#but I really need to finalize the details of Apollo’s case

[cozywriter]

🥮 ~ EPIC the Musical: A Rant ~ 🥮

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This isn’t really an important post, I’m just here to let my bainrot loose onto the world since the Wisdom Saga is out (🥳). So now, please enjoy my dwindling mental health and ever decreasing emotional state (or not, whichever you prefer is okay with me…)

1.) Something I’ve noticed is that whenever a god plays a role in any saga, one of three things happen. Either Odysseus confirms their true identity to us, the audience, by saying their name (I.e. Athena and Hermes), a chorus introduces them to us (I.e. Poseidon and Apollo), or they themselves introduce them to us (I.e. Calypso). However, this is not the case in the Thunder Saga. In the song “Mutiny” Odysseus says:

“These cows were immortal, they were the Sun God’s friends!”

“And now that we’ve pissed them off, who do you think they’ll send?!”

Odysseus doesn’t explicitly confirm who but in the next song, ”Thunder Bringer”, it doesn’t open with Odysseus mumbling his name under his breath in fear or a dramatic chorus announcing his arrival. Instead, it was just a few thunder claps and then Zeus already singing away. This is because, he needs no introduction, being Chieftain of the Gods and all.

The first incident this happens is during the Troy Saga during the song “The Horse and the Infant” when Zeus sends Odysseus a vision about his older self about his final moments, and then proceeds to command him to kill Hector’s infant son. The only confirmation we get that he is Zeus is the thunderclap and flash in the sky, which seems to be the only thing that precedes his arrival.

2.) Another detail I found interesting (read as: absolutely earth shattering, I actually might need therapy after listening to this) is during the song “Love in Paradise”, when Athena says:

“Old friend, it’s been ten years since I last saw you..”

And the next line cuts to Odysseus’ reveal during the song “Remember Them” in the Cyclops Saga when he reveals his identity to Polyphemus. This is because, that moment was truly the moment she last saw him. Either this means that during their argument in the song “My Goodbye” — which mind you, is the song directly after “Remember Them” — she was blinded with rage because he didn’t follow her instructions, or that she was so blinded with the fact that he disobeyed her, she didn’t think to look past that and see why he disobeyed her.

The next few lines support this and truly show her guilt, seeing as after Athena says:

“Let’s see where you’ve been…”

The song cuts to Aeolus’ game, then to Poseidon’s encounter, Circe’s confrontation, Tiresias’ vision, the Siren’s massacre, Scylla’s cost and then Zeus’ retribution. Notice how every song that plays signified a major event that changed the course of Odysseus’ travels. However, these were all events that Athena wasn’t guiding Odysseus in any way. This either means that she was purely just going along the timeline of his journey to see where he went, or she also wanted to see just how far he went without her help, being that in the song “We’ll Be Fine” during the Wisdom Saga, she says:

“I had a friend before and he was a lot like you…” “I helped him fight through war but he had his demons too…” “And then we grew apart…” “Then his light went dark..”

“And so I thought, maybe, if I made a different call, maybe, if I hadn't missed it all, maybe he'd be fine… Maybe we'd unwind…” “Maybe, if I help another soul, maybe, if I helped you reach your goal, life could be that bright…! I could sleep at night…!”

During this, when she calls Odysseus her “friend”, either she means that she truly did see him as more than a student all that time she mentored him and didn’t want to tell Odysseus because she was afraid she’d look weak to him, or after she cut ties with him, she realized that she cared about Odysseus more than she let on.

3.) Lastly, during the song “Ruthlessness” in the Ocean Saga, when Poseidon was taking his revenge on Odysseus and his crew for making Polyphemus suffer, the rage and hatred towards them was genuine, to the point that were it not for Odysseus’ quick thinking, their journey would’ve ended there. Now, compare it to Zeus during the song “Thunder Bringer” in the Thunder Saga. Zeus was toying with them. Almost like he didn’t care about the situation and was only using it for entertainment. This parallel really tells you a lot about the brothers and how they’re like, Poseidon being unforgiving and ruthless hehehe get it? Because you know… it-it’s his song… when necessary but “chill with the waves” — his words, not mine — because that’s how the sea is. Calm but unforgiving. As for Zeus, he’s flamboyant and passive, not really caring about who or what he hurts as he makes a grand musical number before he strikes, much like how like thunder and lighting do.

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[nyaagolor]

Spirit of Justice rewrite

Had a moment where I really got thinking abt the game and went into rewrite mode— I don’t think I’ll expand on this concept for a bit because I have to finish DGS and have other projects I’m more invested in, but figure it couldn’t hurt to just throw down the ideas I have before I forget. Under the cut so I don’t clog the dash!

So first things first the biggest change I would make is relegating this game to spinoff land. My biggest issue with SOJ as a whole is how steeped the narrative is in some weird colonialism, and I think just taking the main cast out entirely could remedy Most of that. At the very least, making the entire cast Kuhrainese gets rid of the whole “we need foreigners to come and fix our legal system” thing, which is my main problem with the plot

Due to the above, Phoenix / Maya / Athena / Miles / etc are taken out completely. Apollo is too integral to the plot, so he gets replaced with an OC that serves as our protagonist. My current placeholder name for him is Hermes, but in this post I’ll just call him Protagonist

Protagonist keeps a lot of elements of the Apollo backstory— he’s the son of a traveling musician who died in the fire that “killed” Amara and was adopted / raised by Dhurke. I am tweaking it so that he’s 4 years younger than Nahyuta, mostly bc I thought that was canon the entire time

Instead of being sent to America, he’s sent to a temple. Dhurke assumes that because Nahyuta has royal blood, he’ll be safe at the castle and can safely keep an eye on things / his mama, while Protagonist gets sent to the temple because killing a monk would be a political disaster and that’s the only way Dhurke can think to protect him

Protagonist really wants to help the cause though, so he runs away from the temple at some point to become a bard-like figure, collecting information and helping the revolution while being a traveling musician. Using his status as an entertainer, he gets into places he otherwise wouldn’t to get intel and secretly studies law on the side

When his friend from his temple days (Ahlbi) is accused of theft and murder, he takes up the mantle of his adoptive father to defend him in court! No idea what his gimmick, if anything, will be. I think Dance of Devotion is enough but we'll see

Nahyuta’s plot is something that’s still very up in the air, but atm my biggest change is that he knows about Amara’s hiding and is being blackmailed to protect HER, not Rayfa. I’m unsure if I wanna keep the Rayfa sibling thing or not, but in spite of that the two are actually closer than in canon

Another big change is that because everyone is Kuhrainese and Ema is no longer in the game, there’s no detective! That’s where Rayfa comes in. I’m still shaky on the in-universe reason for her acting as quasi-detective, my current idea is that it’s imperative for her to get as much detail as possible so she can more accurately make her insights. Really I just wanna see more of her

By consequence, she’s around investigations much more often, following around both Protagonist and Nahyuta. Nahyuta in general just shows up more outside of the courtroom, and him and Rayfa have a strong bond and lots of banter with each other and the protagonist

Another slight tweak is that this game’s timeline is changed, taking place in the 90s and not the 2020s. The literal only reason for this is that I think Nahyuta studied abroad to learn about other legal systems and came back with the most out of touch 90s slang ever. He wears shutter shades in court

Final tweak for now is that the civil trial aspect of Turnabout Revolution is cut entirely, instead being replaced with a flashback case— Dhurke defending himself from the arson and regicide accusations with Datz as his co-counsel. It's simultaneously horrifying and silly

that's it for now! I might add more to this if I think of anything else :)

[stillness138]

visual/art things in the Hades 2 technical test i don't like

it was said and is being said already that most of the character sprites have less dynamic poses, or that Aphrodite's face looks, for the lack of a better term, yassified,... it's actually quite a frequent topic in the tag. and i think looking closely despite the excitement is a good excercise! so let's.

i've seen a sentiment that everyone has been made (more, in some cases) conventionally attractive, and i disagree with that a little bit. depends on your definition of convention, but while it's a look popular with many, i wouldn't say Hecate's abs for example are necessarily mainstream. another point i've seen was that Demeter looks younger. i kinda agree, but i don't think it's intentional, because it's quite subtle. she's mostly just missing the defined cheekbones.

the thing about this game's art seems to be that it's a little less sharp, the lines are thinner, shadows are smoother. i think it's an attempt to look more detailed and realistic compared to the first game. i'm not sure how i feel about it. i understand the want to improve or change up, but at the same time the lack of hard shadows and highlights, while it might come across as more realistic, also leaves the sprites a little bland. and i was going to bring up Poseidon as an example where the newer style fits in with visibly older sprites, but he still feels noticeably different in how he's shaded compared to say Moros.

i also agree that the poses are simpler and in most cases less dynamic; Mel is fine and the fact she can change during dialogue adds to it, Hecate looks good too. Nemesis is justifiable since she seems to be standing guard. i think they're simpler maybe because now everyone has a detailed environment backdrop as well, it's especially bold in the olympians' case, but i do hope characters revealed in the future have more dramatic or interesting poses. Selene gives me some hope.

Artemis is definitely unfinished. her sprite lacks any bolder linework or shadows, the coloring is very dull. it really sticks out like a sore thumb as of now. but her boon icons having those letters, likely placeholders too, make it more apparent that she's not finalized yet.

now, this might be controversial, but...i don't like Apollo's design that much. in his case, i definitely wish he had a cooler pose, for his bow/lyre to be a lot more prominent. the outfit is fine, i'm kinda on the edge about it. on one hand, all the colors and shapes work, on the other, maybe not together? but what makes it all bad for me is his actual appearance. i wish his hair was wilder, actually committed to it, and brighter. i wish he wore either more elaborate jewelry or more of detailed armor pieces. i wish he had heavy freckles, vitiligo or some other skin condition to reference the surface of the sun. i think in part this is definitely a case of being spoiled by fanart, but yeah. i'm not vibing with him as much as i hoped i would. i like this design because while the outfit isn't detailed, the freckles and pose make up for it. the hair, choppy like irregular sunrays, is cool too. this one i like too, it's less crazy but still has its own flair, distinct from the rest of the first game, and the lyre/bow design is beautiful. this one is a bit out there but it's pretty cool as well imo, with apparent callbacks to Artemis in hair texture, birthmarks/crests, and the shoulder pelt.

lastly though, Aphrodite. the good! referencing Ares's warpaint is sweet. i like the armor pieces. in general the pose is tasteful, and the long ass banners coming from her spear kinda add some needed drama to it. the spear and shield themselves have nice designs in line with Aphro's overall aesthetic. but the bad... i don't like her face all that much either when compared to her sprite from the first game. there, i liked that her lips aren't exaggerated in any way. compare that to Athena (her shade of lipstick is absolutely amazing tho). but it felt more, i dunno, like trying to convey some natural beauty? in 2, she got that barbie doll treatment. reminds me of witcher 3 female npcs' faces and that is not a good thing. people have said that she looks thinner - her arms definitely do. and maybe because of that they also seem a bit too long to me. she suffers from the lack of hard shadows and highlights a lot, putting both her sprites next to each other really shows the difference in approach. like, overall it's a pretty and perfectly fine sprite, but...there is a but. a part of that but is definitely our expectations and uncertainty about the new direction the sprite art seems to be going in. to give nuance to the other side, we're also still in a pre-early access stage. on the other hand, the other olympians we've seen don't look unfinished the way Artemis does and it's quite likely these sprites is what we'll go into full release with. there was no reason to change Aphrodite's face, and we're allowed to not like it. leaving well-meaning feedback can be effective! and i would encourage it. with emphasis on well-meaning.

i also think the icon for gold in Hades 2 should be just a single coin, because a little hoard of them looks too much like the moly flower icon from a distance.

[bookloveravenue]

The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan & Mark Oshiro

Demigods Nico di Angelo and Will Solace must endure the terrors of Tartarus to rescue an old friend in this thrilling adventure co-written by New York Times #1 best-selling author Rick Riordan and award-winning author Mark Oshiro.

As the son of Hades, Nico di Angelo has been through so much, from the premature deaths of his mother and sister, to being outed against his will, to losing his friend Jason during the trials of Apollo. But there is a ray of sunshine in his life–literally: his boyfriend, Will Solace, the son of Apollo. Together the two demigods can overcome any obstacle or foe. At least, that’s been the case so far...

Now Nico is being plagued by a voice calling out to him from Tartarus, the lowest part of the Underworld. He thinks he knows who it is: a reformed Titan named Bob whom Percy and Annabeth had to leave behind when they escaped Hades’s realm. Nico’s dreams and Rachel Dare’s latest prophecy leave little doubt in Nico’s mind that Bob is in some kind of trouble. Nico has to go on this quest, whether Mr. D and Chiron like it or not. And of course Will insists on coming with. But can a being made of light survive in the darkest part of the world? and what does the prophecy mean that Nico will have to “leave something of equal value behind?”

