#getting her out would be a good quest for somebody I'm sure | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

halothenthehorns · 1 year ago

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Chapter 6: NICO BUYS HAPPY MEALS FOR THE DEAD

Even when Percy looked moments away from torturing Will just to get an answer out of somebody what happened on this quest, Nico licked his lips nervously before he could start anew. Would it be awkward to ask if it was all in his head every time he got this book it seemed like a worse than usual chapter?

Then he read the new title and sunk low in his seat, waiting for the bombardment of freaking out that would ensue about his next death entrapment of them all.

"Well that was very considerate of you, but I have questions," Magnus tried to begin as politely as ever. "Do they prefer chicken nuggets or burgers? What toys were available?"

"When it says buy, like where did you get the money?" Alex asked with diabolical interest. "Did you ask your dad for it? Try to pay them in drachmas? Mythomagic cards?"

"I'm over here hoping he didn't threaten the cashier with that sword," Jason admitted.

Nico was only blushing a tiny bit as he smiled at them. "Um, a bit of all three." He'd tried to ask Hades for money and information, but hadn't even made it past the front gates of his palace before he was bared by the fury's telling him now wasn't a good time.

Minos had helped him with the details among his own research and he'd just stolen the rest.

That unfortunate incident with the chicken nuggets and the dog chasing him out of the car would not be discussed.

At least I got a good night's sleep before the quest, right?

"Do you jinx yourself on purpose?" Thalia asked him in concern. "Like, you do know when you throw questions like that out into the universe, you're just going to get slapped with the opposite answer."

"I'm starting to get that, yeah," Percy mock rubbed his cheek.

"Will it stop him from doing it?" Alex snorted.

"Nope," Magnus sighed.

Wrong.

"So, should I just start wishing for a horrible night's sleep?" Percy groaned.

"Percy, I don't think anything can fix, whatever this mess of your life is," Jason told him with nothing but sympathy.

"I've already tried shock therapy, so I'm out of ideas," Thalia agreed cheerfully.

That night in my dreams, I was in the stateroom of the Princess Andromeda. The windows were open on a moonlit sea. Cold wind rustled the velvet drapes.

"There is either a really inappropriate dream about to take place, or a nightmare with monsters and dead people," Magnus shivered at that setup.

"My money's on both, Luke's nighttime routine with one of those bear twins," Alex rubbed his hands together. Magnus mock vomited over the side of the couch, though for a moment they weren't sure if he was faking it.

Luke knelt on a Persian rug in front of the golden sarcophagus of Kronos.

In the moonlight, Luke's blond hair looked pure white. He wore an ancient Greek chiton and a white himation, a kind of cape that flowed down his shoulders. The white clothes made him look timeless and a little surreal, like one of the minor gods on Mount Olympus. The last time I'd seen him, he'd been broken and unconscious after a nasty fall from Mount Tam. Now he looked perfectly fine. Almost too healthy.

Percy shivered with the kind of forbidden knowledge nobody could joke away. Somewhere inside his head was the answer to that mystery, and as his stomach churned while he looked down at his own shaking hands, he didn't think he was going to like the answer he'd inevitably get.

"Our spies report success, my lord," he said. "Camp Half-Blood is sending a quest, as you predicted.

Nico really hated that word, traitor. He knew everybody at camp thought he was one bad day away from being one himself. He'd really never gotten to know Silena that well to be calling her anything.

Our side of the bargain is almost complete."

They were already to late, Jason frowned in concern. Their quest hadn't even started and Krono's forces were almost guaranteed through the maze at their convenience. His heart thudded painfully in his chest as he imagined the camp in ashes- No, surely Thalia and Will weren't that good of actors. They'd be more than mildly distressed at this if that were the case. Annabeth's quest had come through, somehow.

Excellent. The voice of Kronos didn't so much speak as pierce my mind like a dagger. It was freezing with cruelty. Once we have the means to navigate, I will lead the vanguard through myself.

"The sarcophagus doesn't grow legs, does it?" Magnus asked in concern.

"Let's be more concerned if he's almost about to leave the coffin," Alex shook his head sharply. "What the heck kind of deal was struck to cause that?"

There was no answer except Thalia playing with her bracelet. She was grateful they didn't seem to connect Luke's life force with Krono's, it was such a twisted bit of magic she couldn't stand to link the two herself.

Luke closed his eyes as if collecting his thoughts. "My lord, perhaps it is too soon. Perhaps Krios or Hyperion should lead—"

No. the voice was quiet but absolutely firm. I will lead. One more heart shall join our cause, and that will be sufficient. At last I shall rise fully from Tartarus.

"Who the heck is that special last someone going to be?" Alex wasn't really joking even as he laced his voice with sarcasm. "Is it going to be some sweet underdog story about an invisible person finally feeling seen by Luke? Is it going to be some mad powerhouse?"

"We really need to take away whatever the heck is feeding his imagination," Percy told Thalia as he watched Alex.

"Or bottle it and use it as a weapon," Thalia agreed.

"But the form, my lord..." Luke's voice started shaking.

Jason shivered right along with him. Was it terror? Excitement? He didn't know which was worse, but any answer wasn't going to be great for Percy.

Show me your sword, Luke Castellan.

"I didn't even think this guy had a last name," Percy jolted in surprise. "I thought he was just born Luke Evil, or Luke Son of Hermes, and just dropped it to Luke."

Thalia didn't even have the heart to smack him for being an idiot. Sooner than she'd like, Percy would know all to well what came attached with the last name of Castellan.

A jolt went through me. I realized I'd never heard Luke's last name before.

"Annabeth never cursed it in front of you," Alex agreed, "we didn't get to hear Chiron chasing him around and yelling it."

"Now we just need to know his middle name, surely then somebody can do an evil spell to curse him or something," Magnus agreed.*

"We're not the fae folk Magnus, that's not how that works," Thalia couldn't help but snicker at him, keeping to herself Luke's middle name was Oro in case anybody wanted to try.

It had never even occurred to me.

Luke drew his sword. Backbiter's double edge glowed wickedly—half steel, half celestial bronze. I'd almost been killed several times by that sword.

"You've almost been killed several times by being in school too and we don't go around reminding you of that," Will said.

"Yes you do, frequently!" Percy yelped.

"It was a silly detail Percy, we assume everything's tried to kill you at this point, including the kitchen sink with lava in it," Magnus rolled his eyes.

It was an evil weapon, able to kill both mortals and monsters. It was the only blade I really feared.

Nico's hand twitched uncomfortably to his own sword that could do the same. That was branded the same. The only difference was his blade had never tried to kill Percy. He hoped that distinction would be enough nobody would try to disarm him if the truth of what he carried came out.

You pledged yourself to me, Kronos reminded him. You took this sword as proof of your oath.

"Yes, my lord. It's just—"

You wanted power. I gave you that. You are now beyond harm. Soon you will rule the world of gods and mortals. Do you not wish to avenge yourself? To see Olympus destroyed?

A shiver ran through Luke's body. "Yes."

Thalia knew in that moment she could hear that a thousand more times and it would still hit her fresh and raw every time. It just wasn't the same person to her. Luke might as well have died instead of her and come back as someone else.

The coffin glowed, golden light filling the room. Then make ready the strike force. As soon as the bargain is done, we shall move forward. First, Camp Half-Blood will be reduced to ashes. Once those bothersome heroes are eliminated, we will march on Olympus.

"It's an honor to be so bothersome we have to be eliminated before the gods," Percy said with all the snap of a dragon.

"C-compliments?" Will agreed hesitantly.

There was a knock on the stateroom doors. The light of the coffin faded.

"Does Kronos only talk to him?" Alex asked with his head tipped to the side. "Like, imaginary friend style?"

