast-talking young instructor named Martin Scorsese greatly admired his student short, announcing to the class “This is a filmmaker, ”a benediction Stone still describes as “my diploma.” (The twitchy, anti-social vet was at the time driving a cab at night, inadvertently supplying some inspiration for his professor’s most iconic screen character.)

Most of “Chasing the Light” is devoted to Oliver’s early misadventures in Hollywood, rocketing to stardom at the age of 33 with his Oscar-winning screenplay for “Midnight Express,” then burning all his bridges on a quick trip back to relative obscurity. It’s a dishy, delicious read, telling tales out of school and at the expense of directors who had the temerity to change a word of the brilliant screenplays he’d provided them with. If ever there was a writer who needed to direct his own material, it’s Oliver Stone.

(In the great 2015 documentary “De Palma,” the “Scarface” director says he had to ban Stone from the set because he was overstepping his bounds by giving the actors line readings. Stone here diplomatically describes De Palma as “simply not the most energetic of human beings.” Sounds like it was a fun production.)

Curiously enough, one comes away with a sense that the character closest to Stone’s heart was Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian, whose adventures the screenwriter originally envisioned as a ten or twelve (!) film series. He includes generous excerpts from his original, admittedly un-filmable 140-page script, full of pig mutants, hydra heads, and gloriously purple prose. It’s no stretch to say that Stone sees much of himself in the lusty, literate pagan warrior, and this outsized self-image––which does much to explain his off-putting affinity for despots like Castro and Putin––is backed up in the book by grandiose allusions and constant quotations from Homer, Tennyson’s “Ulysses,” and of course, Jim Morrison. So much Morrison.

Stone’s career resurrection would arrive with the 1986 double-whammy of “Salvador” and “Platoon,” both backed by Hemdale’s John Daly, a beloved indie film buccaneer to whom “Chasing The Light” is dedicated. It’s with these pictures that Stone took the helm and perfected his blunt-force trauma, American tabloid-style of storytelling. Pauline Kael said “he writes and directs as if someone had put a gun to the back of his neck and yelled ‘Go!’ and didn’t take it away until he’d finished,” which is an apt description of the low-budget, guerrilla filmmaking productions chronicled herein. Stone rollickingly recounts the logistical nightmares overcome during these grueling location shoots, in the process finding at least a dozen different ways call his “Salvador” star James Woods a giant pussy.

In a candid autopsy of what went wrong with his screenplay for “Year of the Dragon,” Stone speculates that director Michael Cimino never fully recovered from the disastrous experience of “Heaven’s Gate,” insinuating that he understands this all too well. Likewise, I don’t feel like Stone ever really bounced back from the debacle of his 2004 “Alexander,” an obviously flawed yet deeply impassioned and fascinating picture that only Oliver Stone could have made. He’s directed some good films since then, but they’ve been uncharacteristically timid and visually tame, missing that edge of mania––the fire-in-the-belly so beautifully conjured by this memoir. Maybe it’s time for him to call again upon Pallas Athena, or was the writing of this book the real ritual?

-Sean Burns’ review of Oliver Stone’s Chasing the Light, North Shore Movies, Aug 16 2020 [x]

[dotshiiki]

CoL, Chpt 10

X: ANNABETH

Annabeth opened her eyes to find herself in Percy's arms.

For one second, her heart went spinning in giddy cartwheels. Then she remembered that they were deep in Tartarus, facing a horde of demon curse spirits.

Except the arai were gone. And although Annabeth's body ached as if she'd just run a marathon, scaled ten of Camp Half-Blood's lava walls, and wrestled a giant to boot, she was alive. Her shirt reeked of her own blood, reminding her of the curses she'd invoked. A knife in the back from the empousa. A spear through the gut from the giant Enceladus. Bruises blossomed where a sticky filament had wrapped itself around her neck—a gift from Arachne, no doubt.

It was a miracle she'd survived.

The others didn't look much better. Thalia's clothes were drenched in blood, the fabric pierced a thousand times over. Nico looked like he'd taken a tumble into a sooty fireplace. Will lay unconscious by his side, though his body bore no visible injury.

Percy was the only one who seemed unharmed. His jaw was set in a hard line. In his hand, he gripped Riptide so tightly, his knuckles were white.

Nico shook Will. 'What happened?' he demanded. 'Did he get cursed, too? What was it?'

Percy let go of Annabeth and took a step back. 'The demons couldn't hurt either of us. We got rid of them. And then he healed all of you.'

Nico swore and dug into Will's pack. 'Over-exertion, then. Exactly what he's always nagging me about.'

He dribbled bottled Phlegethon into Will's mouth. Will came to with a violent cough.

'You idiot!' Nico scolded. 'After all that crap you gave me about taking on too much, I swear—'

Will groaned and raised a hand to his head. 'What was I supposed to do, let you guys die?'

'How did you avoid getting cursed?' Thalia asked.

'They couldn't find curses for either of us,' Percy said. 'I guess Will never killed anybody.' His eyes narrowed. 'And they said I was already cursed. That you cursed me.'

Although he looked around all four of them as he said this, the you stabbed Annabeth like a dagger hurled unerringly into her chest. In a controlled, even tone that didn't quite mask an undercurrent of anger, Percy repeated the words that the arai had spoken to him.

Annabeth remembered then the last curse the arai had bestowed upon her: an invisible force that had flung her away from the group—away from Percy. Retribution from Hipponoe: may you never be loved again!

The arai had cackled most gleefully at that, probably because they'd realised there wasn't much they could add to that curse.

'You guys are gonna explain what they meant.' Percy pointed to Will with Riptide. 'And why you didn't deny it. You promised.'

'I did,' Will said weakly. He looked at Annabeth. 'You should tell him. All of it.'

Annabeth swallowed hard. Percy's eyes bore into her, harsh as a tempestuous ocean storm. Where did she begin? All of it, Will said, but what did that mean? Their entire history—the one Percy hadn't wanted to hear?

Or the part that was all her fault? Her hubris, her decision, her mistakes.

The part that might make Percy hate her.

You will never be loved again! No, she certainly didn't need the arai to deliver that curse.

'Well?' Percy said. 'Are you gonna to tell me who wiped my memory and why?'

Annabeth opened her mouth to begin. But before she could speak, a sly, sibilant voice emerged from the gloom.

'Oh, but why would she do that? Misunderstanding is so perfect for sowing discord!'

The speaker appeared from the edge of the forest. Her body, draped with a black toga, was so thin that Annabeth almost mistook her for one of the slender trees, spouting branches of hissing vipers from her head. Entwined in her snaky locks were scarlet ribbons, flowing from a blood-soaked headband that held her dishevelled bangs clear of her malicious crimson eyes.

'Lovely,' she said, surveying them with the cold, callous smile of a psychopath. 'You're already halfway there.'

Percy levelled Riptide at her. 'Get lost. This is between me and them.'

'Ah, but it has everything to do with me, too. Surely you don't mean to have a dispute without the goddess of strife?'

'You're Eris,' Annabeth breathed.

The goddess turned her malevolent gaze on Annabeth. In her gleaming eyes, Annabeth saw visions of brothers running each other through with swords, husbands throttling their wives…her own mother, Athena, reduced to petty arguments with her fellow Olympian goddesses.

'Yes, indeed. I have sparked the bloodiest wars in history! My children spread discord throughout the world. I am the mother of hardship, pain, lies…' She grew taller as she spoke, shooting up towards the canopy until she towered over them. 'Quarrels and disputes! Murders and anarchy! These are all my children! And so, my dear demigods, what bitterness can I sow among you today?'