Nico will have to face demons both internal and external as his relationship with Will is tested to the core in this standalone adventure featuring two of the most popular characters in the Percy Jackson saga.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63028719-the-sun-and-the-star

*******

May 3, 2023

My Review: 5/5 Stars

I feel like I have been waiting a very long time for this book and it's finally here and I could not put it down until I finished. It was absolutely amazing!! Everything you could want in a Nico and Will story. Those two have become favorite characters of mine in this world and for them to have their own story was so awesome. They are such a great pair and of course the cutest of couples. And this quest they were on tested both of them in so many ways. So for months, Nico has been hearing a voice call to him from Tartarus. And he knows it is the Titan Bob and that he needs help. And it is finally the time to act. A prophecy is received and time has run out. He must go down to the most horrific place created. Again. (We also even get some memories of his first trip there!) But he won't be alone this time. No. His boyfriend, Will Solace, child of Apollo, isn't letting Nico out of his sight. And even though he is terrified of going to Tartarus, especially being a child of the sun god, he won't leave Nico alone. Where they go, they'll go together. Together, they'll get through anything. And boy, is that put to the test. Their journey is one of the most difficult ones of the series. There are highs and lows and they'll have to find a way to not only navigate Tartarus and free Bob, but they'll have to find a way home too. I adored this story and it is one you don't want to miss. We get some great origin stories of Will and Nico and how their relationship came to be. Something I really wanted to know! Those missing details are told and so much more came along with it. We get to know them a lot better as well and things they have faced. And we get to see them grow both together and as their own persons. Nico has faced so much throughout his life and he finally gets some closure on certain things. He truly has grown up throughout this series and that becomes so clear here. And we finally get a lot more insight to Will and who he is. This was just such a wonderful story, probably my favorite of this world. And I hope this won't be the last of their adventures! Though after this quest they faced, they definitely both deserve some down time.

[mikeyisbrooklyn]

I read this and have now conjured up an idea for AA7 that puts their relationship to the absolute limit but also reaches a satisfying conclusion.

I don’t have a lot of details but the important bits are as follows:

Early early on Apollo expresses disdain that Phoenix seems to show ample love to everyone but him but seems to only tolerate him or love him at arms length (this is because of Phoenix’s own insecurities around Apollo looking up to/becoming him); Phoenix should either directly find out about Apollo’s feelings or catch wind of them

Apollo (by some cruel twist of fate) is the defendant for case 2 of the game (that way the first case can stay nice and simple as tutorials ought to be); Phoenix insists on being his defense attorney (without assist from Athena, I’ll explain why in a bit) because he heard how Apollo feels and wants to disprove him; Phoenix FAILS to save Apollo and so Polly gets the book thrown at him

Athena comes in and saves the day, securing a retrial and getting Apollo an acquittal; she specifically has to not be a part of the initial trial because…

Apollo now HATES Phoenix for letting him down when he needed him most, especially because Phoenix insisted on defending Apollo instead of letting him do it himself, only to fail him

Case 3 & 4 could have any of them be the defense really but the important bits are that throughout the rest of the game Apollo refuses to even say a word to Phoenix; in fact Polly is outright moody and standoffish to everyone but Athena and Trucy

Reasonably, Athena and Trucy would be upset by this and may or may not try to get them to work together or work it out but regardless it won’t work

Phoenix will try to make it up to Apollo repeatedly in increasingly desperate ways (some of which being material) and word it as “try to win him back”, this wording is important cause…

Maya (of all people) sagely and honestly smacks Nick with a question: “Was he ever really yours to win back? I dunno kinda seemed like you hated the kid.” (bonus point if she meant it innocently because she isn’t all that knowledgeable on Nick and Polly’s complex relationship); this is all set up for the ending because for the most part we don’t get much more of Phoenix’s side until the end, but it’s important to know that he DOES have to think about his own shortcomings when it comes to Apollo

Finally comes Case 5, where *gasp* Phoenix is the defendant. But this part is important, he either has to be unconscious/in a coma, have memory loss, or is drastically incapacitated in some way, shape, or form.

Athena also has to be out of commission (but it can be for innocuous reasons, maybe she even comes in after Apollo has his **Moment** (we’ll get to that))

This leaves Apollo the only person who can defend Phoenix, but the thing is: HE DOESNT WANT TO; he’s still mad at the guy

Trucy loses it (in her own way, of course) and can’t believe Apollo wouldn’t want to save Phoenix “after all he’s done for him”

This makes Apollo finally **finally** blow up; he probably says something to the effect of “all he’s ever done for me is drag me into trouble and ruin my life or let me down” yadda yadda; point being is he’s at his limit and we get to see him pushed past his point of just accepting the same old song and dance it has been with Phoenix for the last couple of years of his life

He upsets Trucy big time and he’s remorseful about that but he still feels the way he does; she runs off in dramatic fashion and Apollo is left alone to stew with his thoughts; all the shit he’s ever been through since he met Phoenix; all the conflicting emotions, the fact that he still looks up to the guy somehow, the fact that some deep part of him feels like maybe Phoenix does care for him but he’s still upset because it’s always felt like not enough or not as much as he loves the girls; we get much a more in-depth exploration of the feelings he expressed at the beginning of the game; if we want Maya to be more important than just a one off line, she could also come in at this point to provide a bit more goofy unintentional wisdom (that she later reveals is intentional)

Somehow, Apollo finds out that once the Big Bad gets Phoenix out of the way (cause of course that’s the goal), they’re gonna do something that somehow hurts Trucy and/or Athena and Apollo finally makes up his mind: he’ll defend Phoenix, if only to save the girls

Throughout the (surely tenuous) trial, Apollo has his back against the wall multiple times but each time someone that loves Phoenix comes and gives just that little bit of aid he needs to keep going, all saying that they wish they could do more, and after it all he realizes something; Phoenix isn’t just important because of himself, he’s important because of all the people he’s saved, all the people he’s loved, they count on him and have counted on him to defend them and be there for him and now he needs someone to defend him who’s going to do it: Apollo Justice, the same person that defended him all those years ago and helped him put away Kristoph Gavin

At this point, Apollo takes the mantle because he’s not just defending Phoenix, he’s defending everyone he loves too! And he realizes pretty quickly that there is an overlap between who Phoenix love and who he loves and it settles something in him

If Athena comes back in, it’s just as support, this is purely Apollo’s moment; I’m sure Trucy and Maya will have their own words of encouragement to add; and if Phoenix comes back in to, he could offer the final piece of evidence needed to win the day, but ultimately Apollo needed to have already come to the conclusion himself, and Nick just simply helped cement it (bonus points if we can fit in a forged evidence joke/reference to bring back around)

Apollo Justice saves the day, people cheer, happy ending!! But before we fade to black, the boys finally talk face to face; Phoenix thanks Apollo and self-degradingly apologizes for not being able to do the same which prompts Apollo to clarify that he wasn’t really mad about that, and he expresses his complex feelings; upon sharing that he’s always felt that Phoenix just cared about him less then everyone else, Phoenix finally admits that all of that is because of his own fears that Apollo would be like him, and his subconscious idea that if he made sure he kept his distance, he can’t do anymore harm to the kid; Apollo does admit that Phoenix has brought him a lot of trouble, but he’s also brought him a lot of love too, even if it took him a bit to realize it; Phoenix apologizes for that too and promises to not make it so hard to see and maybe even says he’s proud of him; Apollo sends the game off with a touching monologue about how important the things and people we love are and the many ways how we show that may be, seeming content with his place in life and the direction he’s going, sure that whatever and wherever it is, he’ll have the people he loves near him

And that’s the end of ** “Apollo Justice: Trial By Fire” **

Alright I’m done, thanks for reading all that of you did. TLDR: hard to do but essentially Apollo and Nick has to face their complex relationship and resolve it finally because Apollo goes to jail and Nick almost goes to jail (again) and the boys have big feelings.

phoenix and apollo's relationship is like:

you were my childhood idol and were so important towards the choices i made that i cannot extract your influence from my personality / you looked up to me in a way that is frightening and reminds me of the person i used to be who was so much better than who i am now

your daughter is my sister but you are not my father except when you are / my daughter is your sister but you are not my son except when you are

i hate you for the actions you forced me to take against my will that could have doomed me to a fate you know to be hell / i hate myself for the actions i forced you to take, but i was not given a choice either before i was dragged into this fate worse than hell

you ripped my future away from me and saved my life in equal measure / i was forced to choose between letting a murderer walk free for a second time, the same one who ruined my life, or ripping the future out from under the feet of a boy i'd never met and now i know you and i know i made the right choice but i hate it

i miss the way i used to be able to look at you / i miss the way you must have used to look at me

please teach me / please let me feel i have something worth teaching

i am afraid of you because you show me what i could become / i am afraid of you because you show me what i used to be

we both love this little girl so much and don't know who we'd be without her and she loves us both so dearly but we almost can't stand each other except for her sake

you never tell me anything about yourself, i know nothing that i need to know

i have let you down, i have let you down, i have let you down

i can never be who you want me to be, i can never be who i want myself to be

if i said i loved you it would be a lie, it i said i hated you it would be a lie, if i said i was neutral on you it would be a lie, and we both know lies when we see them, don't we?

[might-be-tiny-gt]

The Justice Fairies AU

(Rainbow Magic x Ace Attorney Crossover AU)

Was recently reminded of the Rainbow Magic book series which is one of my first forays into g/t and then I thought, wouldn’t it be so much fun to have a crossover with my current g/t hyper fixation, Ace Attorney. So here is that AU.

Full Credit goes to @musicallygt cause I initially pitched the idea of Rainbow Magic crossover AU in the AA discord but they went all in with basic story idea, the AA characters that would make up the Justice Fairies (And drew them out too omg they look amazing!), even a freaking Jack Frost poem!! So yeah most of the ideas listed bellow were suggested by/or with them.

Synopsis: Jack Frost learns about the Justice Fairies of Fairyland and finds it unfair that he doesn’t get any justice of his own. He steals the Justice Fairies’ relics and hides them with his goblins on Earth. Around the same time Rachel and Kirsty have flown out to Los Angles for a week with their families. When they arrive they quickly discover how bad things have gotten, even being arrested for a crime they didn’t commit! Phoenix the Defense Fairy arrives and tasks the girls to help him and the other Justice Fairies find their relics to fix the Justice system. Things get even more complicated when the girls get roped into helping rookie lawyer, Apollo Justice, with a case.

The Seven Justice Fairies in this AU are:

Phoenix the Defense Fairy

Edgeworth the Prosecution Fairy

Gumshoe the Investigation Fairy

Maya the Assistant Fairy

Athena the Analytical Psychology Fairy

Ema the Forensic Science Fairy

Courtney the Judge Fairy

Bonus: Kay the Thief Fairy (She doesn’t have a major role in the main story of this au but has fun side story that might be explored as an epilogue or bonus chapter)

Just Some General Notes About the AU:

- Obviously since most of the main AA cast are fairies in this AU a lot of the AA canon is being either disregarded or reworked.

- The missing relics are: Phoenix’s Attorneys Badge, Edgeworth’s Prosecutor’s Badge, Missle (The Fairy Investigation Dog), Maya’s Magatama, Widget, Ema’s Forensic Glasses, and Courtney’s Gavel

- In the first book Rachel and Kirsty are trying to clear their names, with Apollo’s help while also looking for Phoenix’s badge, then Apollo gets a real case and the rest of the fairies will tie in with that case.

- Apollo doesn’t initially find about fairies but does suspect Rachel and Kirsty are hiding something. Later on in the story they do tell him the truth and he does end up helping in the search for the Justice Relics.

- When Apollo uses his perceive ability, Kirsty, Rachel and the fairies are convinced it’s magic.

- In this AU Rachel and Kirsty are dating and have been in a healthy long distance relationship for at least a year. Phoenix and Edgeworth are also a couple in this canon. Both couples also really like Apollo and Klavier together and will occasionally play wingman to help them get closer.

- Kay is a fairy in this AU but she isn’t considered a Justice Fairy, she just spends a lot of time with them. Mostly Edgeworth, Gumshoe, and Ema.

- She’s struggling with her talent as she’s a really good thief but Oberon and Titania disapprove of having a thief fairy. Kay is currently trying to assemble a group of crime fairies in hopes that will finally convince the king and queen. She has no luck so far as only goblins ever show up for auditions and they don’t really meet Kay’s standards.

[simsbyjcw]

I posted 2,608 times in 2021

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#when is too much too much cc

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

I love these skin overlays!

These skin overlays by @urielbeaupre are gorgeous and I love using them on my sims. I am hoping to see more "Gods" skins in the future.