"I can't imagine why, I'm surprised there isn't a speaker attached to his lid so the whole ship can hear him monologuing," Jason rolled his eyes.

Luke rose. He sheathed his sword, adjusted his white clothes, and took a deep breath.

"Come in."

The doors opened. Two dracaenae slithered in—snake women with double serpent trunks instead of legs. Between them walked Kelli, the empousa cheerleader from my freshman orientation.

"This book stays rated K right?" Magnus asked with mild concern for their joke from the beginning of the chapter getting another uncomfortable piece set in.

"How should I know? How do you rate monsters turning to dust, because it's pretty traumatic to any age from where I'm sitting," but Percy looked just as queasy why she'd walked in like this was a red carpet ceremony.

"Hello, Luke," Kelli smiled. She was wearing a red dress and she looked awesome,

"The highest amount of praise a teenage boy can give," Thalia snorted.

"Oh gods, please nobody ever tell Annabeth I called an empousa awesome before her," Percy groaned, causing a round of snickering he really didn't approve of.

"You told her she was going to do awesome on this quest," Will reminded fairly without dropping his smile. "I think she'd give you a pass on the demon that's supposed to be hot."

but I'd seen her real form. I knew what she was hiding: mismatched legs, red eyes, fangs, and flaming hair.

"What is it, demon?" Luke's voice was cold. "I told you not to disturb me."

Magnus mock wiped sweat from his brow Luke was disgusted with her. Now they'd just get death threats and insults...though it did make him wonder why Luke apparently didn't have an attraction to her like Percy had.

Kelli pouted. "That's not very nice. You look tense. How about a nice shoulder massage?"

"I wouldn't let that thing near any part of my body," Jason shivered. "I'm not banking on the fact she'd just drink from my neck."

"Good instincts," Alex approved.

Luke stepped back. "If you have something to report, say it. Otherwise leave!"

"I don't know why you're so huffy these days. You used to be fun to hang around."

Thalia would have rather been slapped than realize she'd ever think the same thing as Kellie, and yet the sick feeling in her gut only seemed to settle in at home. How long exactly had these two been hanging out for her to claim this?!

"That was before I saw what you did to that boy in Seattle."

"Oh, he meant nothing to me," Kelli said. "Just a snack, really. You know my heart belongs to you, Luke."

"My heart belongs to my snacks too," Alex frowned. "Whatever she did to that boy in Seattle has to be something alright."

Magnus had a very concerning look on his face as he struggled with the idea of whether he wanted to know details of that or not. What could she have done that was so awful even this guy deemed it too horrible?

"Thanks, but no thanks. Now report or get out."

Kelli shrugged. "Fine. The advanced team is ready, as you requested. We can leave—" She frowned.

"What is it?" Luke asked.

"A presence," Kelli said. "Your senses are getting dull, Luke. We're being watched."

She scanned the stateroom. Her eyes focused right on me. Her face withered into a hag's. She bared her fangs and lunged.

"Eep!" Magnus jumped in his seat no matter the lack of harm that was coming to him. "Can you die in your dreams!"

"Gods I hope not, I've had enough close calls," Percy was rubbing his chest in here plenty to prove it had been real enough to him too.

I woke with a start, my heart pounding. I could've sworn the empousa's fangs were an inch from my throat.

Percy's trembling fingers brushed over his thumping pulse one last time too. Not a reminder he needed, but when did he ever get a say in those?

Tyson was snoring in the next bunk. The sound calmed me down a little.

"I would have thought it was the ocean," Thalia snorted.

"To each their own, hopefully Annabeth snores," Jason snickered.

I didn't know how Kelli could sense me in a dream,

"I really didn't question that to much," Magnus admitted, "or I'd just fall back down the rabbit hole of wondering how she even existed."

but I'd heard more than I wanted to know. An army was ready. Kronos would lead it personally.

"So what specifically in that would you like to know less about?" Alex frowned. "Because I'm personally interested in any details I can get how to stop that!"

"The part about what they'd be wearing while doing it," Percy rolled his eyes.

"But the details make it!" Alex looked personally wounded.

All they needed was a way to navigate the Labyrinth so they could invade and destroy Camp Half-Blood, and Luke apparently thought that was going to happen very soon.

I was tempted to go wake up Annabeth and tell her, middle of the night or not.

"Regardless of those pesky, man-eating harpies inflicting curfew huh?" Will chuckled.

"Percy is the reason the curfew exists," Jason said in exasperation.

"Nuhu!" Percy yelped. "The Aphrodite kids, or heck the Hermes kids are far worse about that!"

"You're the only person in your cabin, so you get all the blame," Thalia reminded with a smirk.

"So are you," Percy shot back. He felt instantly bad for it though, as Thalia winced and looked away. Clearly that was a bit of a sore subject to her, she probably would have preferred if he'd reminded she was responsible for all of the trouble Artemis's Huntresses got up to when there.

Then I realized the room was lighter than it should have been. A blue and green glow was coming from the saltwater fountain, brighter and more urgent than the night before. It was almost like the water was humming.

I got out of bed and approached.

No voice spoke out of the water this time, asking for a deposit. I got the feeling the fountain was waiting for me to make the first move.

"You're grasping a fountains nonverbal cues better than anything Annabeth has ever actually said to you," Magnus snorted.

"Note to self, teach your cousin sign language too," Alex chuckled.

I probably should've gone back to bed. Instead I thought about what I'd seen last night—the weird image of Nico at the banks of the River Styx.

"You're trying to tell me something," I said.

No response from the fountain.

"It's perfectly normal to talk to inanimate objects," Will said innocently. "It's when they start talking back you should be worried."

"How many cups of coffee has that taken?" Nico asked slyly.

Will blushed and decided against answering.

"All right," I said. "Show me Nico di Angelo."

I didn't even throw a coin in, but this time it didn't matter. It was like some other force had control of the water besides Iris the messenger goddess.

Nico still disliked this coming up as much as ever, because he could never ask what the heck was going on. Would his sister have had different abilities than him, was this a manifestation of using the Mist like Thalia could? If she could send messages to Percy, why couldn't she do the same for him?!

He knew the answer though, no matter how many warnings she would have sent about not trusting Minos and to stop what he was doing, he most likely wouldn't have listened until something else had happened, like Percy saving his stupid life. Again.

The water shimmered. Nico appeared, but he was no longer in the Underworld. He was standing in a graveyard under a starry sky.

"It's good to get out and check the scenery every now and then," Alex nodded as if this had been a serious concern of his.

Thalia twirled her bracelet around and decided Nico might not want to know the Huntress's own ideas of his sister looking down on him from those stars. They might not all get a constellation, but they were a part of Artemis up there.

Giant willow trees loomed all around him.

He was watching some gravediggers at work. I heard shovels and saw dirt flying out of a hole. Nico was dressed in a black cloak. The night was foggy.

"Really setting the mood I hear, all you're missing is the ominous fire," Alex chuckled.

"I avoid human sacrifices if it's not convenient," the morbid joke slipped out only after a moment of hesitation. He finally got the reaction he was expecting too, Alex laughed.

It was warm and humid, and frogs were croaking. A large Wal-Mart bag sat next to Nico's feet.

"Which I really hope isn't left there when you're done, or somebody's going to end up on Grover's shit list," Jason grinned.

"One of the very few lists I strive to stay off of," Nico promised.

"Is it deep enough yet?" Nico asked. He sounded irritated.

"Nearly, my lord." It was the same ghost I'd seen Nico with before, the faint shimmering image of a man. "But, my lord, I tell you, this is unnecessary. You already have me for advice."