'Forget it,' snapped Thalia. 'We're not interested in fighting. Unless it's fighting you.'

Eris touched her index finger to the tip of a poniard—a small, slim dagger—in her hand. 'Such complacence. Do not forget—it was I who created the golden apple that precipitated the Trojan War. I have broken up couples who boasted of loving each other more than Zeus and Hera!'

Thalia snorted. 'That's not saying much.'

'Will you put me to the test, then, daughter of Zeus?' Eris brought her poniard down as if to stab Thalia. Percy stepped forward and met the dagger with Riptide.

'Will you defend them, then, Perseus Jackson?' Eris hissed. 'The ones who lied to you, who are responsible for your current affliction—oh yes, I see clearly that you bear the curse of one of my daughters.'

She breathed out her words in a mist of red fog that wrapped itself around Percy. He lowered Riptide.

'Don't listen to her, Percy!' Nico drew his own sword. But instead of attacking, Eris stabbed her poniard into the ground. Fissures spread from its point, carving lines in the earth that ran between the five of them.

The red mist descended over Annabeth's head. Shadowy images swirled in it, resolving into a movie reel of every annoying thing her friends had ever done. Thalia smirked at her in front of a row of archery targets—'Get used to playing for second from now on!' Nico scowled and flung a pack of Mythomagic cards at her head, snapping, 'If you're so smart, why didn't you figure out how to save Bianca?' Will appeared in the doorway of cabin six, which she'd turned upside down in a frantic search, holding up her laptop with a sheepish grin. 'Connor made me take it…I lost a bet with him.'

Every urge she'd ever had to throttle them surged into her head, staining her vision a deeper, bloodier red. A snarl escaped her mouth, directed at Will, whose eyes reflected a slow burn back at her.

'This is almost too easy,' Eris said, her voice brimming with amusement. Thalia and Nico were already duelling sword to bow across the rift between them. Percy's murderous gaze vacillated between Will and Annabeth, as though he was undecided as to which of them he should attack first.

Eris didn't intend to kill them herself. No, she was much more enamoured of making them kill each other.

'Not much sport in provoking natural enemies, is there?' Eris mused. 'The daughter of Zeus and the son of Hades—bah, too easy.' She fixed her sadistic, glittering eyes on Annabeth and Percy. 'Ah yes, the biggest challenge. Coming between even the most dedicated of lovers.'

A cold chill trickled down Annabeth's spine. She wanted to draw her sword and run it through Eris, but she was afraid if she tried, she might end up attacking her friends instead. Or worse, Percy.

Eris's fog thickened around her with a vengeance. Its tendrils squeezed her chest like it was trying to wring hatred and anger from her heart. Eris's voice dripped poisonous honey in her ears: He decided you were worth forgetting. He chose an empousa over you. Doesn't that make you just livid?

The image of Percy wrapped around Bella in the alley in Phoenix flashed tauntingly at her. It blended into other wounds, old hurts that she thought she'd gotten over long ago: Percy laughing with Rachel as they drove down a winding beach road; Percy holding hands with the gorgeous Calypso on a paradise island.

Darker memories emerged and floated to the surface. She saw Percy facing Luke on the Williamsburg Bridge, cold green meeting malevolent gold. 'Can't you see he's evil, Annabeth? He's Kronos, through and through.' She saw a sinister shadow in Percy's face as he brought Riptide down in a murderous arc. Wild mania burned in his eyes as he raised a whirlwind of poison.

How dare he frighten you? How dare he turn into what he set out to fight?

There were many things that had made her so mad with him. Her blood boiled with every image Eris showed her, rage roaring through her veins and pounding in her ears. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling. Another memory surfaced—a time when she'd been royally pissed off at him, although she couldn't even recall why.

'I'm so mad at you!' she'd yelled.

'Okay,' he'd said, very seriously. 'I'm sorry.'

'Do you even know what you're apologising for?'

'Not really. But I love you. So I'm sorry I made you mad.'

The mist blew apart. Annabeth looked straight into Eris's amazed face.

Eris wanted her to focus on the anger, on the parts of Percy that had ignited her wrath, but a person wasn't just made of one part. You loved them whole—the good and the bad.

And with Percy, the things that infuriated her about him were often the same things she loved about him. It had been that way right from the beginning, when he had returned to her despite her explicit instructions to leave, in order to fight off three Furies closing in on her.

She saw Percy making her stop in the forum even though they were already late for class, because he just had to offer a denari to the fauns by the fountain.

Percy halting their run for a disoriented tourist on the street—'What's the harm, Annabeth, they just need directions,'—right before the werecat threw off its disguise and tried to sink fangs into his neck.

Percy charging headlong into a fight after she'd explicitly told him to stay back. 'This wasn't the plan, Percy!'

'Screw the plan, it's not like our plans ever work!'

Percy trying to send her to safety, even if that meant he had to stay behind in Tartarus.

How she hated the way he trusted people when he shouldn't, the way he never listened and always screwed up her plans, the way he was so infuriatingly loyal; but how she loved him for it. And what she would give to have that Percy back!

The cry that escaped her mouth was half-exasperation, half-laughter. The choking anger subsided. The mist was receding, being pushed further away from her. It was like a dam had burst, releasing a flood of memories—good ones, to overwhelm the bitterness and resentment with waves of love.

Strolling hand in hand down the Via Praetoria in perfect, contented silence. A kiss under the Eiffel Tower. Lazy Sunday mornings curled up in bed.

She drew deeper within herself, concentrating on every precious memory she had of love—not just for Percy, but her friends, too. Years ago, in the Temple of Fear, Piper had taught her to focus her thoughts around a single emotion. Annabeth did so now, calling upon her love for her friends—everything about them, good and bad. She pictured Thalia laughing and spinning her around at an old school dance in Brooklyn ('Who needs guys for a good dance?') Will holding her hand in the Plaza Hotel as he bandaged her shoulder ('You're gonna be fine, Annabeth. Percy's coming now.') Nico standing by Hestia's hearth, meeting her hand in a high five ('I'm happy for you guys.')

Like a golden ray of sunlight, her thoughts wound through Eris's discordant fog, beaming a path to her friends. When it touched them, the ugly expressions on their faces turned to surprise. Thalia and Nico dropped their battle and stared at each other, bewildered. Will fell to his knees, gasping as the red fog lifted from him. A silvery light reached out and twined with her golden one. Annabeth saw herself with Will, racing through the woods at Camp Half-Blood with a blue flag held aloft between them. They splashed across the creek and shared a grin as the flag turned grey and gold—a team victory.

And then Thalia and Nico joined the battle, too, adding more visions of their friendship. Annabeth watched herself drape a blanket over a younger Nico. She saw Thalia pull her into a tight hug and whisper in her ear, 'You'll always be family to me, Annabeth.'

Triumph surged through Annabeth's heart. They could fight this. Eris wasn't going to win.

Then she looked at the goddess of strife and her heart plummeted.

Eris had relinquished the four of them, but her attention was fully focused on Percy. Her long, clawed nails rested on Percy's shoulder as she whispered into his ear. The mist that they had forced away from themselves swirled exclusively around Percy—the only one of them who hadn't added to the collection of good memories.

Because he didn't have any.

Without his memories, what strength did Percy have to fight Eris's powers? What could he draw on to resist the strife she induced?