20 notes • Posted 2021-08-31 21:29:18 GMT

#4

Thank you - TSR Artists

Hi,

So I just wanted to take a moment to thank the TSR Artists that have allowed me to do these shopping lists. I did start them without permission and I am posting your pictures on my blog. I always give credit of course as any good poster should. However, none of you have expressed an issue with it and for that I truly thank you. I started it because well as you can pretty much gather I am a huge CC collector and I figured hey why not share my choices with everyone else. Now I never post all that I download that just would take way too much time. Also, not everyone has a Tumblr page which I have found creative ways around that though it's easier when you do have one. I love the hard work you put into making your creations and I just really love being able to use them in my game and on my sims. Thank you,

JCW - SimsByJCW - allsimsfreak : ) @remaron@micklayne@sugarowl@giuliettasims@glitterberrysims@angissi@dansimsfantasy@busra-tr@xpuresim@x-pipco-x@sclub-privee@antosims@simmiev2@dolilac-tr@camuflajesims@shakeproductions@sudal-sims@suzuesims@laupipi-blog@plumbobsnfries@msqsimscreations@veigasims@arltos@zenxsims@lexel-sims@s-e-l-e-n-g@valuka@joancampbellbeauty@remussirion@bobur-tsr@alf-si@belaloallure3@sonyasimscc@keycamz@darte77@dissiasims@katpurpura@mermaladesimtr@mercisims@wingssims@cool-content-star @pralinesims @beto-ae0 @magichandcc @urielbeaupre @linavees-simsblog Thank you all again!

25 notes • Posted 2021-08-14 15:53:50 GMT

#3

Adam Prewitt Downloadable Sim

Adam Prewitt Downloadable Sim

26 notes • Posted 2021-10-24 18:59:35 GMT

#2

T.S.R. Shopping List (Supplemental) 8/17/21

All featuring the creations of @glitterberrysims

41 notes • Posted 2021-08-17 10:47:07 GMT

#1

Thank you All Creators!

So I know I independently thanked most people for the wonderful Simblreen treats that were received. However, just in case I overlooked you or did not get the chance to thank you. I am going to do that now. THANK YOU! Thank you for taking the time to pass out the treats upsetting your busy lives, thank you for taking the time to create the amazing things in the first place! You truly deserve to be praised and just in case no one else said Thank You. Know I appreciate your work and I appreciate it on behalf of everyone else as well. I want you to know that I loved all the Sims, Poses, ReShades, CC, Builds and Mods that were given out or found as a result of your treats! This was my first time "Trick or Treating" for Simblreen and thanks to all of you it was a fun and memorable time. Huge Props to @simblreenofficial for keeping all the bits and pieces if you will say organized so that the creators could focus on what they needed to. Finally, I want to thank

111 notes • Posted 2021-10-26 03:21:37 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

1. TBH I wish Hera didn't change her mind do fast to suddenly support HxP because that would be so much better in terms of drama (esp since it's supposed to be a romance story and all) and it could have been more of showing and proving they're a good couple over the course of the comic instead of her having very real concerns then dropping it out of nowhere. It feels like that was the 1st case of RS being too scared to actually let HxP have any struggles so the story feels flatter for it.

2. So during the trial we can see Hades being super protective over Perse and not afraid to oppose his brother to the point he became aggressive over normal questioning. Such a good boyfriend eh? Where was that energy when his brothers made fun of Minthe? He didn't even bother to make them remember her name. He let his friends abuse her for the sheer fact of being a nymph. But what am I expecting from a guy who dumps his girlfriend for a teenager he just met🙄

3. Guys guys guy, the reason Persephone hasn’t made any female friends is because she’s so traumatized of her last friends dying. That’s why Persephone can’t make friends with other gods

Cause she can only make em

4. it's kinda funny but also sad LO is now in that group of media where critics/fans are basically like "yeah its a badly drawn male fantasy lying its feminist with bad writing and a mountain of bad ideas and countless inconsistencies but its not SUPPOSED to be GOOD" like?? what??? how is now a mark of praise its actually bad?? is this a new white fandom thing i dont get it 💀

From OP: I don’t get it either. Especially with LO since that implies RS isn’t trying to make LO a good story.

5. Just wanted to say Im really happy I found your blog, it opened my eyes to how bad LO is and i finally stopped wasting my money on fp. I think the part that gets me the most is how Persephone's character is not consistent. I mean, she's very naive but shes also super smart. She's had no experience with other people but she's also very good at manipulating situations (aka manipulating Minthe), she is very pure and never had any sex experience but she's also extremely sensual. Not to mention her body, she's not skinny but she's also not fat, she's tiny and kinda childish but at the same time has curves everywhere? It's like come on RS just choose one lmao

6. I saw the Tiny Head Apollo ask and. He looks like a goomba from the mario bros live action

7. I don't even think Persephone is (or really was) a bad character, she was fine if not underdeveloped, but Hades is like literally awful? Like we are introduced to what seems to be a socially awkward guy in a cruddy relationship, only to find out he's an entitled capitalist with violent temper tantrums who cheats on his mentally ill girlfriend with his sister in law, take advantage of impressionable young women who need the help, and literally owns slaves?? like he had negative development??

8. literally the most greek myth accurate thing in LO is that the SFX font is called "Phobos" (who he and his twin were cut to instead have random love named kids??) and thats it.

-----FP Spoilers/Mention-----

9. Episode 188 Spoilers:

Eris get out of here while you can, you shouldn’t be tarnished by a terribly written comic like this. Get out of here, girl, please (at least, I’m 80% sure it’s my girl Eris)

10. ExCUSE ME, Persephone wants to study Law? Since when?? And why tf do the Greek gods meet in a Gothic style building? I noticed the windows and other details. It makes it look like they are in the UK or the US? (For ep. 188) 

[malewifeklaviergavin]

Ficlet of hurt Klavier who's trying to hide his hurt and worried Apollo?

If Simon hadn't texted Athena who texted him, Apollo was pretty sure Klavier wouldn't have told him about what happened. In fact, Apollo mused as he knocked aggressively on Klavier's front door, he was pretty sure Klavier's whole genius plan would have been avoiding his boyfriend and applying copious amounts of makeup to hide what he has been graciously informed of was an impressive black eye.

Honestly, it was even worse than Apollo expected when Klavier finally swung open the door; Klavier's right eye was puffed nearly closed and purple black. The person that punched him must have been wearing a ring, because there was also a neatly butterflied cut under his eye that stood out stark red and pink against the bruise. Apollo swallowed back a flash of rage, sharp eyes picking out the minute details of the cut and bruising engulfing a solid fourth of Klavier's face. All in all, Klavier Gavin looked like he got his face beat in and that was rapidly topping Apollo's list of 'things that make him stressed and mad'.

"You dumb fucker, I had to hear from Athena and Blackquill?" Apollo hissed, pushing past Klavier and marching into his boyfriend's apartment. Pacing anxiously, Apollo watched with what he was sure was a fierce glare as Klavier slowly shut and locked the door before turning to face Apollo with a tired, only mildly guilty expression.

Rubbing just under his blackened eye, Klavier sighed. "I'm sorry, Apollo. I should have texted you as soon as it happened. But you had your own case today and I knew if I told you, you would have been distracted and worried and I didn't want to upset you." Klavier explained, sounding exhausted enough that Apollo nearly felt bad.

Nearly.

"No way, you don't get to squirm out of this one." Apollo shot back, still pacing. He shoved his shaking hands into his pocket, they'd been trembling since Athena filled him in on what happened: an irate defendant had pulled free of the baliff and vaulted the prosecutor's bench with blind fury. Apparently Klavier should also be sporting a few boot shaped bruises under his shirt too and the thought of that made Apollo taste something angry and metallic in the back of his throat.

Klavier said nothing, simply watching as Apollo's pacing slowed until he came to stand in front of Klavier. Apollo swallowed nervously and forced himself to meet Klavier's eye. "Look. You don't need to protect me or hide your weakness or whatever stupid thing you're thinking. I love you. I want to be there when you hurt." Pulling his hands free from his pockets, Apollo rested them on Klavier's chest and leaned forward so his forehead was pressed to the hollow of Klavier's throat. "Let me be there for you."

Carefully, Apollo felt Klavier wrap his arms around him and pull him close. "I'm sorry. I don't... I really didn't want to worry you. I'm not used to people worrying about me." Klavier mumbled into Apollo's hair. "Next time, I will keep you in the loop, Liebling."

"Next time I'll be there and I'll break their jaw." Apollo replied fiercely, hands fisting in Klavier's shirt.

Apollo felt Klavier smother a laugh and one of his warm, calloused hands came up to tilt Apollo's chin back. Klavier pressed a soft kiss to Apollo's nose and smiled sweetly enough that Apollo's chest gave a little twinge. Even blackened and bruised, his boyfriend was beautiful. "My hero." Klavier replied warmly, kissing Apollo once more. For the first time since he'd found out about the attack, Apollo's heart began to slow its frantic beating and his hands stopped shaking. Klavier was here. Klavier was fine. And now, now Apollo could keep him safe and sound.

Now, everything was okay.

[rivalsforlife]

Do you have anything you wished was different from Ace Attorney canon?

Hello I'm finally slowly starting to get around to answering some of these! Sorry for the wait.

Uh this ask got super long so a basic summary of it: narumitsu being canon in a well-written way would be nice even though I don't think it would ever happen, I stand by not bringing back Phoenix as a main protagonist in DD, and I'd also want to rewrite all of SOJ so that Apollo goes to Khura'in in place of Phoenix, to have more interesting character stuff going on.

So the longer answer is this:

Aside from some of the actually problematic stuff that I don't feel qualified to talk about, story-wise, I answered a sort of similar question about a year ago here. I have changed my opinions a little bit since then, particularly with regards to the canonicity of narumitsu... because while I do love narumitsu I feel like I don't trust Ace Attorney to actually do it properly. After all if this past November has taught us anything "making a ship canon" could actually be quite undesirable and I have no desire to see Phoenix and/or Edgeworth sent to superhell. (I literally know nothing else about supernatural sorry about that.)

If capcom were somehow able to make narumitsu canon but in an unobtrusive way and as a natural progression of the storyline, like oh hey, the court record profile for Miles Edgeworth's Obligatory Last-Case Appearance has Phoenix mention they're dating, and maybe there's a few lines suggesting they live with each other, but it's not like... taking the entire story to force them together and otherwise does not change the way they interact with each other and butcher one or both of their characterizations in the process? I'd definitely be happy about that. Not gonna lie even if they made narumitsu canon in the most terrible way possible I'd have a "holy shit I can't believe they did that it's the best day of my life" kind of moment before I could think about it critically. But I honestly see no chance of them ever actually making narumitsu canon, so that's quite unrealistic to hope for anyways.

Aside from that in that other ask I talked about basically the premise of an Apollo trilogy and not bringing back Phoenix as the main protagonist in DD, and I still stand by that, buuut in my other ask I did touch on making SOJ a different game where Apollo goes to Khura'in instead of Phoenix - and you know what I'm going to take some time to actually talk about my dream version of SOJ because there were a lot of little things about the one we got that I didn't like. And it's going to be very long. So it's under a cut.

SO yeah I talked about it a bit in the other ask. I think that Phoenix going to Khura'in is a rather weak idea both externally and in-universe. In one of the interviews, too lazy to find which one, Phoenix basically goes to Khura'in because the writers couldn't figure out how to challenge him anymore. ... And then they don't actually challenge him at all. Because oh well now we're going to this new country where they KILL DEFENSE ATTORNEYS WHO LOSE and then it's supposed to be *shocking* that Phoenix would risk his life for a kid or his best friend. you know the guy who ran across a burning bridge to save his best friend. you know the guy who got punched in the face, nearly killed by the mafia, and tazed trying to save his clients. This doesn't tell me anything new about Phoenix's character. His whole travel in Khura'in doesn't tell me anything new about Phoenix's character. Basically the only reason he's there is to see Maya - Maya who theoretically would be returning home in about two weeks. Maya who was still in her training for two more weeks when Phoenix visited so he wouldn't be able to see her anyways. ... And in the meantime Trucy had the biggest show of her life that was going to be on TV and Phoenix wasn't there for it. And of course Phoenix didn't return home after Trucy was accused of murder (yes he couldn't be there for the trial, but he definitely could have for the emotional support afterwards) and instead just sits for two weeks in Khura'in doing literally nothing after Ahlbi's trial.

(And yes I know about the anime prologue that has Phoenix think Maya's in danger... but that's not strictly canon since it's never mentioned in game, isn't technically a part of the game, and even still, why wouldn't he go home after knowing that Maya's safe and that Trucy had been ACCUSED OF MURDER. Honestly that's what makes me angriest about this whole thing is that it makes Phoenix out to be a terrible dad. We really don't need any more takes like that, especially not from canon.)

And what about Apollo, you may ask? Well, given case 5 of SOJ, Apollo actually has a personal link to Khura'in and ends up staying there afterwards... after being there for like a day or two. I should note here that it has been a while since I went through SOJ in its entirety so I am fuzzy on many of the details. But both through what I remember and some conversations with people who actually played the game recently, the motivation for Apollo to actually stay in Khura'in isn't that great. It mainly seemed like guilt about his dead dad who he hadn't been in contact with for years and had completely written off until a few days ago but oh he died and then went to go visit him so... better take up the law office!