"I want a second opinion!" Nico snapped his fingers,

Will hummed with appreciation on that. "You should have like, three at minimum before making whatever life-altering decisions go into digging up holes."

"Next time you'll be the third," Nico promised, not bothering to hide his amusement.

and the digging stopped. Two figures climbed out of the hole. They weren't people. They were skeletons in ragged clothes.

"Cooool," Alex grinned. "How long have you been at this? And you've already got minions at the tip of your fingers!"

"Um," Nico kept finding himself grinning in surprise somebody said cool in regards to him. "Just that past month. It used to take a lot of effort to concentrate and resurrect them without passing out."

Will couldn't help a frown at the end, watching Nico with concern how somebody could say that casually. Who had been there for Nico when he woke up? Just some old ghost?

Nico just saw the frown, and the concern, and swallowed anxiously if he'd finally freaked Will out. Alex interrupted with, "Sweet, and you could do it down here?" Alex was starting to eye the walls in a bit of a concerning way.

"Probably," Nico shrugged nonchalantly. "There's plenty of skeletons in the ocean to pull from if I wanted to try, though it's easier pulling them from the soil for some reason."

"Please do not," Magnus did not care his voice cracked, it seemed to encourage Nico to move on just that touch faster.

"You are dismissed," Nico said. "Thank you."

"Politeness!" Will chuckled. Nico felt a tiny breath of relief come loose he'd rather not dwell on. He didn't need anybody's opinion.

The skeletons collapsed into piles of bones.

Percy still looked mildly disturbed, but it was definitely at the bottom of strange things he'd seen.

"You might as well thank the shovels," the ghost complained. "They have as much sense."

"Maybe we should thank the shovels too," Thalia sniffed. "I actually do owe my shield a thanks or too for saving my hide."

"I knew a guy who named his vacuum," Percy shrugged.

"That ghost sounds like he's being disrespectful on purpose," Jason frowned. "He's no different than them, just floating there. Is he saying he shouldn't be thanked for all his advice?" His creepy, murdery advice Nico shouldn't be around.

"It wasn't part of the ceremony, just something, I wanted to do," Nico said with a sad smile. He didn't have any specific memories of his mother encouraging manners or anything, but he liked to think that would have made her smile. It had just felt like the natural thing to do.

Nico ignored him. He reached into his Wal-Mart bag and pulled out a twelve-pack of Coke. He popped open a can. Instead of drinking it, he poured it into the grave.

"There had better be some serious reason you're wasting perfectly good Coke," Percy told him tragically.

Nico gave him an awkward smile he couldn't say yes. It hadn't gone remotely as planned. Did Percy consider everything he did a waste?

"Let the dead taste again," he murmured. "Let them rise and take this offering. Let them remember."

He dropped the rest of the Cokes into the grave and pulled out a white paper bag decorated with cartoons. I hadn't seen one in years, but I recognized it—a McDonald's Happy Meal.

He turned it upside down and shook the fries and hamburger into the grave.

"In my day, we used animal blood," the ghost mumbled. "It's perfectly good enough. They can't taste the difference."

"I will treat them with respect," Nico said.

"What's the difference? The grease, I mean, Greek of it all?" Alex snickered at his almost pun.

"The principal," Nico grinned. "It adds that little bit of extra mph," he even sprinkled his fingers like his sister was adding a last dash of cinnamon.

"Mmm, the perfect ingredient then," Alex laughed as he even smacked his lips.

"At least let me keep the toy," the ghost said.

"Be quiet!" Nico ordered.

"Well now you're just not being nice Nico," Percy grinned. "You should always bring enough of those for everybody."

"You can be quiet too," but there was nothing but an exasperated sigh in Nico's voice for knowing he could never make Percy Jackson do that.

He emptied another twelve-pack of soda and three more Happy Meals into the grave, then began chanting in Ancient Greek. I caught only some of the words—a lot about the dead and memories and returning from the grave. Real happy stuff.

"All we're missing is the ball pit," Percy tried to say without sounding too queasy.

The grave started to bubble. Frothy brown liquid rose to the top like the whole thing was filling with soda. The fog thickened. The frogs stopped croaking. Dozens of figures began to appear among the gravestones: bluish, vaguely human shapes. Nico had summoned the dead with Coke and cheeseburgers.

"That is some serious mojo my dude," Magnus told him. He didn't think he sounded that terrified that somebody he now knew, like actually in person, treated this as their casual Saturday night. It was more strange to him than the idea of having a roof over his head again.

"There are too many," the ghost said nervously. "You don't know your own powers."

"As much as I don't trust this ghost, I don't think it's great he's the one cautioning you over that when he's just begging you to do some wild stuff," Jason frowned.

"Yeah, yeah," Nico muttered inaudibly. Like he needed another person to tell him what an idiot he'd been for having Minos around.

Jason heard the reluctance in his voice, he realized he'd said something wrong, but he wasn't sure what. He glanced awkwardly between Percy and Nico, who had been more awkwardly still trying at stilted conversation and avoiding each other all morning, and then Will who looked as confused and concerned as he felt. He felt a flash of sadness for Nico, it didn't seem like he'd made many great friends since his sister's death, he certainly never went around mentioning someone he'd rather have down here who would know what had upset him.

"I've got it under control," Nico said, though his voice sounded fragile.

He drew his sword—a short blade made of solid black metal. I'd never seen anything like it. It wasn't celestial bronze or steel. Iron, maybe? The crowd of shades retreated at the sight of it.

"I've been meaning to ask about that," Alex looked so eager, they could literally not predict what was about to come out of his mouth. "Where'd you get the sword? Does they have a name?"

"Um," Nico looked more baffled at his sword being called a they. Was Riptide a they? "It doesn't have a name, and it's a long story," he sighed. "It involves a clown, a fish, and I'm pretty sure Phil hasn't forgiven me for wrecking that statue, so, later."

"You mean, a clown-fish?" Percy tried to correct.

"No, no, fish, clown, two separate dudes," Nico shrugged.

It wasn't even the top twenty weirdest things any of them had tried to wrap their heads around. Alex still looked very much like he was going to protest until he got this story in detail, but Nico was trying to keep reading and had once again masterfully maneuvered out of sharing his own autobiography Alex was clearly after from all of them.

"One at a time," Nico commanded.

A single figure floated forward and knelt at the pool. It made slurping sounds as it drank. Its ghostly hands scooped French fries out of the pool.

"I really want to say eww here," Thalia looked far to intrigued to sound right anyways, "but I'm more curious what would happen if anybody other than a ghost drank that."

"To clarify, it takes you chanting, right?" Magnus asked with a heavy frown. "Because if I start shoveling fries, a burger, and a coke all at once and swallow, I will blame the consequences on you."

"I promise not to chant over your food while you're eating," Nico said with a little to much of a wicked smile to encompass that promise he'd never chant around him. "Seriously though Thalia, it wouldn't have an effect on anything but a ghost, the ritual just gives them back their human form. So, unless you lost it, it would just taste normal."

"Huh," she grinned, very curious if Artemis knew about this ritual and used it to commune, or if the gods even needed such a thing and could freely interact with any ghosts from their past that lingered.

When it stood again, I could see it much more clearly—a teenage guy in Greek armor. He had curly hair and green eyes, a clasp shaped like a seashell on his cloak.

Percy wondered how self-centered it was of him to feel very awkward that an obvious ancestor of his had been the one to get to drink.

Then Alex laughed enthusiastically and ruined the idea it was just his idea. "I'm really getting the impression why Percy thought you wanted his soul though just from this moment. What are the odds of that one Nico?"

Nico looked like he was going to keel over from stress rather than answer.

Percy swooped in anyways, pigheaded or not, "a child of Poseidon got to the water fountain first, it's a matter of pride!"