Percy let out a cry of inchoate rage. He raised Riptide high above his head and stabbed the sword down, plunging it straight into the rift Eris's poniard had already made in the ground. The cracks deepened, cutting a jagged line through the earth. It created a fissure that separated Thalia and Nico, who were nearest the cliff edge, from the rest.

And then the ground beneath them collapsed. For a brief moment, their feet scrambled for purchase, finding none. Will lunged forward to grab Nico's hand. Annabeth stumbled towards them, tripped, and landed flat on her stomach. Her arms reached uselessly into the empty air where her friends had been a second ago.

Her mind refused initially to register what had happened. Thalia, Nico, and Will couldn’t have disappeared into that black chasm.

Except they had. Just like that, they were gone, leaving her with Eris and Percy.

Percy.

Annabeth rolled over onto her back. Percy stood over her, sword raised, his eyes glowing red and Eris's mist settling over him like a vengeful cloak. Annabeth stared up at him, frozen with horror. How could she fight? Even if she could bring herself to battle Percy, he was an incredibly powerful demigod. When he took full control of that power, it was as terrifying as it was wonderful. Annabeth remembered the times she had seen him like this: standing over her on the Williamsburg Bridge to face Kronos's army single-handedly, commanding a hurricane in the middle of Central Park against the onslaught of Hyperion, glowing as brightly as his father as they charged down Otis and Ephialtes in the Parthenon.

And the last time they had been in Tartarus—slaying Arachne, choking the goddess Akhlys with her own poison.

Only now, his wrath was directed at Annabeth.

'Percy, please—'

Behind him, Eris cackled with glee. 'Everything that befell you, it was her fault! She stole your memories and lied to you! Doesn't that make you so angry?'

'I'm so mad at you,' Percy intoned.

Annabeth swallowed. 'I'm sorry.'

'She doesn't mean it. She—'

'Sorry,' Percy repeated. 'Because you did lie to me? You did steal my memories?'

'Because I failed to protect you.' His image blurred through her tears. 'I'm sorry I failed you. I love you.'

For a moment, the red in his eyes seemed to flicker with its original green. But Percy kept his stance, Riptide hanging like a guillotine over her head.

'I'm sorry,' she said again. 'I never meant to hurt you.' And while she waited for the blade to fall, she told him, 'I love you, no matter what.'

She wanted that to be the last thing she ever said.

Annabeth closed her eyes. She felt the whoosh of Riptide swinging through the air.

The blow didn't come. Instead, Eris gave a blood-curdling screech.

Annabeth blinked.

Percy had run Eris through with his sword. His eyes were no longer red, but the bloody mist still clung to him. His face was set in the same fierce, hard expression. He stared at the ashy fragments of the goddess, breathing heavily.

'I don't know what's the truth,' he said to her remains, 'but I do know it's not what you're telling me.'

The pieces of Eris didn't reply. A faint breeze curled around them and swept what was left of her over the cliff. Her angry fog faded into the chasm. Annabeth crawled to the drop-off, where the darkness that had swallowed her friends reproached her.

They're gone. They're gone and you failed to save them. Just like you failed Percy.

'Thalia!' she screamed.

There was no answer, no indication that her voice even managed to travel into the chasm below. The darkness seemed to absorb all sound. Percy joined her in yelling their friends' names, but their voices sounded tinny and weak.

Percy swore. 'It's my fault. I—I killed them.'

Annabeth turned to him. His face was pale and gaunt, his eyes hollow with self-loathing. The sight of him taking the soul-crushing guilt upon himself ripped into her heart like an arai's curse.

'No,' she told him firmly. 'That was Eris. She twisted your mind—she played with all of our minds.'

He shook his head. 'I shouldn't have been persuaded. I should've known she was lying, just playing with me. You're all here because of me! And I…oh gods…'

She couldn't let Percy take this on himself. Especially when the real finger of blame should be pointing at her.

'Eris got to you because she was telling the truth, sort of. Your memories—the empousa getting her hands on you—it was our fault. My fault,' she admittted. 'So it's me you should be blaming. I'm the one that got you into this whole mess.'

Percy's eyes widened. 'What are you saying?'

Annabeth pushed herself to her feet. Her entire body was trembling so hard, even her teeth chattered. But she made herself speak.

She told him everything. From the attack by Hipponoe, who wanted revenge on her for killing Joe Bob, to her decision to use the Lethe, to the mistake she'd made with the nepenthe and his subsequent disappearance after they'd fed him the potion.

When she finished, Percy was silent for a long time, his mouth drawn in a hard line.

'You should've told me,' he said finally.

Annabeth looked down. 'We—I wanted to, but at first…you already hated me. You thought we were all lying to you. If you knew I was responsible for your memory loss, too…And then when everything started to get better, I wasn't sure if bringing it up would just hurt you more. I didn't want to make you stop trusting everyone again.'

'Maybe I would've appreciated the honesty.'

'I'm sorry.'

Percy nodded. His eyes softened. 'So am I. I guess I didn't really make it easy for you either. And for what it's worth, it kinda sounds like I might've gotten myself into all of this.'

'Percy, you took a curse meant for me.'

'That wasn't your fault.'

'It was my stupid pride—' She choked on a rising sob.

'It sounds like I chose to do it,' Percy said mildly. 'I guess I was—we were—well.' His mouth twisted wryly. She remembered the question he'd finally asked her the night before they left for Tartarus, the one she'd found herself unable to answer because he'd used the past tense, as if it were a piece of history that would never again be true. Were you my girlfriend?

Then he said, in a tone that filled her with hope, 'You must've been hurting so much all this time. I'm sorry. I wish I could remember. I—I don't like hurting you.'

Annabeth swallowed hard. 'It's okay. Maybe you'll still get your memories back down here. Even if we have to go to the edge of Chaos.'

'Even if we don't…' Percy looked at her hesitantly. 'Well, maybe we could start over. I wouldn't mind giving it a try. You and me.'

You and me. The glimmer of hope swelled in her chest.

'We have to save you first,' she reminded him. 'And the others. They have to be alive.' She refused to accept the alternative.

Percy looked dubiously over the cliff. 'I can sense water,' he said. 'Right at the bottom. Maybe Nico did that thing he did when we fell in here.'

'Shadow travel.'

'Can we climb down?'

Annabeth considered it. They'd made it down a cliff face in Tartarus before. It had been treacherous enough when they could see the handholds. Here in the Dark Lands, they would be feeling blindly for every crevice.

Before they could make a decision, something in Percy's pocket jerked. He pulled out the bronze compass. Its triangle pattern winked like a firefly in twilight, pointing north along the cliff's edge. It seemed to have acquired a life of its own, tugging Percy's hand in that direction.

Annabeth and Percy exchanged a look.

'I guess we follow,' Annabeth said.

Under the compass's insistent direction, they skirted the edge of the cliff. The terrain sloped gently downwards. After a while, Annabeth heard a gurgling below their feet, like a rush of water flowing through rock. She imagined a river cutting its way through an underground gorge, pouring out of a cavern beneath them. Maybe this path would eventually wind down to the bottom.

Please let the others be there.

The cliff face curved to the left. As soon as they followed it round, they seemed to pass out of the inky night into a foggy dawn. The sky was lighter and the air weighed less, no longer settling heavily on her shoulders as it had a moment ago.

Then Annabeth realised with a chill that this was because their bodies no longer had as much substance for the air to press down on. Percy looked like he had after drinking the nepenthe, smoky and insubstantial, like he was formed entirely of thick fog. Judging from the translucent quality of her own fingers, she probably didn't look much better.