If Apollo had gone to Khura'in in place of Phoenix and spent more time there, reconnecting with his childhood home and actually getting passionate seeing how corrupt the legal system is there (even though we have a corrupt legal system at home) and being driven to fix it, that would make for a stronger story, I think. The Khura'in plot is more personally focused around Apollo than it is Phoenix. Phoenix's connection to Khura'in is through Maya, but Maya doesn't really have much of a connection to it aside from "it's where spirit channeling is from and she trains there". But Apollo, I guess, grew up there. So it's so strange to me that they force all of Apollo's connection to Khura'in in the last case while Phoenix is running around doing who-knows-what for the rest of the game. Phoenix spends more time getting to know the state of Khura'in and the Defiant Dragons and case 3's whole thing but he isn't the one who in the end decides to sit down and fix it; that's all on Apollo. It almost feels like they forced one of the two plots in to everything. And it was probably conceived as a Phoenix story that they needed to fit Apollo into last minute because oops he's supposed to be a protagonist too.

Some other strengths to Apollo going to Khura'in include that it would shake up the character dynamics a bit. Instead of Phoenix defending Maya, it's Apollo defending Maya, and that's a particularly interesting thing to look at in the context of Khura'in's "we kill defense attorneys" system. Of course, Phoenix would risk his life to save Maya, 100%, every time. But what about Apollo, who hasn't met Maya, who only knows her as "Mr. Wright's former assistant" - would he risk his life for her? And I feel like Maya would argue more against him defending her because of that. "We're strangers, you don't know me, you don't have to risk your life defending me." (Sidenote that I was always upset that Maya didn't protest much when Phoenix offered to defend her, knowing his life was at risk - sure she knows him better and knows he's always been able to get her out of these situations, but at the same time, the fact that there was no "what about your daughter?" conversation sucks. I really wish SOJ wouldn't have like. completely forgotten about the phoenix-trucy father-daughterisms.)

Let's say Apollo goes to Khura'in. Phoenix stays at home. Phoenix gets a call from Apollo that's basically "uhh hi Mr. Wright you know your friend Maya, she's been arrested for murder, if I defend her and I lose we're both dead," then you can tie in to that moment in 6-2 where Phoenix (who can't make it in time for the trial!) believes in Apollo and his skills as an attorney, not just to save Maya's life, but also his own. It ties in a bit more to the overall challenge of defending someone at the risk of your own life. Again, Phoenix would have very few hesitations, if any, risking his life to defend Maya. Apollo may have more defending a stranger at the risk of his own life.

Then if you can actually have Apollo and Maya talk together that would be neat - Maya can tell him embarrassing stories about Phoenix's rookie days, for instance. Their dynamic would be quite a bit different from Phoenix and Maya's, and that would be an interesting thing to see, unlike what we have in SOJ where all of Maya's substantial interactions are with characters she already knows or brand new characters.

(It would also be pretty neat to know more spirit channeling politics and dive in more to Maya's perspective on Khura'in and also her role as upcoming Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique and where she plans to lead the village in the future and also reconcile with her family's bloody legacy, but I'm not quite sure how to fit that in right now.)

And how about Phoenix, back home in Japanifornia? Evidently he'd end up being in charge of defending Trucy. Now, I did love the siblingsisms in canon 6-2, but I feel like there is still potential for Phoenix defending Trucy. All of Apollo Justice has a bunch of good moments between Apollo and Trucy, and she's co-counsel on all his trials, but we've never had any substantial Phoenix and Trucy investigation or co-counsel moments. I feel like AU 6-2 would be a great opportunity to dive more into Phoenix and Trucy's relationship and how it may have changed after Phoenix got his badge back. Plus, Phoenix being "the only one who knows how she really feels on the inside", he'd have unique insider knowledge into some of the Gramarye stuff that comes up in the case and Trucy's personal connection to the Gramaryes, which Apollo knows a bit of, but Phoenix knows more of. ... Or at least, should know more of, given that he raised Trucy for nine years at this point and they're very close, and Phoenix knows her better than anyone else does, even if capcom has forgotten this.

... Of course having Athena defend the case would also be great because more Athena spotlight is never a bad thing, but it's hard to come up with a reason why Phoenix wouldn't be there to defend her. And doing more switcheroos in terms of role in the plot is a bit beyond the scope of what I have in mind right now. Sorry Athena.

Aside from that, Athena still gets Storyteller, Apollo still heads Turnabout Revolution, and Phoenix still gets the DLC case. Apollo stays in Khura'in in the end with a bit more to his motivations. Rather than it just being about carrying on Dhurke's legacy, it's also something Apollo is passionate about after all he witnessed here. While we're at it I'd still rework a lot of Turnabout Revolution to make it so that Phoenix genuinely believes in Atishon because that makes for sooo much more interesting of a plot and actual character development on Phoenix's part than "Maya was kidnapped again and Phoenix is only wrong when he has no other choice", but that'd require some more detail and this post is long enough already.

And in terms of other details that need to be sorted out, there's the question of why Apollo would need to go to Khura'in in the first place. I'd probably say something to do with Dhurke. Maybe he comes back a bit earlier - actually alive, maybe, though crossing borders would be a bit of a challenge, or he reaches out to Apollo remotely somehow and Apollo goes to yell in his face about abandoning him (or at least that's what he thinks he wants.) Then we could have some more Dhurke and Apollo bonding time, potentially? Idk, if you switch up Phoenix and Apollo you're pretty much writing a whole new game and obviously I have not worked out all the details, but I think if Capcom had tried to go with this route from the outset they'd have a stronger game. At least stronger character motivations.

So... yeah. Those are my opinions. If you read through this whole thing I'm very impressed because it got very long!

[write-like-wright]

“look, i know you're 5593 miles away, but i really need you right now...” with post-AA6 klapollo? can be suggestive or not, up to you

Prompts: “look, i know you're 5593 miles away, but i really need you right now...”

Pairing: Klavier Gavin x Apollo Justice aka Klapollo

Warnings: kinda angsty, kinda fluffy, long-distance relationship, my poor understanding of geography and time zones, one German pet name

Word count: 375

It's not meant to be like this.

Klavier impatiently taps his leg, checking his phone every other second. It's almost three in the morning. Still no sign of Apollo.

His stay in Khura'in was meant to be a short one, but with the constant influx of clients at his new agency, days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months. Now, they're worlds apart, separated by God knows how many miles and time zones.

Is this how he feels when I'm on tour?

Klavier knows Apollo's schedule almost as well as his own at this point. He should be off work any minute now and Klavier cannot wait. His day has been long enough as is, painfully long hours at the office spent interrogating uncooperative witnesses followed by meetings with his agent, manager and publicists. At least I've been more inspired than ever, Klavier muses. I hope the fans don't mind an album full of cheesy power ballads.

Right now, he needs to relax and nothing would soothe his soul better than hearing Apollo's voice. Finally, he hears a short ping! and a notification pops up on his screen. It's a text from Apollo.

"Hey. Are you still up?"

As if he even has to ask.

Klavier wastes no time picking up his phone and dialling Apollo's number. They rarely get to video chat due to Khura'in's rocky internet connection and tonight Klavier is happy to just hear his voice.

"Hello?" Apollo's voice cuts the silence like a knife. He's hoarse like always. He hasn't dropped his Chords of Steel routine just yet, it seems.

"Herr Forehead," Klavier purrs, unable to resist. He then pauses briefly and lets out a deep sigh, "Look, I know you're 5593 miles away, but I really need you right now".

"What's the matter?" he hears the concern in Apollo's voice.

"Nothing. I just... just talk to me, ja?"

Apollo chuckles on the other side but complies. He gives Klavier a detailed rundown of his day, from what he ate for breakfast to his latest court case. He is describing his trip to the local market when he notices Klavier's breath is slowing down and it's not long before he stops responding altogether.

"Goodnight, Schatzi," Apollo whispers before hanging up.

[fbfh]

light up the dark [V] - leo x reader

genre: romance + action + enemies to lovers kinda

word count: 2.4k

au: none

pairing: Leo x gothy!child of eros!fem reader

requested: yes teehee

warnings: spoilers for HOO but like what’s new, at least one fuck, mentions of breakfast foods and burger king, one “cranberry fucknut”, brief visit to a historical memorial site, I think that’s it????

summary: you have a very weird dream that leads you to realize you’re actually on some kind of quest! very fun! you, Leo, and Jason follow a lead, find out Chiron’s sending you guys some backup, and realize you’re going to need a very large airbnb

listen to: making mirrors - gotye aka the best dream sequence music

                also we’re the rats. it’s not relevant just living in my brain.

a/n: honest to god it tookme so long to write this i forget what happens in the first half rip

also requests r open uwu

Your dream is unnerving, and not just because you had spent years in a dreamless sleep and forgot what dreaming was like. Okay, partially because of that, but also because of the atmosphere. 

You’re standing in a dark room. It’s pitch black, but you can make out the shape of the room, which is unusual to say the least. It’s long and rectangular, and the ceiling has cylindrical indents, almost as if giant logs were supposed to fit there. The indents go across the short side, with another in front of it, like a rope bridge across a river. Giant curved metallic discs like flat mushrooms are embedded in the ground at regular intervals. 

You get the feeling something’s missing. You stare up at the ceiling trying to get more information, when something hot and glowing presses against the roof. It shines through, casting everything in a strange pink light. You can’t see it, but you know what it is. A translucent sundial that gave off a glowing orange cast.

Sunstone. 

You look back down not wanting to hurt your eyes, and they fall on someone else in the room. He hadn’t been there a second ago. He’s blonde, and looking up at the ceiling, seemingly unbothered by the blinding light. 

“He has it,” he says, wistfully, almost regretfully. 

"Who?" You question. 

"I can't pronounce his name, no one can."

"How can we get it back if we can't find him?" He smiles, liking how you know what he needs you to do before he even tells you. 

"I can't tell you his name, but he's very old… some may even say archaic…" He looks at you with intention, searching for a spark of understanding. He doesn’t find what he’s looking for, and continues, “and not far from here. Which is good, since I need you to get it back for me.” 

“How do we find it?” He tosses you a small, clear container filled with what looks like yellow slime. You look at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

“It’s a drop of sunshine,” he explains, “don’t touch it or you’ll burn up. It’ll glow when you get closer to what you’re looking for.” You tuck it in your jacket pocket.

“Can-”

Before you can get out the rest of the sentence, you feel like you’re being pulled out of deep water. Your eyes shoot open, and you take in a quick breath through your nose. You open and close your eyes a few times, and push yourself into a sitting position. There’s a weight on your stomach and you trace the hand back to Jason, who had gently nudged you awake moments ago. His mouth is open and there’s a stale smile, like he was about to tell you to rise and shine. Your stare is unwavering, and he retracts his hand. 

“Uh… breakfast is ready,” he says, turning back and heading over to the couch. 

“Kay,” you mutter, still groggy and disoriented. Maybe sleep just isn’t for you. Jason hesitates about half way across the room, noticing the lack of cat-like vengefulness in your tone of voice.

“...You okay?” he asks softly. 

“Fine, just a weird dream,” you roll your shoulders, back sore and stiff, to try and loosen the two stubborn knots just below your shoulder blades. His eyebrows furrow at your words and you continue, “I’m starting to think I should add a little chloroform to my sleepy time tea.” 

“What happened?” he asks, sounding way more serious than you’d expected.

“I dunno, I-” he cut you off, calling for Leo. Jason encourages you to tell them what you’d dreamed about as in depth as possible once Leo comes in from the sitting area, so you don’t have time to gauge how he seems after last night. You feel a little silly trying to describe a surreal dream to them, especially since they seem to be paying such rapt attention. After recalling as many details as you could, they sat in silence for a minute. They share a look, then sigh in unison. Jason pushes up his glasses and squeezes the bride of his nose as Leo lets out a soft ‘fuck’. 

“I’ll go iris message Chiron, Leo, do you want to get some food and offerings to burn?” Jason says. Leo agrees, and Jason’s already in the sitting area, misting water in the air with a squirt bottle. Leo puts a hand on your shoulder.

“Why don’t you get dressed, I already made some coffee,” he says, the spike of hesitance that shot through his stomach at his instigated physical contact dissolving when you nod sleepily. An unusually warm feeling clouds through you, less distant and detached than normal. You realize while digging through your bag that for whatever reason, you didn’t hate the feeling of Leo’s hand on your shoulder. You grab your clothes from your bag, and feel a weight in your jacket. You reach into the pocket, and pull out the “slime” from your dream. It glows briefly, fading as you walk towards the bathroom. Huh, you think, at least now we know what to look for. You’re grateful for the example as you get dressed and freshen up, wondering what the hell happens next. 

Burning the food doesn’t take long. Leo throws the extra breakfast they’d ordered onto the metal table on the patio, except for a piece of toast he held in his hands. He summons fire until the toast is engulfed in flames, and drops it with the rest. He fans the smoke and asks for guidance, protection, typical pre quest stuff. After a minute or two, he pours out a pitcher of water to extinguish the flames, and heads back into the sitting area with Jason. On his way, he watches you through the open bathroom door for a second as you put on your makeup. You sure are different from girls he’d liked in the past. A strong twinge of pain from the previous night makes him flinch. He shoves it away, and takes a seat, greeting Chiron through iris message. Jason had just finished filling him in on the dream and the sundial, and he looks worried.