Alex just gave one last chuckle and was clearly going to let it go, while Nico took deep breaths and fought back tears of shame how stupid obvious his obsession had been. How Percy wasn't cringing in disgust away from him as far as he could he didn't know.

"Who are you?" Nico said. "Speak."

The young man frowned as if trying to remember. Then he spoke in a voice like dry, crumpling paper: "I am Theseus."

"Cool!" Jason yelped like he'd just gotten the best birthday present and the rest could all stay in their wrappings. "Can you summon back any hero of old?!" The idea of being able to converse with The Caligula for any length of time and ask him about all his rulings and advice sounded like a dream!

"Not exactly," Nico said sullenly. If he could just call his sister up like this whenever he pleased, he liked to think he wouldn't always feel so alone.

Jason didn't ask any further questions, though it was obvious he really wanted to.

No way, I thought. This couldn't be the Theseus. He was just a kid. I'd grown up hearing stories about him fighting the Minotaur and stuff, but I'd always pictured him as this huge, buff guy. The ghost I was looking at wasn't strong or tall. And he wasn't any older than I was.

"That was just depressing," Will frowned. The age of manhood back then had been like fifteen or something. In theory, they all knew the heroes of old had been about the age they were now.

To hear it described so vividly though only emphasized the idea no demigod in history had really gotten an easy life.

"How can I retrieve my sister?" Nico asked.

Theseus's eyes were lifeless as glass. "Do not try. It is madness."

"Does a ghost telling you something's mad make that better or worse?" Magnus asked.

"I'm going to leave that up to the ghost your questioning," Alex shrugged as if this were an every day occurrence for him.

"Just tell me!"

"My stepfather died," Theseus remembered. "He threw himself into the sea because he thought I was dead in the Labyrinth.

"Tragic," Jason said with sympathy.

"Now see, why couldn't my life parallel that story," Percy huffed.

"Because if Sally pushed Gabe off the roof she never would have discovered her passion for the arts," Thalia tragically reminded.

I wanted to bring him back, but I could not."

Nico's ghost hissed. "My lord, the soul exchange! Ask him about that!"

Theseus scowled. "That voice. I know that voice."

Percy felt like there was a mosquito bite on his brain. Something he longed to scratch at but knew he shouldn't or it would just get worse.

"No you don't, fool!" the ghost said. "Answer the lord's questions and nothing more!"

"I know you," Theseus insisted, as if struggling to recall.

"How did Theseus die again?" Magnus asked wearily. "Does dying affect your memory?"

"Very much so," Nico sighed. "They're specters who forgot themselves without the ritual, and even then, it won't all come back."

"And, um, let's just say it wasn't a happy ending I'd want to end up with," Percy said with a wince. He remembered stories about sons of Poseidon mildly better than others and hoped his powers never failed him when he was thrown into the ocean.

"Right," Magnus agreed reluctantly, realizing he probably shouldn't ask again unless it was about the original Perseus.

"I want to hear about my sister," Nico said. "Will this quest into the Labyrinth help me win her back?"

Will's laugh was nothing but sympathetic. "I'd help you out no problem Nico, with anything other than this."

Nico smiled. Will had already said as much, but it was still nice to hear.

"Win her back?" Jason couldn't help but fret over that word. "Is the labyrinth a game and you win a prize?" The dread in his voice made it sound like one he didn't think he'd participate in if given the chance.

"There are many things to discover down there," Nico answered as cryptically as possible.

Theseus was looking for the ghost, but apparently couldn't see him. Slowly he turned his eyes back on Nico. "The Labyrinth is treacherous. There is only one thing that saw me through: the love of a mortal girl. The string was only part of the answer. It was the princess who guided me."

"We don't need any of that," the ghost said. "I will guide you, my lord. Ask him if it is true about an exchange of souls. He will tell you."

"A soul for a soul," Nico asked. "Is it true?"

"A part from the absolute ick factor of that being discussed," Alex said cheerfully, "are we going to get details on how that would work?"

"No," Nico said flatly. The little he'd gleaned from Minos had put him off this idea until his last desperate attempt with nothing left to lose. He would not be sharing what he'd considered doing to Daedalus' soul to retrieve Bianca's with it.

"I—I must say yes. But the specter—"

"Just answer the questions, knave!" the ghost said.

Suddenly, around the edges of the pool, the other ghosts became restless. They stirred, whispering in nervous tones.

"Anything that makes a ghost nervous and I am out," Magnus muttered.

Then again, Nico obviously made them nervous, so maybe that was a little to broad. He still wasn't happy about whatever was coming next, he knew that much.

"I want to see my sister!" Nico demanded. "Where is she?"

"He is coming," Theseus said fearfully. "He has sensed your summons. He comes."

"It's not Hades is it?" Alex asked, sounding far to much like that's something he wanted to happen. "I am honestly expecting him to show up any time now to scold you for messing with this stuff, all the underground talk, the ghosts, it fits perfectly!"

"It was not Hades," but Nico wasn't going to elaborate any more than that. He was not looking forward to that stupid ranch anymore than he was that stupid cavern with Pan.

"Who?" Nico demanded.

"He comes to find the source of this power," Theseus said. "You must release us."

"The one occasion I will always agree the pronoun game is the worst," Alex shook his head with disgust. "Just say his bloody name!"

"He forgot the name of the ghost following Nico around he obviously knows, he might not know whoever it is that's about to show up, just that he doesn't want to be around him," Jason offered halfheartedly.

The water in my fountain began to tremble, humming with power. I realized the whole cabin was shaking. The noise grew louder. The image of Nico in the graveyard started to glow until it was painful to watch.

"Stop," I said out loud. "Stop it!"

The fountain began to crack. Tyson muttered in his sleep and turned over. Purple light threw horrible, ghostly shadows on the cabin walls, as if the specters were escaping right out of the fountain.

In desperation I uncapped riptide and slashed at the fountain, cleaving it in two. Salt water spilled everywhere, and the great stone font crashed to the floor in pieces. Tyson snorted and muttered, but he kept sleeping.

"Man, that was like, the coolest thing too," Alex pouted.

"Hopefully Tyson can fix it," Magnus offered.

I sank to the ground, shivering from what I'd seen. Tyson found me there in the morning, still staring at the shattered remains of the saltwater fountain.

"Nico," Will managed through numb lips. "What happened?"

"I got caught," he shrugged with the kind of nonchalance of this being an everyday occurrence.

Then again, they were all presently kidnapped, so maybe it wasn't such a traumatizing thing the second go around. Better company here anyways.

Just after dawn, the quest group met at Zeus's Fist.

"Where Luke was tied up and this problem was resolved in a timely manner for once?" Magnus sighed.

"I'm starting to get worried about your active delusions man, what are you eating over there," Percy shook his head. "If ever something went that easy, I'd be convinced I was being had."

I'd packed my knapsack—thermos with nectar, baggie of ambrosia, bedroll, rope, clothes, flashlights, and lots of extra batteries. I had Riptide in my pocket. The magic shield/wristwatch Tyson had made for me was on my wrist.

"At least they packed the essentials," Will said in relief, but then continued in a rather concerned tone, "but what about the snacks?"

Nico fought hard to smother a snort of mirth as he looked at this blonde guy in shorts and flip-flops. This was probably his first time ever leaving camp down here. It was all so innocent it almost hurt him.

It was a clear morning. The fog had burned off and the sky was blue.

Campers would be having their lessons today, flying pegasi and practicing archery and scaling the lava wall. Meanwhile, we could be heading underground.

"And they're all jealous of each other," Alex chuckled.