Sprouting along their ghostly feet were patches of brightly-coloured flowers that were utterly incongruent with the dismal landscape. Something about this path was eerily familiar.

Ahead, the cliff jutted out like a peninsula over a churning black void. A lone figure stood on it, veiled in shadow. The one thing that stood out was a pinprick of golden-bronze light. Their bronze compass strained towards its round, bright point.

'It's her,' Annabeth said. 'The empousa.'

'What's that black stuff?' Percy asked, sounding simultaneously fascinated and repulsed. 'Where are we?'

Annabeth looked again at his smoky appearance, the way the contours of his body blended into the air like a shroud of nothingness had been flung over him.

The verge of final death, hissed the echo of a voice that haunted her nightmares. Here, you are closer to nothingness than any mortal has ever been.

She should have guessed that the compass would lead them here. If the empousa was after Percy's soul, she would come here, to the place where his memories had washed out.

'The edge of Chaos,' she whispered.

Percy's eyes widened until he looked more ghostly than ever, a pair of green eyes staring out of the gloom.

'Come on,' Annabeth said.

She felt the pull of Chaos before they got there. The air was impossibly thin, as if its molecules had been sucked away into a hungry vacuum. Annabeth's lungs felt like they had been ironed out onto a two-dimensional board. Weightless as her limbs were, moving was a challenge. She had to glide rather than step forward on her legs.

At least the wishbone charm on her bracelet still felt solid. She hoped it meant she'd still be able to wield her sword. They'd be disadvantaged enough facing the empousa here without losing the use of their weapons.

The empousa didn't seem to notice their approach. She was focused on the black hole before her. In her hands was a compass like Percy's. The light they had seen was shining from it, a weak beam travelling into Chaos.

Or so Annabeth thought, until she realised that the light was actually travelling in the opposite direction. The empousa was drawing a misty substance out of the void.

Next to her, Percy stumbled. He clapped one hand to his back—the same spot that had pained him before Annabeth had given him the bronze compass.

'Percy!' She grabbed his shoulder, thankful to find his physical form still holding despite his ghostly appearance.

'I'm—fine—' he gritted out. 'It's her—'

The empousa turned. Unlike Annabeth and Percy, she looked perfectly solid, untouched by the veil of nothingness that clung to them. The glow of her compass set off her hair such that it burned like a flaming torch in the night.

Her red eyes gleamed when they landed on Percy. She started to laugh.

'This couldn't have worked out better if I'd planned it myself!' She crooked one manicured claw at Percy. 'Hello, gorgeous,' she said to him. 'You're right on time. And now, you are going to make me immortal.'

A/N: The goddess Eris has a cameo in HoH, but I decided to flesh her out more. She was loads of fun to write!

@preciouschildrenofolympus has drawn an absolutely incredible illustration of this chapter--it’s a whole comic strip featuring Eris’s appearance, and you should go and check it out if you liked this chapter because it brings it to life so perfectly!

Continue to chapter 11 | Back to content page

[mybisexualhell]

✨ Welcome to my selfship hell! >:3 🐍🗡

Main blog is @loki104-uwu

Some of my buddies selfship blogs(if we're moots and you have a selfship blog tell me and I'll add you to the list :3):

@ozzyscarnivalofships

@pastelpousay

@persephoneflowerpetals/@pastelselfships

@two-vampires-kissing

@gaywhoopingcrane

Gonna lay down some ground rules, i'm a minor (15 about to be 16 on December 30th), so nothing crazy guys, some people ask if i'm ok with friends calling you pet names, only if we been moots for a month or two if we just became moots and you start calling me pet names i'm gonna be weirded out, and if others don't like it then I won't do it clear as day I got it👍

I'm perfectly fine with sharing my f/o's and with you asking/gushing about them, i'll gush with you my bud!

F/Os List:

Romantic❤‍🔥:

Athena (Disney)

Wally Wood (Goosebumps)

Peri & Irep (Fop)

Sandy Cheeks (SpongeBob Squarepants)

Gladion (Pokemon)

Dale Dimmadome (Fop)

Logan Howlett/Wolverine (Marvel X-men)

Snow miser (a miser brothers Christmas/The year without a Santa Claus)

Loki (MCU)

Moondrop (tsams/Fnaf security breach)

Mammon (Helluva Boss)

Abel (Hazbin Hotel)

Hades (Disney Hercules)

Hans (Frozen)

North Wind (a miser brothers Christmas)....someone pls kill me /j

Familial💖:

Boreas (Disney Hercules the animated series) (parental)

Jack Skellington and Sally (The Nightmare Before Christmas) (parental)

Gambit (Marvel X-Men) (parental)

Alastor (Hazbin Hotel) (grunkle lol)

Selfship tags(so far >:3):

Romantic❤‍🔥:

Athena x Mania- ✨🦉demented for you.😈💫

Snowflake x Wally wood- ✨❄snowy forest🪓🪵

Candy x Peri/ Tart x Irep- ✨🪄sweet&sour magic💖❤‍🔥

Skrymir otter x Sandy cheeks- ✨🌊land lovers under the sea🦦🐿

Faye x Gladion- ✨💖sweet dark valentines❤‍🔥💫

Logan x Amara- ✨🐈grumpykitten & sillyaxolotl🌊🐾

Snow Miser x Dust Devil- ✨❄silly snow/sand devils🌪😈

Dale x Celeste- ✨🪄do you believe in magic💰🌠

Loki x Atë- ✨🗡what's wrong with a little chaos🐍😵‍💫

Moondrop x Capria- ✨💫you're a sky full of stars🌕♑

Mammon x Pastel- ✨😈silly hell clowns🤡💰

Familial💖:

Boreas and Chione- ✨🌪Windy snow storm❄🌨

Jack, Sally, and Candy Corn- ✨🦇no tricks just treats🍬🦴

Gambit and Lapin- ✨🃏Showdown!🐇🪄

Alastor and Trixie- ✨🃏you're never fully dressed without a smile📻😈

✨Designs for my self-inserts👈

Other tags:

Art tag- ✨drawing nonsense🖌🎨

Moot/Friend tag- ✨dragging you with me❤‍🔥

Stuff for other ships- ✨welcome to the selfship hell💖

Just text :3- ✨yelling nonsense🐍🗡

Fanart for others- ✨my time for you🥰💫

Fanart for me- ✨my trash ships <3💖💫

[oldschoolretrogaming-blog]