“I was afraid this might be the case. I'd gotten word that something like this might have happened, but I hoped it was just hearsay… I'm sorry boys, but you're most definitely on a mission from the gods. The story behind that sundial is long and complicated; in summary, if Apollo does not have his sundial by june, summer cannot happen."

"Wh- like, time will stop?" Leo says. 

"Will it just skip to autumn?" Jason adds. 

"What about Persephone?"

"Can Demeter do anything?" 

Chiron holds up his hands to quiet them. 

"I wish I could say, but no one really knows what will happen, only that we do not wish to find out."

"So, what do we do?" Jason asks. 

"Who can I send?" Chiron says to himself, "Dear gods, this is… unfortunate."

"Chiron," Jason says again, getting his attention. 

"Right, I'm sorry my boy, this whole situation is… preoccupying." Jason agrees, and asks what they should do next. 

"Get as much information as you can from what Apollo has told you. I'll gather some people to send over at once, they'll be on their way shortly. This is most distressing…" he trails off, lost in thought again, and the iris message cuts out. Jason's stomach is in knots. 

After freshening up, you get dressed, having chosen your clothes deliberately before. If shit’s about to hit the fan, which it looks like it is, you’re going to need a strong balance of comfortable and kick ass. Plus, it’s still the cold part of spring, and New England weather is no joke. 

You assess yourself in the mirror, satisfied with your choice; half black half gray cargo pants with chain belts, a long sleeved fishnet top with a black crop top over it, and one of your favorite pairs of platform boots. You topped it off with a layered choker studded with black jewels and delicate chains, asymmetrical earrings - one attached to an ear cuff, the other dangling - and a ring that looks like a snake wrapped around your finger. Last but not least, a dark olive green bomber jacket with ‘god save the queen’ written on the back in paint. 

Your mind wanders as you lean closer to the mirror, laser focused on perfecting your eyeliner. The memory of Leo’s hand on your shoulder creeps back up, and your brow furrows at the panicked flush to your cheeks, wondering why you didn’t push him off. 

‘Some cranberry fucknut broke his heart last night, I didn’t want him to feel worse’, you think deliberately, refusing room for any objections or alternative solutions your brain keeps offering up. You finish your makeup relatively quickly, pleased at how much better it looks when you don’t sleep in it for years. Your hair is… hanging in there, but you can’t drop everything and redye it now. At least you know what color you want next - a nice, coral tinted red. You’ll have to keep an eye out the next time you go shopping. 

Finally, you’re ready. You put away your makeup and pajamas, and make your way over to the boys. You grab some coffee and pick at a muffin, the strategy session beginning. 

Jason takes a sip of his own coffee, scowling at the slightly burnt taste.

“Where should we start looking? Do we have any decent leads?”

You sip your coffee, your face mirroring Jason’s moments before.

“The guy from my dream-”

“Apollo,” Jason interjects.

“Right,” you continue, “he said whoever has what we’re looking for has a really hard to pronounce name or something. Maybe we can start there.”

After some back and forth, and consulting of travel guides, you find a memorial for some historical figure with a name that definitely would have gotten him bullied. 

“Wasn’t that guy a demigod?” Leo asks, and Jason confirms. You’re already checking the maps scattered around for a route.

“It looks like it’s pretty much just further west from where we are, we can probably get there pretty easily,” you remark. Jason and Leo look at you, then each other. No one has any better ideas, and at least it’s some kind of lead. 

~

Four and a half hours later, you sat in the car in stumped silence. It took almost three hours to get up to the memorial site, an hour to look around and realize there is absolutely nothing there that can help you at all, ten minutes to debate what to do next, and twenty minutes to get burger king, since no one had eaten since breakfast. 

“Well, that sucked.” 

Leo and Jason give you a look, knowing you’re right.

“Yeah, it did.” Jason agrees matter of factly, earning a small chuckle from you and Leo. 

“So what do we do now?” Leo asks. 

“Well, no one’s around, we could probably iris message Chiron-” before he could finish his sentence, a shimmery image of a tan girl with choppy dark hair appears in front of him. 

Jason and the girl - Piper, apparently - greet each other enthusiastically, then Leo follows suit. It looks like she’s in a cab, holding something at arm's length. You make it out to be a phone, probably to trick her cab driver into thinking she’s on a facetime call or something. Two other people lean over, one blonde and smiling, the other dark haired and irritable, and more greetings are exchanged. You lean slightly to the side so you’ll be out of site and hopefully won’t have to make any introductions. Leo seems to catch onto this, and when Piper’s eyes land on the edge of your shoulder.

“So did Chiron send anyone else?” he asks before she can say anything. 

“Yeah,” she replies, “Frank and Hazel are coming from camp Jupiter; Frank’s flying, and Hazel’s getting a ride from Arion,” Leo and Jason nod in understanding, picking up instantly on her deliberate word choice. Christ, you’re going to have to get a bigger place than that hotel room.  

“Uh… Percy and Annabeth just started spring break, so they’ll be coming soon. Hazel should get there first, for…” she glances at the cab driver, “obvious reasons, and me, Nico, and Will are on our way now, we should be there in a few hours.” 

Your skin is already feeling prickly from the idea of being around that many people. They talk for a few more minutes, and Jason says he’ll tell them the specific address as soon as possible before ending the call.

Thankfully, you all had repacked the car with your bags from the hotel room before you left, just in case you needed anything, so there’s no need to make the two and a half hour trip back to the hotel. You sigh and turn to the boys.

“Why don’t we go get some groceries and stuff, and I can get us an air bnb.” 

They agree, pleasantly surprised and grateful for the normalcy of something like grocery shopping,  and you ask how many people there are going to be.

“Uh, should be te-”

“Eleven.” Leo says firmly. Jason looks like he’s going to say something, but he bites back whatever it is. Leo’s hands normally dance around like swirling snow, light and natural with subtle patterns if you can figure them out. But right now, his normal subconscious movements seem to be heavier, more intentional. His relaxed expression is set in stone, a silent plea to move on, act like everything’s normal, and you know he’s covering up the depth of the wound that girl left on his heart. A twinge of concern flares in your gut, and you blink, looking away. 

“Okay,” you say, pulling out a pen and notepad from your bag to write out a grocery list, “Let’s go. What do we need?”

Jason pulls out of the parking lot, and begins to head to the nearest box store. Your eyes dart over to Leo involuntarily a few times, and by the time you’re almost there, he seems to be almost back to himself. Subconsciously relieved, your mind starts to wander back to the list, skimming it one more time to make sure you don’t forget anything. 

Maybe you can pick up some hair dye while you’re here.

[maple-the-awesome]

Be Her Guard || Chapter 6

Pairing: Sherlock Holmes x Reader

Words: 1,779

Masterlist

When treading up the stairs of the Baker Street flat, John quickly discovers Sherlock laying longways on the couch, his fingertips pressed to his chin in thought as he gazes up at the ceiling in a bored manor.

Not even looking at the blond, Sherlock asks plainly," what did Morison have to say?"

"He didn't really say that much. He last heard about the case four years ago when someone mentioned having an appeal, but he doesn't think one ever took place and nothing was said to him after that," Watson explains, studying the room.

You're nowhere in sight, but he could heard your muffled voice downstairs along with Mrs. Hudson's joyful one. The two of you are most likely having some 'girl time'. The landlady sure does enjoy having another woman around the flat and you had been quick to start treasuring tea time with her in order to escape the boys (mainly Sherlock when he decided to act like his usual self and shoot the wall a thousand times).

John scans the flat farther, licking his lips and debating whether he should repeat Rick Morison's question. Seeing as you are absent, he has a perfect chance to ask since there is no need in embarrassing you, although, he isn't sure how Sherlock will react or if such thing is possibly true. Sherlock in love with someone and enough to go through the trouble of putting a challenging man in prison? Now that would be an excellent laugh!

"Don't just stand there like an idiot. You clearly have something else to say so get it over with. You're distracting," Sherlock's voice cuts through John's thoughts like a knife, his icy blue eyes studying the man standing in the middle of the room like a child who's lost his parents in a store.

"Morison had a question he wanted me to ask you. He asked if it was really fair that you put so much effort in putting a man behind bars all because you...um," John coughs uncomfortably, whispering the rest with dusted red cheeks,"...wanted his girl in bed..."

He waits for his friend to react in some way, possibly by getting upset and arguing that it's just as ridiculous of thought as John considers it to be, yet nothing comes. Sherlock simply continues lying there, his eyes glued to the ceiling once again. It's like he didn't even bother to listen...

"Well?"

"Well what?"

John sighs," is that true?"

"You really believe that drunk?" The detective faces John with a glare," police will make up anything especially American ones. The man I went through 'so much effort' to put behind bars is guilty. He attempted to murder (Y/n) and tried to convince everyone she's the crazy one. I merely took her side because she's clearly innocent of such claims."

"I didn't think he was telling the truth anyways, to set the record straight," John points out, pointing an accusing finger at Holmes," and are you ever going to tell me the details to this case or am I forever going to be left in the dark."

Sherlock sits up with a huff, making John think he's going to argue further, but instead, the man stares down the stairs, appearing to think for a moment before speaking,"...if you must know, then I'll tell you. Just don't go questioning (Y/n) or anyone else about it. She doesn't need to be reminded more than she has and others don't need to go around gossiping."

Far too quickly, the ex-army doctor nods, sitting down in his chair a bit eagerly as Sherlock makes his way to his own, lazily dragging his feet and taking his time to get there. When he finally presses his back straight against the chair, he gives another look towards the stairs before starting his explanation.

"As you already know, (Y/n) and I became acquainted with each other when she came to England for her junior and senior years of high school. After our graduation eight years ago from now, she had decided she wanted to go back to her own country to be closer to her family throughout college.

"About a year into her studies, she met a man named Apollo Timons who was one of her classmates at the time. Apollo apparently took an instant liking to her which was never something he tried to hide. I think it's safe to say he was instantly obsessed with her, burying her in constant attention, flowers, and chocolates; cliché things like that. Much of it was unwanted yet I'm sure you could get the idea that (Y/n) is far from the type of girl who would want to hurt someone's feelings, especially when they seem so kind."

John nods at that, understanding what he means. Not many people like purposely hurting someone's feelings either. He, too, would feel evil if having to turn down a girl who did everything she could to pour out her love for him.

"At some point, he asked her on a date which she agreed to thinking it was only fair to at least give him a chance. I suppose things went well in the beginning. She used to keep regular contact with me through emails and calls ever since she moved across the sea, but they became less frequent when she met Apollo. When we did talk, she said she was happy, so what was I to care?" Sherlock puts his pointed hands under his chin with a short pause,"...it wasn't until after they were engaged that I problems began to arise with Apollo showing his true colors. From the sounds of it, (Y/n) never even wanted to be engaged so quickly, but felt 'trapped' saying yes. That's what she said later on anyways.

"She began asking for my opinion in their relationship, but I've never been good in that field, so I simply waved her off saying I couldn't know whether she'd be better off with or without him. It wasn't until afterwards that I learned the truth behind all of those excuses she gave me about him not 'being her type' or it 'just not working out' between them. I learned that Apollo had been controlling her life through blackmail and manipulation, even mental and physical abuse...If I would've know that, I would've told her to leave him instead of just standing by as she carries on dealing with him..." Sherlock trails off, staring at his feet from over his crossed legs, a look of distant regret shockingly in his eyes which makes John do a double take. Without saying anything, he waits patiently for his friend to go on with a frown of his own. It isn't the most pleasant story, although, he didn't expect it to be the brightest.

"...Six years ago was when everything changed for good. (Y/n) had called the engagement off in the nicest way she possibly could yet she kept worrying nonetheless. I recall her telling me that there was a sick feeling in her stomach once, so I told her to have a way to defend herself if she was so worried...I still didn't know the source of her fear with Apollo, only that she must just be being her normal anxious self...then it happened. After a late shift at work one day, she was caught outside by Apollo where he shot her after she refused to give him another chance-"

"-And the courts had trouble proving that?" John interrupts without putting much thought into it.

"If you'd let me finish," Sherlock spits the words with a slight glare," he made it look like an attempted suicide on her part, not expecting she'd, by some miracle, live despite a bullet through her head. When I heard what happened, I arranged an immediate trip to America and payed her a visit where she told me everything. Apollo was put on trial and, when he was found guilty, (Y/n) moved back to England..." he pauses, licking his dry lips before going on," we lost contact with each other soon after until now."

"Now he's out and after her again?"

"I've been up the last few nights trying to find anything I could on him being released yet, according to every source I've looked at, he's still in jail serving a life sentence but he can't still be held up. He must be out. The question is: how'd he get out without being released and it never being brought up in the news? Surely someone has noticed his absences."

"Perhaps he's in jail still and-"

"-He's out, John. He must be and I can't afford to take the chance that he isn't."

"...Do you think he'd try, you know...finishing the job if he could get near (Y/n) again?" John mutters with hesitation, Sherlock humming in thought.

"It's hard to say. Criminals don't always make sense when it comes to their motives, just look at Moriarty. I don't think Apollo would want (Y/n) dead if it can be helped; that's the best I can say. He's obsessed with her. If he could have it his way, he would have her come back to him alive and well."