"Are you nuts?" Will looked at him scandalized. "We were all thanking our lucky stars we weren't heading to the place that didn't have grass! We all pitched in and held a thank you seminar Percy and Annabeth were at camp to do this quest!"

"Thanks man," Percy sighed. At least he knew Will was joking that time...or he'd somehow hadn't been invited to a seminar about him and he really wasn't upset about it.

Juniper and Grover stood apart from the group. Juniper had been crying again, but she was trying to keep it together for Grover's sake. She kept fussing with his clothes, straightening his rasta cap and brushing goat fur off his shirt.

Percy recalled watching that with a dull sense of confusion. Like that was something his mom would have been doing, not a girlfriend. His eyes had flickered to Annabeth at the time, who had been staring at the rock as if it were going to move and crush her any moment. He'd reached over and zipped a pouch on her backpack left half open without her noticing like that would be of any help.

It had felt silly and stupid at the time, he was really grateful she hadn't noticed then, and the book not mentioning it now.

Since we had no idea what we would encounter, he was dressed as a human, with the cap to hide his horns, and jeans, fake feet, and sneakers to hide his goat legs.

"One of these days I just want you to not though," Thalia grinned. "The amount of people who will just think he's walking around in the weirdest outfit ever would be so much fun."

"We'll get him a cane so everybody will be to awkward to look long too," Percy agreed indulgently.

Chiron, Quintus, and Mrs. O'Leary stood with the other campers who'd come to wish us well, but there was too much activity for it to feel like a happy send-off. A couple of tents had been set up by the rocks for guard duty. Beckendorf and his siblings were working on a line of defensive spikes and trenches. Chiron had decided we needed to guard the Labyrinth exit at all times, just in case.

"What do you mean? That sounds like the best sendoff ever," Jason smiled. "You get to come back and see all the improvements they made, like a then and now skeleton in the works!"

He seemed to be missing the detail they were doing all that in case they didn't come back, and nobody had the heart to correct him.

Annabeth was doing one last check on her supply pack. When Tyson and I came over, she frowned. "Percy, you look terrible."

"The standard morning greeting," Percy sighed.

"He killed the water fountain last night," Tyson confided.

Alex clasped his hands as if blessing the book for that particularly strange sentence.

"What?" she asked.

Before I could explain, Chiron trotted over. "Well, it appears you are ready!"

"It is criminal he is that excited first thing in the morning, let alone about this," Will sighed.

"He's probably lacing his morning hay with coffee beans," Nico agreed.

He tried to sound upbeat, but I could tell he was anxious. I didn't want to freak him out any more, but I thought about last night's dream, and before I could change my mind, I said, "Hey, uh, Chiron, can I ask you a favor while I'm gone?"

"Of course, my boy."

"Be right back, guys." I nodded toward the woods. Chiron asked an eyebrow, but he followed me out of earshot.

"Last night," I said, "I dreamed about Luke and Kronos." I told him the details. The news seemed to weigh on his shoulders.

"I feared this," Chiron said. "Against my father, Kronos, we would stand no chance in a fight."

Chiron rarely called Kronos his father. I mean, we all knew it was true.

"You didn't until he told you," Thalia snorted.

"I assume other kids around camp actually look up the myths. I just wait to live it all out in person," Percy shrugged.

Everybody in the Greek world—god, monster, or Titan—was related to one another somehow. But it wasn't exactly something Chiron liked to brag about. Oh, my dad is the all-powerful evil Titan lord who wants to destroy Western Civilization. I want to be just like him when I grow up!

"How I imagine every rich brat talks to be honest," Magnus scoffed.

"It's a good thing Chiron lives off the saddlebags on his back then and is nothing like them," Jason chuckled.

Thalia smiled to herself they had no idea they'd met a rich brat, and Rachel would have been laughing right along with them.

"Do you know what he meant about a bargain?" I asked.

"A bargain is offering one exchange for another, usually with one person getting a much better deal," Magnus smirked.

"Now if only you knew the definition of shutting up, then we'd have it made," Percy chuckled.

"I am not sure, but I fear they seek to make a deal with Daedalus. If the old inventor is truly alive, if he has not been driven insane by millennia in the Labyrinth...well, Kronos can find ways to twist anyone to his will."

"Maybe Daedalus is insane, and Kronos will twist him all the way back into being sane, and then you swoop in and rescue him," Alex offered.

"That sounds like a lot of twists and turns," Percy sighed. "Any chance we can just skip to the part where he's on our side?" Then Percy winced for reasons beyond him.

"Then we'd lose out on all your brilliant commentary," Will mock pouted.

"I could live without some of it," Percy huffed. He most certainly wouldn't have advertised his every embarrassing mistake for starters.

"Not anyone," I promised.

Percy smiled with pride for that, until he noticed Thalia's uneasy little wince. He settled quietly into his seat beside her and didn't draw attention to that which Nico had read over without a single bit of surprise.

Chiron managed a smile. "No. Perhaps not anyone. But, Percy, you must beware. I have worried for some time that Kronos may be looking for Daedalus for a different reason, not just passage through the maze."

"What else could he want?" Magnus frowned. "How many things can he get from one dude."

"Hercules has defeated everything in the past," Percy reminded in exhaustion just thinking about him. "It's more than possible Daedalus had more than one thing going on."

"What else would he want?"

"Something Annabeth and I were discussing. Do you remember what you told me about your first trip to the Princess Andromeda, the first time you saw the golden coffin?"

I nodded. "Luke was taking about raising Kronos, little pieces of him appearing in the coffin every time someone new joined his cause."

"Still disgusting and terrifying by the way," Will promised as if anyone had forgotten that.

"And what did Luke say they would do when Kronos had risen completely?"

A chill went down my spine. "He said they would make Kronos a new body, worthy of the forges of Hephaestus."

"Kronos clearly needs to get caught up on all the AI movies proving why that won't turn out like he wants," Jason snorted.

"Indeed," Chiron said. "Daedalus was the world's greatest inventor. He created the Labyrinth, but much more. Automatons, thinking machines...What if Kronos wishes Daedalus to make him a new form?"

"He could tell him no," Alex said stoutly. "That powers within anybody's control!"

"I don't think it worked out so well with that evil king," Magnus reminded uneasily. They didn't yet know what had happened to him and his son from that, but going by the history of all these Greek stories, he was guessing, not well.

That was a real pleasant thought.

"If pleasant means bone chilling," Thalia muttered, getting her own flashes of that all over at just the thought of that reveal.

"We've got to get to Daedalus first," I said, "and convince him not to."

Jason frowned as he wondered how far Percy would be willing to go to convince him though. What level of favor would Percy consider to get Daedalus on his side? Would he kidnap the inventor and drag him back to camp just to keep him away from Kronos against his will?

Chiron stared off into the trees. "One other thing I do not understand...this talk of a last soul joining their cause. That does not bode well."

"Must be a pretty special soul to complete such a ritual," Alex said with an almost serious face for a moment before following it up with, "so I guess that leaves Percy out."

"He's got you there," Magnus snorted, "New Yorker's are one in a million."

Percy laughed along at them downplaying this, as well as trying to take some comfort perhaps if his was the soul needed at least that meant this would never happen.

I kept my mouth shut, but I felt guilty. I'd made the decision not to tell Chiron about Nico being a son of Hades. The mention of souls, though—

Magnus and Alex exchanged surprised, uneasy looks for that. They already knew Kronos would be begging to get Nico on their side by any means necessary, but if Percy's guess was right and he was somehow the child of the prophy meant to help drag Kronos's soul the rest of the way out...well they already knew Minos was evil and could be up to something far worse. What if all this talk of helping bring Bianca back was just practice to get Nico ready for something far worse?

What if Kronos knew about Nico?