List of NES Games

10 Yard Fight 1942 1943 3-D Worldrunner 720 degrees 8 Eyes A Nightmare on Elm Street Abadox The Addams Family The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt Advanced Dungeon's and Dragon's: Dragonstrike Advanced Dungeon's and Dragon's: Heroes of the Lance Advanced Dungeon's and Dragon's: Hillsfar Advanced Dungeon's and Dragon's: Pool of Radiance Adventure Island Adventure Island II Adventure Island III Adventures in the Magic Kingdom The Adventures of Bayou Billy The Adventures of Dino Riki The Adventures of Gilligan's Island The Adventures of Lolo The Adventures of Lolo II The Adventures of Lolo III The Adventures of Rad Gravity The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Air Fortress Airwolf Al Unser Jr.s Turbo Racing Alfred Chicken Alien 3 Alien Syndrome All Pro Basketball Alpha Mission Amagon American Gladiators Anticipation Arch Rivals: A Basket Brawl! Archon Arkanoid Arkistas Ring Astyanax Athena Athletic World Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Baby Boomers Back to the Future Back to the Future II & III Bad Dudes Bad News Baseball Bad Street Brawler Ballon Fight Bandai Golf: Challenge Pebble Beach Bandit King's of Ancient China Barbie Bard's Tale Barker Bill's Trick Shooting Base Wars - Cyber Stadium Series Baseball Baseball Simulator 1.000 Baseball Stars Baseball Stars II Bases Loaded Bases Loaded II: Second Season Bases Loaded III Bases Loaded IV Batman Batman Returns Batman: Return of the Joker Battle Chess The Battle of Olympus Battle Tank Battleship Battletoads Battletoads and Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team Beetlejuice Best of the Best: Championship Karate Bigfoot Bill and Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure Bill Elliot's NASCAR Challenge Bionic Commando Black Bass Blades of Steel Blaster Master Blue Marlin The Blue's Brothers Bo Jackson Baseball Bomberman Bomberman II Bonk's Adventure Boulder Dash A Boy and His Blob Bram Stoker's Dracula Break Time: The National Pool Tour Breakthru Bubble Bobble Bubble Bobble: Part 2 Bucky Ohare The Bug's Bunny Birthday Blowout The Bug's Bunny Crazy Castle Bump N Jump Burai Fighter Burgertime Cabal Caesars Palace California Games Captain America and the Avengers Captain Planet Captain Skyhawk Casino Kid Casino Kid 2 Castelian Castle of Dragon Castlequest Castlevania Castlevania II: Simon's Quest Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse Caveman Games Championship Bowling Championship Pool The Chessmaster Chip N Dale: Rescue Rangers Chip N Dale: Rescue Rangers 2 Chubby Cherub Circus Caper City Connection Clash at Demonhead Classic Concentration Cliffhanger Clu Clu Land Cobra Command Cobra Triangle Code Name: Viper Color a Dinosaur Commando Conan: The Mysteries of Time Conflict Conquest of The Crystal Palace Contra Contra Force Cool World Cowboy Kid Crash N the Boy's: Street Challenge Crystalis Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine Dance Aerobics Danny SulIvans Indy Heat Darkman Darkwing Duck Dash Galaxy in the Alien Asylum Day Dreamin Davey Day's of Thunder Deadly Tower's Defender II Defender of the Crown Defenders of Dynatron City Deja Vu Demon Sword Desert Commander Destination Earth Star Destiny of an Emperor Dick Tracy Die Hard Dig Dug II: Trouble in Paradise Digger T. Rock: Legend of the Lost City Dirty Harry: The War Against Drugs Donkey Kong Donkey Kong 3 Donkey Kong Classics Donkey Kong Jr. Donkey Kong Jr. Math Double Dare Double Dragon Double Dragon II: The Revenge Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stone Double Dribble Dr. Chaos Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Dr. Mario Dragon Fighter Dragon Power Dragon Spirit: The New Legend Dragon Warrior Dragon Warrior II Dragon Warrior III Dragon Warrior IV Dragon's Lair Duck Hunt Duck Tales Duck Tales II Dungeon Magic Dusty Diamonds All-Star Softball Dynowarz: The Destruction of Spondylus Elevator Action Eliminator Boat Duel The Empire Strikes Back Evert and Lendl Top Player's Tennis Excitebike F-117A Stealth Fighter F-15 Strike Eagle Family Feud Faria: A World of Mystery and Danger Faxanadu Felix the Cat Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge Fester's Quest Final Fantasy Fire N Ice Fisher Price: Firehouse Rescue Fisher Price: I Can Remember Fisher Price: Perfect Fit Fist of the North Star Flight of the Intruder The Flintstones The Flintstones: The Surprise at Dinosaur Peak Flying Dragon: The Secret Scroll Flying Warrior's Formula 1: Built to Win Frankenstein: The Monster Returns Freedom Force Friday the 13th Fun House G.I. Joe G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor Galaga Galaxy 5000 Gargoyles Quest II Gauntlet Gauntlet II Guardian Legend Gemfire Genghis Khan George Foreman's KO Boxing Ghostbusters Ghostbusters II Ghost's N Goblins Ghoul School Goal! Goal! Two Gold Medal Challenge 92 Golf Golf Grand Slam Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode The Goonies II Gotcha! Gradius The Great Waldo Search Greg Norman's Golf Power Gremlins 2: The New Batch The Guardian Legend Guerilla War Gumshoe Gun Nac Gunsmoke Gyromite Gyross Harlem Globetrotters Hatris Heavy Barrel Heavy Shreddin High Speed Hogan's Alley Hollywood Squares Home Alone Home Alone 2: Lost in New York Hook Hoop's Hudson Hawk The Hunt for Red October Hydlide Ice Climber Ice Hockey Ikari Warriors Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road Ikari Warriors III: The Rescue Image Fight The Immortal The Incredible Crash Dummies Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Infiltrator Iron Tak Ironsword: Wizards and Warriors II Isolated Warrior "Ivan ""Iron Man"" Stewarts Super Off-Road" Jack Nicklaus Major Championship Golf Jackal Jackie Chans Action Kung Fu James Bond Jr. Jaws Jeopardy! Jeopardy! 25th Silver Anniversary Edition Jeopardy! Jr. Edition The Jetsons: Cogswells Caper Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis Tour Joe and Mac John Elways Quarterback Jordan VS. Bird: One-On-One Journey to Silius Joust The Jungle Book Jurassic Park Kabuki: Quantum Fighter Karate Champ Karate Kid Karnov Kick Master Kickle Cubicle Kid Icarus Kid Klown in Night Mayor World Kid Kool Kid Niki King's Knight King's of the Beach King's Quest V Kirby's Adventure Kiwi Kraze Klashball Knight Rider The Krion Conquest Krusty's Funhouse Kong Fu Kung Fu Heroes Laser Invasion Last Action Hero Last Ninja The Last Starfighter Lee Trevinos Fighting Golf The Legacy of the Wizard Legend of Ghost Lion The Legend of Kage The Legend of Zelda Legendary Wing's Legend's of the Diamond Lemmings Lempereur Lethal Weapon Life Force Little League Baseball: Championship Series The Little Mermaid Litle Nemo: The Dream Master Litle Ninja Brothers Little Samson Lode Runner The Lone Ranger Loopz Low G-Man Lunar Pool M.C. Kids M.U.L.E. M.U.S.C.L.E. Mach Rider Mad Max The Mafat Conspiracy: Golgo 13 II Magic Dart's Magic Johnson's Fast Break Magic of Scheherazade Magician Magmax Major League Baseball Maniac Mansion Mappyland Marble Madness Mario Bros.. Mario is Missing Mario's Time Machine Marvels X-Men Mechanized Attack Mega Man Mega Man 2 Mega Man 3 Mega Man 4 Mega Man 5 Mega Man 6 Mendel Palace Metal Gear Metal Mech Metal Storm Metroid Michael Andrettis World Grand Prix Mickey Mousecapades Mickey's Adventures in Numberland Mickey's Safari in Letterland Might and Magic: Secret of the Innner Sanctum Mighty Bomb Jack Mighty Final Fight Millipede Milon's Secret Castle Mission Cobra Mission: Impossible Monopoly Monster in My Pocket Monster Party Monster Truck Rally Motor City Patrol Ms. Pac Man Muppet Adventure: Chaos at the Carnival The Mutant Virus Mystery Quest Narc NES Open Tournament Golf NES Play Action Football NFL Football Nigel Mansells World Championship Racing Nightshade Ninja Crusader Ninja Gaiden Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom Ninja Kid Nintendo World Cup Soccer Nobunagas Ambition Nobunagas Ambition II North and South Operation Wolf Orb-3D Othelo Overlord P.O.W.: Prisoners of War Pac Man Pac-Mania Palamedes Panic Restaurant Paper Boy Paper Boy 2 Peter Pan and the Pirates Phantom Fighter Pictionary Pinball Pinball Quest Pinbot Pipe Dream Pirates! Platoon Popeye Power Blade Power Blade 2 Power Punch II Predator Prince of Persia Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom Pro Sport Hockey Pro Wrestling (Mike Tyson's) Punch-Out The Punisher Puss N Boot's: Peros Great Adventure Pzznic Q*Bert Qix R.C. Pro-Am Racing R.C. Pro-Am II Racket Attack Rad Racer Rad Racer II Raid on Bungeling Bay Rainbow Islands Rally Bike Rambo Rampage Rampart Remote Control The Ren and Stimpy Show: Buckaroo$ Renegade Rescue: The Embassy Mission Ring King River City Ransom Roadblasters Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Robocop Robocop 2 Robocop 3 Robo Warriors Rock N Bal Rocket Ranger The Rocketeer Rockin Kats Roger Clemens MVP Baseball Rollerball Rollerblade Racer Rollergames Romance of the Three Kingdon's Romance of the Three Kingdon's II Roundball: 2 on 2 Challenge Rush N Attack Rygar S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Aattack Tea Secret Scout Secret Storm Section Z Seicross Sesame Street: 123 Sesame Street: ABC Sesame Street: ABC/123 Sesame Street: Big Bird's Hide and Speak Sesame Street: Countdown Shadow of the Ninja Shadowgate Shatterhand Shingen the Ruler Shooting Range Short Order/Eggsplode Side Pocket Silent Service Silkworm Silver Surfer The Simpsons: Bart VS. The Space Mutants The Simpsons: Bart VS. The World Simpsons: Bartman Meet's Radioactive Man Skate or Die Skate or Die 2 Ski or Die Skulls and Crossbones Sky Kid Sky Shark Slalom Smash T.V. Snake Rattle N Roll Snakes Revenge: Metal Gear II Snoopy's Silly Sport's Spectacular Snow Brother's Soccer Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warship Solomon's Key Solstice Space Shuttle Project Spelunker Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six Spot Spy Hunter Spy VS. Spy Sqoon Stack Up Stadium Events Stanley and the Search for Dr. Livingston Star Force Star Soldier Star Trek Star Trek: The Next Generation Star Voyager Star Wars Starship Hector Star Tropics Stealth ATF Stinger Street Cop Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight Strider Super C Super Cars Super Dodge Ball Super Glove Ball Super Jeopardy! Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet Super Mario Bros. 2 Super Mario Bros. 3 Super Off-Road Super Pitfal Super Spike VBall Super Spike VBall/World Cup Soccer Super Spy Hunter Super Team Games Superman Swamp Thing Sword Master Sword's and Serpents Taboo: The Sixth Sense Tag Team Wrestling Tale Spin Target: Renegade Tecmo Baseball T&C Surf Design Tecmo Bowl Tecmo NBA Basketball Tecmo Super Bowl Tecmo World Cup Soccer Tecmo World Wrestling Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters Tennis Terminator 2: Judgment Day The Terminator Terra Cresta Tetris Tetris 2 The Three Stooges Thunder and Lightning Thunderbirds Thundercade Tiger-Heli Time Lord Time's of Lore Tiny Toon Adventure's Tiny Toon Adventure's 2: Trouble in Wackyland Tiny Toon Adventure's Cartoon Workshop To the Earth Toki Tom and Jerry Tomb's and Treasure Toobin Top Gun Top Gun: The Second Mission Total Recall Totally Rad Touchdown Fever Town and Ccountry II: Thrillas Surfari Town and Country Surf Design's Toxic Crusaders Track and Field Track and Field II Treasure Master Trog Trojan Twin Cobra Twin Eeagle Ultima: Exodus Ultima: Quest of the Avatar Ultima: Warrior's of Destiny Ultimate Air Combat Ultimate Basketball Uncharted Water's Uninvited The Untouchables Urban Champion Vegas Dream Vice: Project Doom Videomation Volleyball Wacky Races Wall Street Kid Wario's Wood's Wayne Gretsky Hockey Wayne's World Werewolf: The Last Warrior Wheel of Fortune Wheel of Fortune: Family Edition Wheel of Fortune: Featuring Vanna White Wheel of Fortune: Jr. Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? Where's Waldo? Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Whomp Em Widget Wild Gunman Willow Win Lose or Draw Winter Games Wizardry II: Kight of Diamonds Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Wizards and Warrior's Wizards and Warrior's III Wolverine World Champ World Championship Wrestling World Class Track Meet World Game's Wrath of the Black Manta Wrecking Crew Wrestlemania Wurm: Journey to the Center of the Earth WWF King of the Ring WWF Wrestlemania Challenge WWF Wrestlemania: Steel Cage Challenge Xenophobe Xevious Xexyz X-Men Yo! Noid Yoshi Yoshi's Cookie The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Zanac Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Zen: Intergalactic Ninja Zodas Revenge: Star Tropics II Zombie Nation