John considers what Sherlock is saying. He supposes he had a point. This Apollo man must just be crazy. Perhaps he was enraged when he shot her since she called their engagement off. He may not have been thinking straight as he pulled the trigger. Regardless, someone like that shouldn't be out on the streets.

He goes to voice his thoughts to Sherlock despite the man most likely already considering the idea, however, someone clears their throat quietly from the doorway causing the two to look that way while abandoning their conversation.

"...Um, Mrs. Hudson wants to go to dinner with me. I told her I'd have to ask you," you're barely standing in the room itself with your eyes on Sherlock, all with a hopeful smile. It has occurred to the doctor before that you would, at some point, get tired of being stuck either at the flat or Sherlock's side. He wonders if you heard them talking, though.

It's clear Sherlock is having a hard time answering. One could practically see the wheels turning in his head, processing all the possibilities of what could go wrong if you left the flat...All that would be at risk and whether it's worth a bit of happiness on your part.

"...It'll just be at Speedy's and she said you could come along if you want," you put in, looking as if he's already rejected the idea, but to your surprise, he stands with a nod once snapping out of it.

"That's fine."

NEXT CHAPTER ➡️

[jason-pipers]

the jason/piper breakup and jason’s subsequent death

it is a long and angry post so you have been warned 

 I’m really sick of seeing Jason Grace/Piper McLean slander in their own tag, and I’m really, really sick of seeing people justify their breakup/his death as good writing. 

As I’ve been studying literature and text for the past four years at Uni- I can say with absolute confidence that The Burning Maze utilizing Jason and Piper was horrible. Like a bag of shit mixed together then smeared on paper and published kind of horrible. Actually, you don’t even really need a degree to be able to point out the very basic absurdity of them appearing in TBM. So even though I have a paper due on a completely unrelated topic and a lot of homework, I naturally decided this was a much better thing to write about: 

 Maybe in another world, Rick’s ghostwriters will be better at writing his books. The reason why the Jason/Piper breakup was extremely confusing and done very poorly in the sense of their character arcs was that there was no buildup to the breakup. In fact, I think these two got together off-screen and broke up off-screen. Yet, I’m sure Riordan sat at his desk thinking “now why don’t people just like Jason and Piper?? I give them so much!” Actually, you gave them nothing. It’s also considerably easy to disguise their breakup as logical when it isn’t. Now, people will argue that the basic foundation of the relationship was poorly made because of Hera’s meddling and that’s why they broke up. This is a lazy way to think about it because it’s obvious you don’t care about the characters so you should just say that and go. Hera’s meddling (putting false memories of Jason in Piper’s head and wiping Jason’s brain) really only gave Piper a vague notion of Jason (based on real attributes the Mist pulls) and also gave PERCY and Jason multiple relationships after the switcheroo. But Piper actually meets Jason and then has a subsequent breakdown that maybe he’s not her boyfriend. However, once she gets to know the real Jason (very accurate to the one she knew in her memories because Aphrodite said she could sense real possibilities hinting at their romance), she is still developing romantic feelings for him. It’s implied that the reason why Piper is falling so fast is because the memories she has of Jason are based on the real Jason. It’s easy to establish that Piper has real romantic feelings for Jason, not the made up Jason because the majority of TLH is them getting to know each other. If she felt like there was some confusion on her part about developing feelings for him because of Hera switching Percy and Jason- why did it not come up EVER? The months where Jason and Piper started dating. How about that long ass quest on the Argo? It could have been a valid plot line but it never came up. If it had come up near the end of the series or maybe even if it was a small subplot in the series, it would make the breakup logical, at least narratively. But no, we end Blood of Olympus with Jason and Piper coming full circle with the moment in the stars. Flash forward three years later to TBM where everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) about Piper and Jason are thrown into the trash. They’re broken up due to the false memories and overall I guess it’s implied Piper doesn’t have feelings for him anymore or something? Or the trauma of being in something like that prophecy was a lot for her to handle and she needed some time to figure things out? Yeah of course! Just like when she will go through another trauma (Jason dying for her) and start dating someone new right after. This would be so much easier to read and digest if these things are shown- in their own series and maybe not as a side thing to Apollo’s series. Reading it in TOA was completely out of left field. I know SO MANY PEOPLE were like that makes so much sense! Good for you Piper! But I was like girl, who are you? I feel like I have not spent any time with you and none of what you’re saying is connecting to anything you were like before. Which leads me to believe people just did not like Piper in HOO but just say that and go. HOO Piper is not TBM/TOA Piper. RR doesn’t know how to characterize his own goddamn characters. Furthermore, everything in canon up until TBM implies and directly states that Jason and Piper are endgame. It’s not to say they didn’t have problems that were resolved or that the way they got together was conventional. There was not even a smidge bit of reluctance to admit they were canon endgame- I think RR even had Cupid involved. There was no prediction or even hint of what would happen in TBM in HOO, which is a very big narrative problem. Jason, always isolated by loved ones and quite frankly always shouldering way more than a human can handle dies exactly the way he suffers. There is no growth or even a small lovely moment where we can see Jason. 

This brings me to the most unnecessary death I’ve ever read in my life. I know RR’s ego hurt from the complaints about Jason/Piper/Frank/Hazel/Leo (basically a non-Percabeth character) being underdeveloped. I know his ego was fucked when he “killed” Leo but didn’t really kill Leo so everyone was like what the fuck. I know he wanted to prove he is a good writer but like any other bad writer, he decided to jump the shark. And I know he wanted Jason and Piper to be more likable but the fandom really wanted a Leo-esque character. The breakup really happened because he wanted to demonstrate to critics that he could live with couples not being endgame and knew Jasiper was relatively unpopular compared to Percabeth/Caleo/etc. He wasn’t thinking in terms of ‘does this fit what I’ve created’ but in terms of ‘people might be like oh shit this is violent and they’re finally gone!’. I don’t know what idiotic thought process made him reach the point of killing one of them but he obviously got there. See, there is no difference between Jason or Piper dying in TBM. It could’ve easily been Piper who was impaled by Caligula and reminded Apollo “what it’s like to be human”. They were made *that* insignificant in TBM. Pretty much fucking interchangeable. IN DEATH. It also could’ve been anybody else in the world. It could’ve been that cheerleader from The Battle of the Labyrinth. It could’ve been Piper’s dad. It could have been Sally Jackson. Not a single part of Jason’s death was really related to Jason or his growth. Jason was the main/lead from HOO and if he was destined to die (which he wasn’t because RR doesn’t think anything through anymore), he should have died in his own series. That would make his sacrifice more compelling and important, but dying in TOA is just a big fuck you to his character. I think the only equivalent I can think of is if HOO had solely been Jason’s series but RR pulled up Percy to simply kill him and then just kept writing. What the fuck does TOA have anything to do with Jason or Piper? Or even Leo? I usually love when characters make cameo appearances to remind us of the past we loved them in. Kind of like when Lynda Carter appeared as Asteria in WW1984. Conversely, involving them in the plot and then using them as a plot device for the main character- AKA USING YOUR MAIN CHARACTER AS A PLOT DEVICE FOR ANOTHER MAIN CHARACTER IN A SEPARATE SERIES- is not only dumb but it truly makes everything else you’ve written for the first main character devoid of any real significance. Jason was never a fully fleshed-out character, the way he deserved to be written, because RR couldn’t world build as well as he thought and that ‘every single character gets a POV’ didn’t do the legendary thing he thought it did. However, anything that mattered about Jason was pretty much killed in TBM because he was easily killed by a villain that was not even remotely interested in Jason or aware of his existence. What does FUCK does Caligula mean to Jason? Nothing. Did the final battle create a full circle for Jason other than the line “remember?” which is not really related to his amnesia- no. His character arc was about an identity crisis- being pushed and pulled in two directions. Jason barely means anything to Apollo so RR using Jason as a convenient kill to send home a message is also shitty for Apollo. Lead hero characters can die- they sometimes just have to. Marissa Cooper’s death in the OC narratively makes sense due to the nature of the character being a damsel in distress from the very beginning- a foil to her counterpart, Ryan Atwood. But in this case, RR knew he had to shock people to keep getting $$$. I never got the impression RR cared about Jason or Piper, especially since he was incredibly disrespectful and lazy when writing about Piper. (For that- I can link really detailed posts explaining his racism). The truth is Riordan cannot live without putting his characters in relationships- Frazel, Caleo, Tyson/Ella (?), Hedge/Mellie- but he wanted to prove that he could which is why Jasiper broke up.

Piper’s girlfriend in TON- I didn’t read TON for the reasons above and I don’t think I’ll ever read a Riordan book again: I did find out that Piper gets a GF in TON which at first I thought was incredibly neat but then later became angry when I learned it was only months after Jason’s death? I have always wanted Piper to explore her sexuality but RR has this case of never giving important things the development it deserves. He’s incredibly messy and inconsistent when he creates lgbtqia+ characters, usually only including them so he can get credit for including them. He’s never actually explored Piper’s sexuality fully in the series, but he threw her in yet another relationship we didn’t get to read about right after she was almost beaten to death and then witnessed the murder of her ex-boyfriend. If you think that is representation, please rethink that. We don’t get to hear her talk about anything at all, except maybe mentioning the girl’s name. A subtle hint. Just representation is not good representation and it is right that we demand better representation. Don’t settle for less. For fuck’s sake, Riverdale is only really good at queerbaiting but they get so much praise. (Do they? At this point I can’t tell). If we wanted to explore Piper’s sexuality, it could have been done while she was with Jason or even broken up with him in her own series- why didn’t RR explore the nature of being lgbtqia+ in an Indigenous family? He had the chance to demonstrate an awareness of intersectionality through Piper but he fucked up. He had so much to write about. So, people who are yelling happily about that Piper appearance in TON-??? 

 This was long and frustrating to write. But I had feelings.

[unmaskedagain]

Marinette: Adventures at Camp-Halfblood

When Marinette arrived at camp at just six-years-old dressed in pink with pigtails in her hair and was shoved into Hermes cabin until she was claimed; most of the other campers hedged their bets on who her godly parent was.  She was a sweet girl with a cheerful deposition that could easily brighten anyone’s day. She also favored sketching and most artistic endeavors so half the campers thought Apollo was her father.

However, Marinette had an almost unnatural beauty to her that was clear from even her young age; with silky blue-ish black hair and large blue eyes that seemed to twinkle. There was a sheer adorableness to her that caused even the toughest of campers to coo. This caused some of the campers to assume Aphrodite was her mother.

 A few bet on Demeter as Marinette loved to bake. Some of Athena as how well organized and tactile the girl could be.

 Unfortunately, it would take a few years before anyone would get confirmation. And for bets to be paid out.

 As Marinette got older, she easily became the most well-liked camper; mostly because of the sweetest and kindest girl at camp. She was always there to help a friend in need, always there for someone to talk to. Hephaestus cabin liked how creative she was with her designs and always liked to offer an artistic flair to their own. While she didn’t rush towards battle as some campers did, it was clear Marinette still knew what to do with a sword. She was also creative and detailed when it came to planning attacks and defense which got her approval of the Athena cabin.

 Ares Cabin liked that she didn’t back down. Ever.  The first time Dionysus got her name wrong was legendary; it was also the last time.

 “You, mary-Anne!” The god of wine called. They were in the lunch hall “Announce to the rugrats, capture the flag is about to begin.”

 “Marinette,” The seven-year-old corrected politely with a smile on her face. “Marlene,” Dionysus waved her off.

Marinette just stared at the chubby god, her face emotionless. The hall seemed to grow a bit colder. Silence slowly took hold the campers as they watched a seven-year-old in a blue

polka-dotted sundress and pink ribbons in her hair stare down a god with unfeeling eyes as she assessed her opponent as if looking for a weakness.

 For the first time in a long time, Dionysus felt sweat trickle down the back of his neck as a small hint of fear started to turn in his stomach. And, to make matters worse, as if sensing this, his fear, a small smile appeared on the girl’s lovely face.

 “My name is Marinette,” Was all she said and turned around as skipped away.

 Dionysus nodded slowly, despite the girl not even looking. He swallowed a bit more of his coke and with a pop, he was gone, vanished. No one would see him at camp for two weeks. When he came back, from then on out, whenever he ran into the little girl again, he calls her some variation of “You girl,” “Girly” or even a “Lassie” once. It was clear that while the god was too proud to call her or anyone of the campers by their actual names, he would never mess up hers again.

 That day would forever remain in the hearts of the campers forever. When Marinette was eleven, she found out who her godly parent was.

She had been walking with Annabeth to the training yard, near the entrance of the camp, when they heard roars and a scream. Annabeth turned pale but a determined look appeared in her eyes. Marinette patted the blonde’s shoulder comfortingly. Though they were the same age, the blonde had arrived at camp a year after Marinette, and not under the best of circumstances. Grover,

Luka, Thalia, and Annabeth had been being chased by the most dangerous monsters from the underworld. Thalia hadn’t made it. It had been four years since.