"We still haven't gotten clarification how anybody knows anything around here," Will shook his head as if this were a mild concern, "no sense in useless worries until then." He bit back the exclamation Nico would have been safer at Camp in the meantime whether anybody knew his parentage or not only because Kronos was no longer a threat. He'd just have to come up with other arguments.

What if he managed to turn him evil?

"He's literally hanging around with an evil ghost and still making morally ambiguous almost good decisions about not wanting to murder people," Jason reminded with a casual shrug. "I like his chances."

"Thanks," Nico muttered in surprise.

It was almost enough to make me want to tell Chiron, but I didn't. For one thing, I wasn't sure Chiron could do anything about it.

"I'll give you that one," Will agreed briskly. He didn't exactly do a stellar job of the campers already under his care.

"Even the best marksman has a limited range," Thalia said with a bit more sorrow. Even if Chiron couldn't have done anything, he surely would have appreciated a heads-up just in case he could later.

I had to find Nico myself. I had to explain things to him, make him listen.

"Strapping someone in a chair for a lecture is worse than anything Kronos would do to him," Magnus reminded.

"I'd offer snacks?" Percy said.

"Nico?" Magnus let him pass judgment.

He considered for a moment, his stomach in knots over the last time he'd let Percy make him listen. It had only opened a whole other can of worms he was still processing.

So for now, he waved his hand and said, "I'll consider it."

"I don't know," I said at last. "But, uh, something Juniper said, maybe you should hear." I told him how the tree nymph had seen Quintus poking around the rocks.

"Which I'm still mildly offended you didn't do yesterday," Jason scowled, "or her, when this happened!" The safety of their home was not something that should be trifled with!

"Juniper's not great with people," Percy reminded, "and I've had, like, a million other things on my mind!"

"Which is 999,999 more than he usually does," Thalia smirked.

Chiron's jaw tightened. "That does not surprise me."

"What does surprise him is when we spend Father's Day hiding his arrows from him and call it advance practice," Will chuckled. He realized after the fact he was probably being a little to nonchalant about this when he got some strange looks for that, or they just didn't think it was funny. Probably the first though.

"It doesn't sur—you mean you know?"

"Percy, when Quintus showed up at camp offering his services...well, I would have to be a fool not to be suspicious."

"Fair enough," Percy huffed, he still thought somebody could have at least gasped.

"Then why did you let him in?"

"Because sometimes it is better to have someone you mistrust close to you, so that you can keep an eye on him.

"I always hated that saying," Alex scowled, "the adage only works in enclosed spaces to know what your enemy is doing intimately, and even then if they're clever enough they'll pull a wool over your eyes. Otherwise, it's safe to be as far away as possible. Or just kill them."

It wasn't much of a guess which Alex leaned towards.

"There's a certain strategy in both," Jason passively said.

He may be just what he says: a halfblood in search of a home. Certainly he has done nothing openly that would make me question his loyalty. But believe me. I will keep an eye—"

Annabeth trudged over, probably curious why we were taking so long.

"What, is she jealous Percy's having a conversation without her in it for a change?" Alex chuckled.

"She's probably convinced Percy will monopolize himself into being Chiron's new favorite," Magnus mock agreed.

"Percy, you ready?"

I nodded. My hand slipped into my pocket, where I kept the ice whistle Quintus had given me. I looked over and saw Quintus watching me carefully.

He raised his hand in farewell.

Our spies report success, Luke had said. The same day we decided to send a quest, Luke had known about it.

"That's happened the last few quests though where he's up to date," Magnus shook his head. "Can't explicitly blame that on him."

"Take care," Chiron told us. "And good hunting."

"If he asks you to bring him back a skin, tell him to get in line," Alex mock waved.

"You too," I said.

We walked over to the rocks, where Tyson and Grover were waiting. I stared at the crack between the boulders—the entrance that was about to swallow us.

"Well," Grover said nervously, "good-bye sunshine."

"Hello rocks," Tyson agreed.

"Hopefully not the last thing they agree on," Jason said with a wayward smile.

And together, the four of us descended into darkness.

"Real happy, go-getter of a last sentence there," Nico shook his head as he passed the book along to Will.

"At least you never leave camp angry at anybody," Alex offered. "By the rules of writing, that would spell trouble with a capital death."

"My life is not an actual book," Percy told him blankly.

"Well the narrator sure isn't reliable enough for this to be a biography," Magnus smirked. "How many times did you say you're voice has cracked from puberty break?"

"And we're moving on!" Percy yelped.

PJOPJO

*There are no canon middle names for any characters in the series except Will, and it kind of drives me nuts.

#pjo #Percy Jackson #Jason Grace #Thalia Grace #alex fierro #Magnus Chase #nico di angelo #will solace #percabeth #solangelo #fierrochase #percy jackon and the olympians #battle of the labyrinth #mcdonalds #reading the books #big three kids

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lexo-is-pesto · 10 months ago

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Somebody should make a Midsommar au of Murder Drones...

Hear me out!

(Spoilers for midsommar)

Dani would obviously be Uzi. Isolated, alone, insecure, and suseptible to a cult >:]

I know we all love our boy but let's face it, there's no "good" characters in this movie so N's Gonna be Pelle I'm so sorry. He's seemingly kind, cares about uzis problems really makes her feel like hes listening and there to comfort her. He also just so happens to be in love with uzi and accidentally leads her boyfriend and his friends to an insane cult where everyone except uzi dies and she becomes part of the cult... whoopsies ^^,(Maybe n would think he's doing the right thing for uzi idk)

Thad is gonna be Christian. Again I'm so sorry to Thad fans and especially to anyone who ships him with uzi but I can't really see Thad as being what uzi would need in a partner. In this au, thads a bit of an airhead and genuienly forgets things which frustrates Uzi, especially when they become big things like birthdays and anniversaries. He also thinks shes overreacting to most of the time, shes kinda clingy, and really they just want to break up with eachother :T

Josh is Doll. She's very focused on the cult itself to the point where she gives up her morals and humanity in the quest for knowledge. She's also very aware of the issues between Thad and uzi but quite frankly doesn't care enough to do or say anything. She's just her for her thesis man =\

Lizzy is Mark. I don't have much of a reason for this one. She wants Thad to break up with uzi because she doesn't like her? Idk she doesn't do much in the story besides disrespect the cult which I feel fits her character. the misogyny not so much so uh yeah that would get cut I think

That's it for the main group!

Next, V is Ingimar. HA HA that's right the cultists are gonna be the disassemblers and absolute solver users >:D Anyway she's aggressive towards N because he brought a lot more and "better" people for the cult than she did. Aka he had a better hunt and V WILL be holding a grudge till she dies

Connie and Simon are Rebecca and Darren because I said so. Moving on

J is ulf. Just like in the show, J is entirely loyal to the leader and beliefs that the cult holds. This causes her to act out when anyone (especially disrespectful ones like lizzy) oversteps their boundaries. Think of the ancestral tree scene. That's her.

And that's about it for the major characters.

Some more minor ones;

Cyn would probably be Maja as much as her whole plot makes me uncomfortable, the idea is she's young and foolish wich fits cyns whole little sister vibe (omg I'm gonna BARF)

Since uzis parents don't play a huge roll in the story besides to be um dead I guess. I'd say nori and khan should be the elders in the Ättestupa scene

The friends uzi makes in the cult could be literally anyone. maybe alice and beu Tessa as a drone? Other background workers we know the names of?

Not sure who I'd pick to be Terri...

That's about all the ideas I had for this au, I rewatched the movie recently so kinda just mooshed my 2 brainworms together. I thought it was pretty interesting tho so I'm throwing this out in case anyone wants to use it. Feel free to!