[satoshi-mochida]

SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, which is currently available for Switch and PlayStation 4, is coming to Xbox One digitally on May 3 for $39.99 via publisher Other Ocean, a listing on the Microsoft Store has revealed.

Here is an overview of the collection, via Switch and PlayStation 4 publisher NIS America:

About

SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, the definitive collection of arcade and console hits from SNK, is scheduled to launch on the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X, starting on Friday, May 3 as a digital download only. Fans can pre-order the game starting today at the Microsoft Store to be ready on day one for the most complete, updated, 4K-ready collection of SNK titles, prepared by the restoration wizards at Digital Eclipse and published by Other Ocean. This Xbox One version exclusively includes the fan-requested classic game, Baseball Stars, the first time this game has been part of the collection.

The SNK 40th Anniversary Collection includes classic titles such as Alpha Mission, Athena, Crystalis, Ikari Warriors, Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road, Ikari Warriors III: The Rescue, Guerilla War, P.O.W., Prehistoric Isle, Psycho Soldier, Street Smart, TNK III, Vanguard, Chopper I, Fantasy, Munch Mobile, Sasuke vs. Commander, Time Soldiers, Beast Busters, Bermuda Triangle, Ozma Wars, Paddle Mania, S.A.R., World Wars—and exclusively for Xbox One players, the Japanese and North American versions of the acclaimed console baseball title, Baseball Stars, are included. Gamers can get the complete experience by playing both the arcade and home console versions for many of these titles.

This collection has been prepared for Xbox One by Digital Eclipse, a team of dedicated gaming vets, which pioneered accurate video game re-releases starting in 1994. Over 20 years later, the company has been reborn as a new kind of studio with expanded talent and focus; one dedicated to not only restoring gaming’s heritage, but to preserving it and keeping it alive and available for future generations to appreciate and enjoy.

Key Features

The Arcade Comes Home! – Save those quarters! Play both arcade and console versions and continuously challenge for another personal best! Choose from over twenty titles and experience an intense blast from the past!

Modern Meets Retro! – The convenience and improvements of modern gaming are all in the collection! Rewind and save at any time while you’re playing, enjoy updated graphics at 4K resolution, and experience redesigned control schemes for a modern feel!

Enter the SNK Museum – An extensive history of SNK and its games await in the Museum Mode. Explore the legacy of one of Japan’s leading developers with high definition artwork and never before seen promotional assets!