 Each girl pulled out their swords, braced their shields, and raced towards the entrance of the camp. What they saw made both of them nearly throw up their breakfasts.

 Charles Beckendorf, son of Hephaestus, Laurel Victor, daughter of Nike, and Malcolm

 Pace, son of Athena were racing back to camp; different monsters hot on their tails. The three

 had been given a mission to retrieve Hephaestus’ stolen Helm. In this case, the helm was just a fancy word for solid gold, expertly carved, war helmet.

Laurel, easily the fastest girl at camp, was heavily injured and struggled with a wounded Malcolm to get to the safety of the camp borders while fending off the monsters. Charles, wearing his father’s helmet, fought valiantly and desperately to give his friends time to escape.

 “Go get help,” Marinette ordered the other girl. “Anyone you can. Find medics from Apollo cabin. Hurry.”

 It was a credit Annabeth that she didn’t hesitate to follow the direction as she raced off to seek allies.

 Marinette, on the other hand, raced the other way; out of the camp, out of the safety of the boundary line, straight to battle. She’d seen the manticore sneaking up on Charles and knew that between the Cyclopes and hellhounds swarming him, he was a dead man. Marinette rushed passed Laurel and Malcolm and was just in time as the manticore's tail moved to strike Charles, it hit Marinette’s shield.

 Fury filled her blue eyes as she began to fight: armor-less and with only a shield in one hand, a sword in the other, and a dagger on her hip, side by side with the son of Hephaestus. “Go!” She yelled at the other two demigods as she slashed at a Cyclops. As the monsters swarmed her and Charles, Marinette noted with a small bit of relief, that in the midst of the chaos of battle and her shoving her sword through the eye of a Cyclops with horrible breath, she spotted that Laurel and Malcolm crossing over the barrier.

 However, the relief died when a fearsome roar shook the very foundations of the camp and both campers to very cores.

 The creature had no legs and crawled on the ground like a snake. It was over 200 hundred feet long and had scales that glistened like armor. The monster moved like lightening and when Marinette met its eyes, for a moment she froze in sheer terror, “Drakon,” She whispered. That when she knew one or both of them were going to die. Only a child of Ares even had a remote chance of defeating it.

 “Shit,” Charles said as he killed a hellhound. Most of the monsters had been defeated. Only a few cyclopes and hellhounds remained. “Run back to camp!” He ordered. “Hurry! I’ll hold it off.”

Marinette didn’t have to even look at the black boy to know he wouldn’t stand a chance. Charles looked like he barely had enough strength left to lift his sword one more time. He was bleeding all over. He had so many injuries and wound Marinette wondered how he managed to keep himself upright.

 With a swing of her sword, Marinette finished off the last Cyclops. “Not this time,” She told the older boy. “You’re hurt really bad.” She told him. “It’ll kill you in seconds and get me before I even make it back. I’ll hold him off. I’m strong enough. I can do it.”

 “No!” Charles had started a tirade of protests. He wasn’t about to let anyone die for him, let alone a little kid who looked like she would be right at home if Disney suddenly named her one of their princesses. A girl who was nearly as battered, bruised, and bloody as he was.

 But Marinette wasn’t listening, because as soon as the moment of fear passed, she found herself charging at the Drakon, her sword ready.

 She barely dodged the monster’s first swipe at her. Her heart pounding her chest, Marinette slashes at the beast only to have her sword bounce off its scales, with not even a scratch on the Drakon. Acid dripped from its mouth burning holes into Marinette’s red shield.

 Marinette didn’t know how long she had been fighting; or rather dodging and helplessly poking a giant snake with a sword. Her arm had nearly been ripped off as she narrowly jumps out of the way of its teeth.

 Then a cry of pain sounded in her ear, and a sharp heartbreaking cry of someone screaming, “CHARLES!”

 Once more rage overtook the small bluenette and raced head on to Drakon, it’s jaws wide open to attack or possibly just eat the demigod. With a roar, Marinette launched her shield at its face. When the Drakon turned its head to bat it away, Marinette jumped forward as high as she could and rammed her sword into the Drakon’s eyes.

 The drakon reared back, letting out a terrifying shriek, sword still in its eyes as Marinette dangled from it; refusing to let go. With one hand free, Marinette pulled out her and stabbed it into the Drakon’s other eye. There was another howl of from the monster.  It swung back and

forth, but Marinette kept stabbing at its eyes. Its acid burning her arms and legs and whatever it managed to hit.

 Then, Marinette didn’t know what happened, but suddenly she was falling. Or rather the Drakon was crashing. It landed in a giant heap that caused the ground to shake. It withered on the ground, back and forth. Marinette who still clung to her sword, stood up on shaky legs, pulled

out her sword and then stabbed it again and then again as deep as it could go. Until the beast stop shaking until its last breath left its body.

 Marinette quickly pulled her sword free and turned to help her fellow demi-god Charles, only to find other campers had beat her to it. With a happy, exhausted smile, Marinette fell to her knees. The pain finally hitting her as the adrenaline wore off. Her sword slipped from her hand. She barely noticed most of the campers who turned up to help were staring at her with amazement in

their eyes. A few, who Marinette recognized as sons and daughter of Apollo, rushed towards with medical supplies.

 There was a loud, some fire in the corner of her eyes, murmurs from the crowd. There was a fiery symbol above her head, already a fading. Then Chiron (When had he arrived, Marinette wondered. She didn’t notice him a few seconds ago) stepped forward.

 “It is determined,” The centaur announced. “Hail, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, daughter of War.” That was when everything went dark for Marinette as she slipped into unconsciousness.

The next few days after that were pretty much a wash. Marinette was mostly in and out of sleep as the worst of her injuries were healed. Only when she got out of the healer’s cabin and headed towards her bunk in the Hermes’ cabin did she finally recall that she had been claimed.

 Mostly because Luke had given her an easy smile, and said, “Clarisse and her goons got your stuff already, oh fearsome Drakon slayer.” Then he pointed down another path. “Your cabin’s that way with the rest of Big Red’s kids.”

And that was that. Luke gave her a pitying look and wondered how the girl most people thought was made of sugar cookies and sunshine ended up in the cabin known for the meanest kids.

Dressed in a baby blue camp shirt, her hair still in her signature pigtails, Marinette held her held high as she walked to her new home. The young girl had never… appreciated the aesthetics of Cabin 5 whenever she had to walk by it. The kids there weren’t the friendliest, some either ignored her or picked on her so she did her best to avoid it.

Cabin 5, Ares cabin, Marinette’s cabin was painted with an angry red color. The roof was covered barbed wire, and there was a stuffed boar's head centered above the doorway. It always used to seem to stare at anyone who walked by. The grass in front of the cabin was rich and green but Marinette made sure to stay on the path as she recalled Annabeth warning her about the landmines that were buried in front of cabin 5. Only Ares kids knew where they hid.

Rock music blared loudly from the cabin; high enough to hurt someone’s ears.

Marinette braced herself as she headed up the stone steps of the cabin. With one last look around, she pushed opened the door and walked inside.

The sound of fighting and arguing and roars of the laughter hit on in the face. Two guys were wrestling in the middle of the room was which look liked a boxing ring. A few kids were cheering them on. Some kids, her siblings, were dancing in a makeshift mosh pit to the music. There were rock posters covering the wall. A giant TV that seemed to be playing whatever violent sport was on and kids were screaming at it. Weapons were thrown about everywhere. The only bright side was, it looked like Cabin 5 had its own kitchen. Everything was chaos.

Clarisse, she spotted, was arm-wrestling a boy twice her size; Sherman Yang, Marinette remembered, the mean girl second in command. While his twin brother Mark watched, declaring he had winners.

This is it, Marinette thought, this is my life now.

           She took a deep breath and went over to the head of the Cabin; Clarisse.

“Hey! I got next!” Mark quickly said again.

“Good for you,” Marinette sniped at him      

Suddenly Clarisse slammed Sherman’s hand down and stood up victorious, “Yes, sucker! Who wants some?”

           Mark moved to speak but Marinette interrupted him, “Before your next… showdown? Where can I find my room, please?”

“Can it, squirt! I’m on a roll,” Clarisse said with a quick glance at her. Then the bigger girl stopped and did a double-take. “Well, well, well; if it is in Drakon-slayer herself.” She announced or rather yelled loudly. Causing heads to turn and the music to die down. “If I hadn’t seen the take-down myself, I’d never guessed that a dainty little thing like yourself would belong here.” She said the word dainty like it was dirty.

           Marinette lifted an eyebrow, “I get by. Larger opponents have a habit of overestimating their own abilities against us dainty little things. They tend to go down fast.”

           Clarisse just snorted, “We need to work on your trash talk.” She slapped Marinette on the back. “It’ll be good to have another girl around. To busy many boys stinking up the place.”

           That was when Marinette noticed that in the entire room, including herself, there were only five, maybe six girls, all various ages and races, in comparison to upwards of twenty guys. But it was clear that they were all related. They all had the same smug, mean expressions; the same authentic large builds, most even favored the goldish red-eye color that sort of looked like flames.

“Am I the shortest one here?” Marinette shouted angrily. “What the hell! No!”

           Sherman smirked, “Not the shortest. Billie just turned seven. And you’re like a foot taller than him… For now.”

           Marinette glared and took a step forward. Only to be pulled back by Clarisse, “Beat him up later, I’ll show you your room.”

           Turned out that there was another good thing about living in the Ares cabin. Since there were so few girls, she got her own room. It was a nicely sized, just a bit bigger than her room in Paris. The walls were black and grey. There was a surprisingly comfy queen-sized bed. But other than that there was nothing. Most of her stuff was already there waiting for her. Her things were a mix of pink, purples, and frills that stood out against the backdrop.

“We don’t usually get girly-girls in our cabin,” Clarisse shrugged. “A week ago, I’d have said you wouldn’t have last a day. Then you single-handedly took down a drakon; now I’m wondering if I should be worried about my spot as head of the cabin.”

           Marinette laughed, “No interest in running this cabin; too many boys.”

“You’ll get used to having brothers,” Clarisse leaned against the door. “Or at least to the smells. Sisters are easier. We stick together. We’re already thought of as weaker, and more delicate by the morons. Show ‘em who’s boss every chance you get.”

           Marinette nodded.

“Just keep the fighting in the house,” Clarisse warned. “Outside this cabin; we’re a unit. Us versus everyone else. And we play to win.”

           Living in Cabin 5 wasn’t as bad as Marinette thought. She had to quickly make some ‘touch this and I’ll annihilate you and dance your corpse’ rules; most of which was to keep her brothers out of her room. An unspoken rule was quickly established that if Marinette was wearing something really pretty; don’t with her mess with her; she played dirty. Ryan and Hunter, two of her more troublesome brothers, quickly learned when after fighting each in a mud pit decided to ruin Marinette’s new designed sunflower dress by throwing a few mud pies at her. The fury in the small girl’s eyes sent shivers through the rest of the cabin. The next day Ryan and Hunter woke up to their skin bright pink and glittering covering their rooms.

           Her brother Troy, a blond with red eyes, learned next. Marinette's new silk top ended up having to be thrown away. Troy woke up glued to the ceiling with hair dyed purple and his eyebrows gone.

           Then there was Chase and a cashmere sweater. Chase ended up tied in a room playing Disney princess movies on reruns for hours and hours. He didn’t speak for a week after.

           Kendall and Marinette’s new purse that somehow ended up on the roof of the Apollo cabin covered in mud and who knows what else. All of the stuff she had in it was missing and had to be located. He woke up in a giant seaweed wrap strapped to a spinning board. Marinette and three of his other sisters had knives in their hands. One of his sister, Megan, started to spin the board as Marinette threw the first knife, it landed next to his head.

           The last one was Blaise, the strongest, toughest, meanest of all Ares’ sons. He thought it was a good idea to throw Marinette in the lake, while she was wearing her newest outfit designed. She had spent weeks working on it. He laughed as she stared daggers at him, soaking wet. Blaise didn’t show up at the cabin that night.

           When he finally did, it was the next morning. He was covered in dirt, and he pointed an accusing finger at Marinette, “She buried me alive!”

That was when Clarisse decided it was time to sit Marinette down, “That’s not we fight.”

           Marinette crossed her arms, “You’re right. That’s how I go to war.” She huffed. “You told me to show them who’s boss.”

“Yeah; not traumatize them!”

“I feel like you’re splitting hairs.”

           Most of her siblings left her alone after that.

Marinette had also claimed dominion over the rarely used kitchen. She baked lots of treats that seemed to get even more of her rowdier brothers to let her be.

           On the downside, she did find herself against Annabeth in capture the flag again and again. The two girls, still best friends, slowly found themselves enjoying the rivalry.

           Marinette met her father a few months later.

           During the Christmas break, Marinette found herself visiting the camp while her parents went to China to visit a sick friend of her mother’s. She had known for weeks that she’d be spending her break there and had created the perfect dress for the winter solstice. It was a mix of silvers and golds that went just below her knees and had a lace bodice.  It was her first time getting to go Olympus during the winter solstice. She only ever went to the summer one since she only spent her summers at camp.