Peace and love md community ✌️

#lexo rambles

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inposterumcumgaudio · 1 year ago

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Poedit Cut/Unused Content: Cub Reporter

I can't remember if I was looking for more context into Arthur's "two week vacation" or if I was just in the neighborhood because all my homies love Gemma Olsen (and also Buster and Gordo), but in either event, I went through and dug up a buncha "Cub Reporter" stuff.

"Cub Reporter" is fairly significant in the plot and so obviously underwent a lot of revisions. The lines don't all follow in order, some entries seem to have actually been removed, and the quest originally also seemed to cover "Start Spreading the News" so I'm just gonna dump the whole thing and highlight the stuff I think is interesting.

It starts with Mrs. Oliphant.

000 Curiouser and Curiouser.

001 Arthur! Arthur Hastings!

003 You're the one who was taking all that Joy towards the end.

004 Oddest thing. I had one. He just went on holiday.

007 Where did you go? When you disappeared for two weeks? Did you ever put it together?

009 Arthur, nothing I'd love better than to give you a new press pass. But I have to know that you're ... managing better.

010 Look... there's all sorts of silly rumours coming out of the tunnels. Gas leaks, water main breaks, maintenance workers at the pub instead of their posts. If that was all true, Wellington Wells would be about to fall apart.

011 If you could go down there and let me know ... I'm sure it's all fine down there ... let me know it's all okay ... then you've got your old job back.

013 Yes, of course. That would be brilliant. But first, the tunnels. Show me you're as good as you used to be. Then I'll send you to Uskglass with a press pass. Agreed?

014c My old office! That was fun, being a reporter.

014d I used to have an Adulator, didn't I! Kept me from getting in trouble with crowds!

014e If I could get my old job back, I'd get my Adulator back. That could come in handy!

014f Who's going to let me upstairs?

014f Receptionist is out for coffee. Typical. How am I supposed to get upstairs, then?

014g Huh. I bet if I got the coffee machine working, they'd all head off to the kitchen for a nice cup of joe.

014h We just have to have faith, that's all. She'll come back with the coffee. We just have to pray she will.

014i I can't stand tea! I must have coffee!

014j If someone would just have a bloody wedding, then I could get a cup of coffee!

014k A lady just can't go without coffee these days, it's unthinkable!

014l If I don't get some coffee soon, I'm going to shoot somebody.

014m I've a sneaking suspicion that they want some coffee.

014n Excuse me, the door upstairs is locked...

014o Pardon me, do you think someone could let me upstairs?

014p Unless it's the Second Coming, I can't be bothered!

014q Not now, I'm running just to keep up!

014r Just like my sisters, always pester pester pester!

014s Let's see if I can get Mrs. Oliphant to give me my old job back. And my old press pass.

015 Arthur! I thought you'd gone ... well, you're here, so I suppose you're all right after all!

015a How rude! Can't you see I'm working!

016 Old place hasn't changed at all, has it?

016a If you don't stop pestering me, I'll murder someone! I swear I will!

017 Where did you go? When you disappeared for two weeks? Did you ever remember?

018 I must have had too lovely a time. Hah hah.

019 I was hoping you could use a reporter.

020 I'm afraid I've got a half dozen of them. Bloody useless, the lot of them. I've got six pieces on my desk, all about the new flavour of Joy. Can you imagine, it's coconut.

021 Didn't Dr. Verloc make that announcement ... some time ago?

022 Oh, I wish I had a spare press pass for you.

023 Gemma wanted to do a piece on him. I hope she hasn't fallen in a hole somewhere. I haven't seen her in days.

024 It's bloody frustrating, too. There's all sorts of ... silly rumours about the tunnels under Wellington Wells. Gas leaks, water main breaks, maintenance workers at the pub instead of their posts. If that were all true, Wellington Wells would be about to fall apart. I asked her to do a story about it.

024a It's bloody frustrating, too. There's all sorts of silly rumours about gas leaks and whatnot down in the tunnels. As if Wellington Wells was about to fall apart. So I asked her to write a story about the tunnel workers and how they keep themselves entertained. You know, with the art, and the singing.

025 Oh. Well. I'm sure she'll turn up, and everything will be peachy.

026 I'm sure it will. Lovely to see you, Arthur! Drop by any time.

027 Gemma was a real reporter. Always digging up interesting stuff, from what I can remember. I wonder why she hasn't come back? Maybe I should poke around her desk?

028 Hmmmm. Where does she keep her notes?

028a It's in some sort of code. Huh. I don't think that's Gemma's handwriting.

028b How do I read it?

028c If I read it top to bottom then right to left… “Verloc's looking for a permanent solution.” Oh, that's not ominous at all. Solution to what?”

028d That's Gemma!

028e Should I try to rescue her? No, it's too dangerous!

028f Where are they taking her?

028g Why did they take her? She sounds quite sane!

028h Did she know too much? About what?

028i Looks like I've got another reason to go to Haworth Labs. And a really good reason not to get caught there.

028j Toxic fog...?

028k Electrocutions...

028l Cyanide?

028m If I finish Gemma's investigations, Mrs. Oliphant would have to give me back my old job. And then I'd have a press pass.

029 Maybe I should see what's become of old Gemma.

030 Sorry, Arthur! Terribly busy right now!

030a I probably shouldn't bother her until I've got the goods on Gemma's investigation.

Did you know there's a character limit per "block" of bulleted points? 4096! The more you know.

031 Terribly busy, what is it?

032 Gemma's been taken away. I saw two doctors shove her into a Popper.

033 Oh my goodness. Why?

034 She was digging into the tunnels. That didn't come out right. I followed up. The whole underground is sort of falling apart.

035 Oh my.

036 That's why you sent her, wasn't it? Not to write about the Tunnel Rats.

037 I certainly couldn't print a story like that, could I?

038 The Joy's gone bad. And Dr. Verloc knows. But he's telling them not to worry, he's got some sort of permanent solution.

039 That doesn't sound ominous at all.

040 That's sort of exactly what I thought...

041 If I had a press pass, I could get into Haworth Labs.

042 After what happened to Gemma? Dr. Verloc -- he's sort of his own law there.

043 I have some ... personal business there.

044 If I'm ... not here when you get back. If you've found something out ... see if you can't publish it. Those numpties out there know how to put the ink on the page, but the only articles they ever read are their own.

045 You're getting out? How?

046 Oh, I wouldn't even know how to get out. But you never know when I might stop printing lies. And they won't like that.

047 Maybe I should drop in on Gemma at home. If she's really vanished, then maybe I can get my old job back.

047 My god, it's all boarded up! What happened?

048 That's coming from Gemma's house! That's a bit awkward.

049 I'm not getting in that way.

050 Just here to read the meter!

051 I guess someone noticed she's not been around and decided to rob the place.

052 I better turn that alarm off. I'm going to need time to figure out what happened to Gemma.

053 ARE YOU GOING TO TURN THAT FUCKING ALARM OFF?

054 Shit.

055 YOU BETTER NOT BE LOOKING FOR ANOTHER TRAIN SET UP THERE!

056 I SWEAR BY ALL THAT IS HOLY, IF I FIND ONE TOY TRAIN IN YOUR SWAG BAG, I'M GOING TO KNOCK YOUR LAST TOOTH DOWN YOUR THROAT!