Xbox One Exclusive – Baseball Stars: For the first time, the hit baseball game, Baseball Stars, is included as part of the collection, with both Japanese and North American versions included!

Update 10:20 a.m.: Added the official fact sheet from Other Ocean, including the announcement that the Xbox One version includes both the Japanese and North American versions of Baseball Stars.

[ao3feed-mythology]

Head vs. Heart (Athena and Ares)

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3uYCxl7

by VampirePogoStick

Chapter: Young Athena learns her place in the world. Painfully.

Series: Centuries ago Athena and Ares were partners, on and off the battlefield, but their relationship ended in pain and bloodshed and she ran away to the mortal world to hide. Now, Hades has gone missing and their only lead, his wife, Persephone can't remember her husband or their life together. Zeus sends out a summons to the Greek Pantheon "Return to the Mountain" and so Athena returns to her makeshift family and her former lover. But when she returns home to help find Hades nothing is as it should be. Hermes, her favorite "brother", in her absence has continued his forbidden relationship with Ganymede, their King's favorite concubine. Manea, her best friend, seems fine, but soon Athena sees how cracked her old friend has become. To make matters worse, Ares, her former lover, has taken up with Aphrodite. Again. This homecoming will be the hardest she's ever had to navigate and it will require her to be at her most vicious. Someone is plotting against the gods and if she doesn't find out who and why she can kiss life as she knows it goodbye. This is the beginning of a long (slow-burn) Ares x Athena love story.

Words: 702, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Greek Mythology

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi

Characters: Athena (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Athena, Ares, Mania - Character, Apollo, Artemis, Poseidon, Hades, Persephone, Zeus, Hera, Ganymede, Hermes, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Demeter, Hestia, Amphitrite, Manea

Relationships: Ares/Athena (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Ares&Athena, Hades & Poseidon & Zeus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Hermes/Ganymede, Athena&Hermes, Ares/Aphrodite, Zeus/Ganymede, Amphitrite/Poseidon (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Hermes&Apollo, Persephone&Athena, Apollo&Mania, Athena&Mania, Hades/Persephone, Zeus/Hera

Additional Tags: Angst, Angst and Feels, Daddy Issues, Friends to Lovers, Lovers to Friends, Friends to Enemies, Unrequited Love, Friendship/Love, Idiots in Love, Love/Hate, Boys In Love, Love Triangles, Pain, Blood and Violence, Blood and Injury, Boyfriends, Bromance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Emotional Baggage, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Tension, Emotional, Family, Family Feels, Family Issues, Dysfunctional Family, Dysfunctional Relationships, Family Drama, Past Relationship(s), Platonic Relationships, Unhealthy Relationships, Abusive Relationships, Complicated Relationships, Eventual Relationships, Forbidden Love

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[asktailikku]

Halloween is the rarest of rare times when the villains get to run rampant with their merrymaking.  Of course for some of them, being a villain is just their job when the audience is present.  Take it from Bad Guys Anonymous from Wreck-it Ralph and its sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet.  As the films are primarily set within Litwak’s Arcade, this allows for Disney to experiment with all sorts of villains and enemies from video games past and present, with Bad-Anon being the defining example in the film.  Of course, there are a few viewers who don’t know who most of these are, or haven’t played a game yet; without further ado, I will give the run-down as to who’s who in Bad-Anon, starting with the generic ones.  In this case, 1011001, Shinobi, Cycloptopus, and Sorceress.  All three of them represent various enemies and bosses found in various arcade games, with Shinobi being representative of ninja enemies, 1011001 representing robotic enemies, Sorceress representing witches and succubi (including playable ones), and Cycloptopus representing stock fantasy monsters like the Beholder from Dungeons and Dragons.

Saitine (pronounced “Sah-teen”)

Saitine, in comparison to the four previous members, may represent the idea of Satan appearing in older video games, but a more definitive answer to what game he is from is Bally Midway’s 1982 shoot ’em up Satan’s Hollow.  Gameplay is similar to Galaga and Space Invaders, both by Namco, but themed instead to a demonic hoard with Satan appearing as a “boss” character.

Dr. Wily

I know what you’re thinking, “But Wily wasn’t in the film!” Actually, he was going to be in the film, but was cut for unknown reasons and replaced by Shinobi.  Wily originally debuted in the first Mega Man game on 12/17/1987 and appeared in almost every game following.  Throughout the Mega Man series, Wily uses an army of Robot Masters (special term for boss characters) to aid in his bid for world domination, with Mega Man, a former robotic lab assistant to Wily’s old partner Dr. Light, being the main threat to his operations.  At an unknown point in time in the series’ future, Wily creats a super robot named Zero to act as his ace-in-the-hole, carrying a deadly computer virus that would infect other artificial lifeforms.  He passed away sometime at an unknown point in time later, but his influence could still be felt by this new virus called “the Maverick Virus,” continuing onwards through the Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero, and Mega Man ZX series.

Bowser

Who were you expecting, the tooth-fairy?

Arguably one of the most iconic villains in gaming, Bowser debuted on Friday September 13th, 1985 in the original Super Mario Bros. as the main antagonist.  In most of his appearances throughout the Mario franchise, Bowser’s main goal is to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, primarily by kidnapping its ruler, Princess Peach, doing battle with both Mario and Luigi.  Various spinoffs have seen Bowser act as either an NPC or a playable character, with the RPG titles having Bowser mainly as a boss character but with at least four having him as one of the playable characters (Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Mario and Luigi 3, Super Paper Mario).  Rather recently, Bowser has become part of an internet meme called “Bowsette” based on the recent announcement of New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe for the Switch and the release of the Super Mario Odyssey artbook.  Nintendo gave specific input on how Bowser should hold and drink his coffee in the scene, which Disney followed to a T.

Zangief

Truth be told, Zangief isn’t a villain persay, but Phil Johnston, one of the writers for the film, added him as a bad guy because of how much trouble he had going up against him in Street Fighter II’s heyday in the early 1990’s.  Zangief debuted in Street Fighter II in 1991 as one of eight playable characters, hailing from the USSR (later changed to Russia in rereleases) and fighting using his skills as a professional wrestler.  In his native Russia, he is a national hero both in the game and in real life where he is adored by Russian gamers, especially since he is good friends with former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, with Gorbachev still appearing in later games as a cameo of sorts.  Interestingly enough, various adaptations, other than the comics by UDON, portray Zangief as a bad guy, referencing the fact that the Soviets were seen as the bad guys during the Cold War when the game was released.  Normally, Zangief is voiced by Anthony Landor, the voice of Golbez from Final Fantasy IV, but in the film he is voiced by the director, Rich Moore.

Dr. Eggman

Formerly known as “Dr. Ivo Robotnik,” Eggman first appeared in the original Sonic the Hedgehog game on 6/23/1991 on the Sega Genesis, appearing in all but two games in the series.  His main goal is to conquer the world and rule it as part of the Eggman Empire, using an army of robots called “Badniks” to aid in his conquest.  Eggman also has had the most varied ammount of designs in the media as seen in the games prior to 1998 (recently resurfacing in both 2011’s Sonic Generations and 2017’s Sonic Mania), British literature (such as Fleetway’s Sonic the Comic) and the cartoon Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (which used to air on Toon Disney), the now cancelled Archie comic (which was shared with the 1993 animated series on ABC and 1999’s Sonic Underground), games released after 1998 as seen above in art for the anime Sonic X, and the recent Sonic Boom series on Cartoon Network and Boomerang.  Eggman was one of the few villains to be voiced in test scenes for the film, provided by Jim Cummings, who voiced the versions seen in the ABC cartoon and the pilot episode of AoStH.  The current voice as of 2003, Mike Pollock, was unaware of the recording sessions for the film.