           She stood happily in her dress as she waited for Ares cabin to depart to meet the rest of the campers to leave to go to the city.

“Let’s be real here,” Marinette smiled sweetly to her brothers who eyed her wearily. “Ruin my dress and I’ll kill you all. As far as I’m concerned you’re all to blame, the one who does the crime will just get it the worst. Clear? Good.”

           Clarisse rolled her eyes. Trust her tough as nails brother to be scared to death of their smallest sister.

           Olympus was beautiful. It was a mix of white and with grand pillars and statues everywhere. All the campers had gotten mixed up as most as found their friends on the way there. Marinette stood with Annabeth and Will, from the Apollo cabin.

           The gods were quick to greet their kids, at least the ones that had been claimed. The ones who hadn’t been greet cheerfully by a bubbly Hermes, like they were his own. The kids who knew their godly parents went to go meet them. For the first time, Marinette looked around eagerly for her own godly parent for the first time.

           She found her siblings and glided through the crowd, passed Athena, where she lost Annabeth, passed Apollo, where she lost will, and nearly passed Aphrodite when a hand reached out and grabbed hers.

           Marinette looked up at the attached hand and found Aphrodite looking at her with a smile on her face.

“I believe you are one of mine, darling,” The goddess said. “And don’t you look absolutely beautiful tonight.”

           The bluenette blushed, “Actually, my lady, I belong in another cabin.”

“Oh?” Aphrodite eyed the girl as she was confused. “Who’s cabin is that?” All the beautiful campers were hers.

“Mine!” A voice growled. Ares dressed in all black leather and wore black sunglasses, seemed to glare through them. “Let my girl go, babe! We’ll talk later.”

           The goddess of love eyed the beautiful Asian girl and the gruff warrior she knew and her mind just couldn’t compute. “She’s yours? Are you sure?” She asked but let the girl of the little girl’s hand.

           Ares snorted. “She killed a Drakon and she’s only eleven. She’s mine.”

           Marinette smiled softly at the goddess before rushing over to her brothers and sisters; listening gladly as Ares relayed some of his most recent battle stories. Unaware of the rather ridiculous image is made. A pretty little girl dressed in a silver and gold Christmas dress, surrounded by a leather-wearing, mean-faced, giant warrior that no question if someone told them they were a biker gang.

           Then it was Ares turned to listen as one by one his kids relayed the latest up and goings at camp; mostly their victories. A lot had stories about the pranks they pulled. When asked who the toughest and scariest person in their cabin was; there was the usual Clarisse, Sherman, Ryan, and Blaise but Ares was surprised to hear Marinette’s name drop a few times from his sons’ mouths.

“Powderpuff,” Ares growled towards his daughter who blinked wide innocent eyes at him. “I hear you’re tough. How do you fight dressed like all of that!” He waved at her outfit.

           Marinette crossed her arms and glared at her dad, “I don’t how. About as easy as you do dressed as Danny from Grease.”

           Silence.

           Ares and Marinette glared at each other; each willingly the other to break.

“Shit,” Clarisse whispered a curse.

           Sherman leaned toward his twin Mark, “Who are we betting on?”

           Mark shrugged, “I don’t know. Dad’s a god. But Marinette’s mean. Could go either way.”

           Ares chuckled and walked over to tower over his youngest daughter, “I ain’t your brothers. I don’t scare easily; no fear in my eyes.” He ruffled her hair. “And I don’t like frills.” Ares pulls a bit at lacy ribbons attached to his daughter’s sleeve. Unfortunately, no matter how well designed, with his strength the material ripped. Loud enough for everyone to hear.

           There gasps from her siblings.

           Marinette’s eyes slowly went from her sibling to her father.

“Can you kill a god?” Blaise asked Clarisse.

           Kendall shrugged, “Marinette’s about to find out.”

           A cold smirk appeared on Marinette’s face, “Fear! Why do people say that? In movies, when up against the bad guy? Say there not afraid to die? As if the matters. What does you being afraid have to do with anything?”

           Ares eyes his daughter curiously. He didn’t get the reaction he knew he’d have gotten if he did that to any of his other kids. For now, he let the matter drop as he decided to relay another of his war stories. Unaware of the blue eyes that would disappear from the room.

“Hey!” Ares shouted, drawing everyone’s attention. “Where’s my bike! Someone took my bike.”

           Clarisse looked around, ready to raise hell with her father and her siblings when she noticed, someone was missing. She took her a second to realize what happened. “Shit,” She whispered.

“What?” Sherman asked.

“Marinette’s missing,” Clarisse hissed.

“So?” The Asian boy shrugged, and then the words hit him. “…No. She wouldn’t.”

           Blaise, who overheard their conversation, shook his head, “She would. Marinette really liked that dress.”

“Who’d do what?” Ares growled. “You know who took my bike?”

           Clarisse sighed, hopefully, her dad didn’t kill her youngest sister, “I’ll give ya a hint; she really likes frills and you really pissed her off tonight.”

           Ares took off his glasses, and pits of fire looked out at his children, his eyes narrowed. “Marinette stole my bike?”

           Kendall nodded, “If you get to her quick enough; you might be able to stop her from painting it pink.”

“…She wouldn’t,” The god of war said darkly. There were multiple snorts from his children.

           Clarisse pinched her nose, “Does anyone know how long she’s been gone. Anything more than an hour, and that bike’s history. There will be care bears from threatening.”

           No one answered.

           Ares growled and with a pop, he was gone.

           He showed back up a couple of hours later; still no bike and look positively furious. The other gods, particularly Hephaestus, looked beyond amused. Word had spread that the Princess of Ares’ cabin, Ares’ own daughter, had stolen his bike and ran off. All because of a ripped ribbon on her dress.

           Aphrodite nodded approvingly; it was a rather stunning dress, she’d of raised Tartarus herself over it.

           When the campers returned to camp, the Ares’ cabin members came to find Marinette waiting on the bike in the middle of the boxing ring.

“Who wants to go for a ride?”

           Everyone did. They all cheered as one by one, or two by two, they rode the bike around camp.

           The next morning at breakfast, Marinette was eating with Annabeth with the door flew opened and Ares stomped in. He glared at his daughter, “BIKE. NOW!”

           Marinette placed down her toast, “I want a new dress first.” She glared at her dad.

“This isn’t a negotiation,” He towered over her.

           Marinette blinked, not a drop of fear in her, “It’s not. Until I get a replacement dress for the one you ruined. You don’t get your bike. And you’ll never find it without me.”

“Marinette!” Ares roared.

“DAD!” Marinette yelled back.

           The campers could only watch as the strangest scene to ever hit Camp half-blood played out in front of them.

“I! You! GRR!” Ares howled before stumped away.

           It took a week and three more public confrontations for Ares to finally give in and ask Aphrodite to get his daughter a dress.

“Here, princess!” he shoved it at her.

           Marinette nodded, left the lunch hall, and returned with the bike; same as it ever was, apart from the red bow ribbons attached to it.

           Ares scoffed at the sighted, nodded at his daughter and was gone. He’d return two days later to hang out with his kids in their cabin. His bike parked out in front; a single red ribbon still tied a handlebar.

           From then on the campers knew one thing…

           Never mess with the Princess of War.

           Almost two years later, after thirteen-year-old Marinette would receive a pair of earrings and new destiny, all of Paris would learn the same lesson.

[just-like-playing-tag]

Me???? Still not over that Apollo Ray AU in 2021?????? It's more likely than you think.

I jumped into the water and now I need to keep swimming

If you're new to the AU, you can check out this post where it's explained where the name comes from and this other post on what Apollo Ray differs from Minerva Norman.

Tonight, I'd like to expand the plotline that Apollo Ray would choose to imprison Emma and Norman to prevent them from getting in his way to demons' eradication. I know y'all might cringe at this but you have to understand, he's REALLY convinced it's for their best.

This is how I can imagine things to go: Ray kinda tricks them and traps them somewhere inside of the Paradise Hideout. Not really a prison, he'd probably just lock them in a room and be like “you just got back from a long, dangerous journey, why don't you take some rest? In the meantime, I've got some stuff to do at, let's say, the Royal Capital :)”

Sounds familiar?

Like mother like son

Very relevant detail is that the room MUST be without locks. Make it an electronic key or a biometric iris recognition lock or whatever. Ray knows Norman well enough and he's not falling to the magical hairpin trick lmao.

Now, I like to think Gilda would take sides with Ray. I've always thought about Ray and Gilda having a lot in common (often seeing the glass half empty, loving Emma unconditionally; furthermore, they were the only ones who agreed that escaping from Grace Field with everyone was unequivocally impossible). At some point, paralleling how Norman asked to talk with Gilda and Don, Ray asks for Gilda only to come into his study. They have a long talk, during which he persuades her to join him. On Ray's end, he needs somebody he trusts to stay in the Hideout while him and his squad go to their fun trip to the Royal Capital, to keep an eye on Emma and Norman and make sure they won't escape or try and go to the Seven Walls. Now, Gilda probably wouldn't look like his first choice, for she is endlessly loyal to Emma; however, Ray plans of making that very factor, her love and dedication for her friend, his trump card. By talking to Gilda and calmly describing their situation, he makes her understand how hopeless is the mission Emma is so desperate to fulfill; that no one ever came back from the Seven Walls, and they're most likely to die there. Moreover, Ray persuades Gilda to believe that his plan of demon eradication is without doubts the most certain route, that will surely lead to the safest future for her friends - even though they can't understand it yet. However, their safeness and happiness is above anything else, even their own temporary freedom- isn't it? They will understand, once everything is over, that him and Gilda were only acting for their best.

Although initially hesitant, as never in her life she had gone against Emma, Gilda ends up firmly accepting, for she's determined to do anything to save Emma's (and Norman's) life- including betraying her.

I don't think it shouldn't be too surprising to have Gilda accept Ray's plottings; already in the manga, she's shown as being maybe the most condescending to Norman's plan, since she believed it was the less dangerous route to secure Emma's safety- and, to her eyes, consequential happiness.

In this AU, Ray's using the very feelings of affection that build Gilda's loyalty to Emma to bring her to his side; he's persuading her that the mission Emma and Norman are trying to carry out is a suicidal one, and that if they let them go they will lose them forever- which is something he knows Gilda would do anything to not let happen.

I know it may seem like he's manipulating her to get what he wants, but I want to underline I don't think that'd be the case: by saying he's worried Emma and Norman are going to lose their lives going after the Seven Walls, he's putting genuine sentiments on the line, and he's as determined to prevent it from happening as Gilda is. In comparison, Norman has been way more dishonest when he spoke to Gilda and Don- as Gilda would have later learnt, he was never intentioned to spare Musica (thus having plainly lied to them).

On the contrary, Ray's intentions of simply wanting to protect Emma and Norman were sincere, and he was way more honest with Gilda with his plan, fully entrusting her with it.

On the other side, Don would obviously take sides Emma, which would eventually lead to a very cool conflict between Gilda and Don?? I'm certain Don would support Emma because he grew up to be very similar to her. Brings back to my mind this old old post I once made, which considers the events of chapters 138 and 139: Don shares Emma's point of view on many matters, so I'm confident he would be ready to support her. When you think about it, he was the fastest to take sides with her in canon too, probably second to Ray only; and when Ray's choice was likely driven by his undying loyalty to Emma, chances are that Don was supporting Emma not only because he believed in her, but also because he was the first one to truly believe in her ideals as well, the first to believe they would have really been able to find a solution that would have brought happiness for everyone.

Now Don openly supporting Emma would inevitably lead to him and Gilda clashing which I find being the absolute COOLEST thing. I mean I love them, and I love how they love each other; still the thought of them being compelled by the circumstances to collide intrigues me so much!!!! I think they'd have this extremely angsty confrontation that will eventually end with Don convincing Gilda that trusting Emma has took them so far, and that the best thing to do is give up and help him to free Emma and Norman (maybe Ray had entrusted her with the keys / password to open the room Emma and Norman were locked in?? Dunnot)

Besides, I think it would make a lot of sense taking the whole tpn plotline?? It would end up paralleling Gilda and Don's chapters in Grace Field in so many different ways. First of all, I have to say it would be very nice to have a new spotlight on Gilda: her role in the first arc was relevant indeed, with her and Don being the key to the success of the escape; however, she didn't really got to have enough space for character development. The moment when the trio revealed them the truth was more about Don, while Gilda had never doubted of their words in the first place; moreover, the space she had as a possible spy was mostly used to deceive the attention from the true spy, and the revelation that she was never intentioned to betray them was more of character development for Emma, who consolidated her will to trust and protect her family, than a growth of Gilda herself.

But now, for Gilda to take sides against her dear Emma, the person she's more loyal and devoted to, what a great potential for character development that has!!!!!!! I can imagine her, once she finally accepts to help Emma, to echo the words Emma once told her at Grace Field: “I'm sorry- to protect you, I was prepared to be hated by you; yet, I wasn't ready to believe in you!”

To sum up: the Apollo Ray AU is still my jam and Gilda and Don deserve way more space than what they were given in the manga. Also stan Gilda.