M. Bison

Delicious

Not to be confused with his underlings Balrog and Vega, Bison is the main antagonist in the Street Fighter franchise, debuting as the final opponent in Street Fighter II.  Nearly every event that unfolds in the series is because of his bid for world domination through his terrorist organization Shadowlaw.  Bison wields a special form of power called “Psycho Power” which is powered by his chi and pure evil.  As for why pure evil, he ripped out the good half of his soul for more Psycho Power!  Bison is responsible for the deaths of Dorai (father of Chun-Li), Charlie Nash (best friend of Guile), a village of gypsies from Genoa (leading to the birth of his good counterpart, Rose), and Arojo Hawk (father of Thunder Hawk), as well as the creation of the Doll Project which involves the kidnapping of nearly a dozen young women from around the globe, brainwashing them, and renaming them with various foreign spellings of the 12 months (Enero, Février, März, Aprile, Satsuki, Juni, Juli, Santamu, Xiayu, Jiayu, Noembelu, Decapre), as well as the creation of a few backup bodies, who ultimately broke away from his influence (Cammy White, Seth, Abel, Ed).  By the time Story Mode takes place in Street Fighter V, his body is starting to decay rapidly from his overuse of the Psycho Power, and is eventually destoryed once and for all by series protagonist Ryu.  Unlike Zangief, Bison is voiced by his usual actor, Gerald C. Rivers, providing his sole line of “You’re not going Turbo, are you?”  This one line is a clever bit of foreshadowing as to King Candy’s true identity as well as a reference to Super Street Fighter II Turbo, where he is killed by the game’s secret boss Akuma.

Clyde

The main organizer of Bad-Anon, Clyde is one of the four ghosts that debuted in Pac-Man in 1980, alongside Inky, Pinky, and Blinky.  In Bally Midway’s sequel Ms. Pac-Man, he was replaced by Sue, before Capcom made both the Ms. and Sue (now colored purple) canon in Pac-Land, one of the very first side-scrolling video games.  Clyde is shown as the leader of the four ghosts in various media, including Hanna-Barbera’s animated series where he was voiced by Neil Ross.  In the Pac-Man World games, he and Blinky accidentally switched names, making him the red ghost and Blinky into the orange ghost.  In the film he is voiced by Phil Johnston.

Neff

This is taking the “Be careful who you call ugly in highschool” meme to the next level.  Neff (otherwise known as Majin in Japan) is the main anatagonist of Sega’s Altered Beast, a sidescrolling beat ’em up released in 1988 before being ported to the Genesis in 1989 as a launch title.  His main goal is to take over Olympus, by holding Athena for ransom towards Zeus, turning her into a dove in cutscenes.  Zeus brings a centurion back to life to rescue his daughter from this evil warlock from the infernal city of Dis, fighting his way through five to eight stages (depending on the version) and encountering a copy of Neff in a different form, after a brief threat towards the centurion with a voice-sampled line of “Welcome to your doom!”.  In Wreck-it Ralph, Neff appears as a large purple rhino, which is how he is fought as the final boss in the game, after he has taken enough damage.  The overall design of Neff’s rhino form resembles that of the rhino from Bedknobs and Broomsticks’ football game (by football, I mean what the US and Canada refer to as soccer.)

Kano

Although renamed as “Cyborg” in the film, Kano hails from the Mortal Kombat series, a fighting game that is popular in the West and well-known for its over-the-top violence, motion-captured graphics, and finishing moves known as “Fatalities”.  While I myself have not played any MK game, I do know that what Kano does to the zombie next to him is his most well-known Fatality, “Heart Rip”, where he pulls a Mola Ram on his opponent by tearing out their still-beating heart before crushing it.  In the games, Kano is primilarily voiced by Michael McConnohie, but in Wreck-it Ralph he is voiced by writer Brian Kessinger.

Cyril

Zombie bad guy!

Unlike how Kano was toned down from MK to film in a subtle way, Disney went all out on toning down Cyril (or Zombie as he is known in the film) from Sega’s lightgun game House of the Dead.  The series plays almost similar to a B-rated horror movie, with antagonists themed after the Major Arcana tarot card set.  Cyril appears as the first of many zombie enemies in the series.

To wrap things up, I think the most fitting way is to recite the Bad-Anon creed

“I’m bad, and that’s good. I will never be good, and that’s not bad. There’s no one I’d rather be than me.”

Bad Guys Anonymous Halloween is the rarest of rare times when the villains get to run rampant with their merrymaking. 

[athena-minervaa-blog]

Athena Minerva x Mania Lyssa Opheliac //Closed roleplay, and if you don't like it i can always remake it! <3 ---------------------------- There is no great genius without some touch of madness. ---------------------------- Normality had been a great impact amongst the deities. There was a time when everyone had lived peacefully amongst one another, but had they dared to do something that was beyond the normal festivities, it were to surely create an uproar. For the gods hadn't ever adapted to change well. Day by day Athena lived a 'peaceful' life, always careful not to come close to breaking any boundaries or rules that were set in place. She never acted out of the ordinary, for she wasn't one to ever draw attention to herself. There were many things that the young goddess had longed to do through time, but were frowned upon. There had been many things that she had always wanted to say to another; but she had always bit her tongue. Until however, drastic change took place and her entire life had been turned upside down. Sides and actions of others had come out that the woman had never seen before. She had been horrified by many of the actions that took root before her. As it startled the woman greatly. Athena slipped away from the chaos that took place around her; and set foot for a much quieter and safer place. She moved quickly through the night, before resting in a smaller village looking place. Athena had been at a loss of words as to where she had wandered to, but the place had looked rather peaceful so that was all that had mattered. Her icy hues scanned her surroundings around her. And a small smile etched along her petite face as she walked towards the closest home. Surely they'll be able to help the lost goddess, or at least give her a point in the right direction. Once climbing the steps to the strangers home, her small dainty hands formed a fist as she began to knock on the tattered door. One. Two. Three times. After knocking, she gently lowered her arm back down to her side, and took a small step back. A smile plastered on her thin lips, as she stood at the closed door. _______________________ The young brunette had managed to paint a smile across her face upon knocking on the door of the stranger. As she had never quite known who would be on the other side, and who would mistake her pure intentions into something far worse. It hadn't been long before the door had swung open for the other. Athena took in everything possible about the scenery.. From the woman before her with the snippy type attitude and messy hair to the vivid smell that seemed to linger around them. Nothing to terrible had screamed out to the woman; and she had of course taken that as a good sign. Keeping her smile plastered on her face, she met eye contact with the other. "Hi yes, i am so sorry for interrupting." She had carried on with her small talk, as she slowly brushed past the woman who had opened her home to the other. Sure some things had seemed offly off about the woman. For one; she almost appeared to be having an argument within herself, but Athena wouldn't have been the one to judge such things about the other without actually sitting down to talk with them. Curious hues danced around the other woman's home. Shoving her arms into her ribcage, her eyes followed to the vivid imagery that had been displayed before her. Her eyes met back with the woman as she closed the door, The soft thud from the door had sprung athena back to life and to her purpose of being there. A soft murmur came from her as she responded back to the other quickly "I do apologize so much for the intrusion. And i would also like to acknowledge your kind gratitude that you have given me so far." A slight pause as she swayed slightly from her original position. "I had been curious if you would possibly allow me just a few more minutes of your time to listen to a favor that i must ask."