057 GORDO! TURN THAT FUCKING THING OFF AND COME BACK DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW.

058 If the alarm's upstairs, I'm going to have to get past Mr. Shouty here.

059 Who the fuck are you?

060 I live here.

061 Love what you've done with the place.

062 What the fuck?

063 Fucking ears are playing tricks.

064 Who's there?

065 Fucking ghosts?

066 My ears should recover in a few days.

067 NO I WILL NOT KEEP MY VOICE DOWN!

068 I AM A LAW ABIDING CITIZEN!

069 I AM NOT UPSET! I'M HAPPY AS A CLAM! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TOUCH ME!

070 I'M A REPORTER! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TOUCH ME!

071 YOU KNOW PERFECTLY WELL I'VE TAKEN MY JOY!

072 YOU CAN'T TAKE ME AWAY I'M NOT SICK! OR UNHAPPY!

073 HELP! POLICE! HELP! SOMEONE STOP THEM!

074 Christ. More of them. You used to have to wait to see a doctor!

075 Gemma! I would never have pictured it! ... I'm not sure I actually want to, come to think of it.

076 Should we just take everything?

077 I don't think Dr. V would like that. The constabulary might notice.

078 I don't see anything talking about Dr. V here. Where's her study?

079 I thought vampires had to be invited in.

080 Downer!

081 That ought to buy me some time.

082 Open up in there!

083 Who are you?

084 Come out! We're friends of Gemma!

085 She needs our help!

086 Will you look at that! You've been a busy girl, haven't you, Gemma.

087 I think I've found everything. Doesn't look like she found all the answers yet.

088 I guess I'd better go see what's going on in this Motilene Regulation Unit. Maybe the answer is there.

089 And my old Adulator, if you've still got it.

090 Great. I've got all my press stuff back. That ought to be handy. You can show up all sorts of places regular people shouldn't go.

091 I'll have to break in somehow.

091a Maybe I can find some answers inside, if I can get in somehow.

092 Someone's ransacked the place. I hope Mrs. Oliphant got away.

093 You mustn't go around publishing the truth. What will people think?

094 Is that ... some sort of secret door? How do I open it?

094a Odd bit of wall. Doesn't look like the rest.

095 Doesn't look like it takes a key. I wonder if she got Dr. Faraday to make one of those clever puzzles for her. They were chums back in school.

096 So this is where she published the Unpleasant Issue.

To summarize:

Arthur apparently was taking a LOT of Joy before he disappeared, such that Mrs. Oliphant noticed and originally she would be reluctant to reinstate him because of this. She doesn't seem to consider this a concern in the final cut so this detail might be genuinely cut rather than disused.

There seems to have been a bit of a switch between Arthur giving warning signs and his having left the paper with no warning at all. No warning at all seems to be the one decided on.

Orrrr it might have been that his two week holiday and the end of his career as a reporter are not exactly the same event.

Does the Adulator work on more than one NPC at a time? I don't know, I know what I'm doing so I never have to use it.

"Should I try to save Gemma? Ehhh, nah."

Arthur's line about having two reasons to go to Haworth Labs kinda implies that Gemma was originally taken there rather than Wellington Health as she is in the game. Or at least that he assumes that's where she would be taken.

My boy Buster had more lines for yelling at Gordo and you apparently could have snuck past him in an older iteration of the quest, but he could also hear you.

Margaret's cat puzzle office might have been designed by Dr. Faraday, with whom she was old school friends. Loooove that for them. Also, noting now that she calls her staff a bunch of "numpties" in Faraday's fashion.

In the final cut, Margaret did not actually succeed in printing the Unpleasant Issue since it's not mentioned and her secret room has not been discovered, but she must have done so in an earlier draft of the quest.

#arthur hastings #margaret oliphant #gemma olsen #buster edwards #gordon goody #we happy few #poedit #cut/unused content

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sharksa-shivers · 2 years ago

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OH DAMN, SOME MEFORIA CONTENT??? O SHIT LOL...

(We see Nucleo stuck in one of the shadowdemon dungeons, he seems very fuckin uhhhh, not pleased, and this'd be due to shadowcult members finding out where he lives and waiting til he got home from work, so he's still like dressed in his work clothes and shit, oof…)

Meforia:(we see her trying to be nice and actually like…Courteous towards him, she gives a smile)Soooooo, uhhhhh, i guess…Anything i can get you or?

Nucleo:(annoyed)I mean…You could let me out and let me go the hell home…We could start there…

Meforia:(gives him a kinda sad look)Yeahhhhhh, so…I can't do that, sorry…Uhhhh, anything else i could maybe do or?

Nucleo:(just gives her a weird look)Why the hell are you asking me that??? Don't you literally want to kill me???

Meforia:(sighs)No, i don't. Look, i'm sorry, i just need you here basically for bait. I literally just need firebitch to show up, okay?

Nucleo:(annoyed)She's not gonna come here herself, she's gonna fucking send The Trio kids, fucking hell…

Meforia:(smirks)That'll work too! I just need that damn amulet off of Kristy!

Nucleo:(we see him get defensive)I swear to Neptune, you hurt any of them, im not the strongest mer but i promise you, i'll fuckin fight full power over them!!!

Meforia:(rolls her eyes)I'm nottttttt, i don't want to hurt them, i don't want to hurt or kill you or anybody else, i just want the damn amulet…

Nucleo:(glaring)Ok, cmon, we both know that's bullshit, you're just as on board with murder as anybody else here, don't fuckin lie, cmon…

Meforia:(she stares at him)No i'm not, the hell do you mean???

Nucleo:(surprised at her seeming lack of self awareness)…You want to bring back Demon Drop yeah?

Meforia:(nods)Of course i do!!! I love him!!! Nucleo:(slouches back, arms crossed)The hell do you think the outcome of that's ACTUALLY going to be? We both know what he wants…

Meforia:(getting awkward)I…

Nucleo:(obviously not happy)You say you don't want to kill me or hurt Kristy but like…You KNOW he WILL if he comes back and gets power. So how the hell is that any better or any different?

Meforia:(we see her thinking, Nucleo just staring at her, his forest green eyes just glaring)…….Okay, how about this, uhhhhh, i can't…Really…Promise this fully through but maybe i can talk Demon into sparing you, huh???? How's that???

Nucleo:(glaring, anger in his eyes)I don't want to live in a world where everyone i know and care about is fucking dead. I don't want my friends or family, or fuck, even strangers hurt and killed by you assholes…

Meforia:(she feels bad and awkward, sighing)…I…I'm sorry, i just…I'm sorry…

Nucleo:(pissed off)No you aren't because if you were, you'd call all this shit off but we both know you fucking won't!!!! Fucking christ, if you're gonna leave me alive, then do me the favor and leave me alone, wouldja? Fucking hell…(slumps tiredly and pissed)

(We see Meforia just stare, feeling bad but she brushes it off and turns, leaving the dungeon area and Nucleo alone…) ----------- (I really do need more Meforia stuff, smh...) Idk if i am 100% happy with this but i do like it so i shall share lol (points once again to the disclaimer on my page that everything is subject to change...Also this one is kinda older, like several years so...Yeah...) But i'm p sure i said before...OH is morally grey...But Meforia is too... OH is somebody who's trying to be a hero who seemingly does and has done quite alot of questionable and not good shit in her quest for that goodness. (Like...Idk, kidnapping a random teenager to save the world...Yknow, like that lol...Like yes, she's causing irreversable harm to this one person mentally...But it's for the fate of the entire world and...Surely Kristy would be much more miserable if the demons win in the end no?) Meforia is the opposite. She's obviously been through her own shit and struggles and...All her heartbreak upon losing Demon Drop with him being banished by OH and Purple Fin, well...Now she's doing awful shit to get him back. Sure, she doesn't hate mortals directly herself, hell, you could probably get her to befriend some...But........Well.........Demon Drop kinda wants to wipe out every single thing with a pulse so...I mean...Bringing him back brings that sort of danger level back now doesn't it? Other antagonists we'll see in Kidnapped are just straight up bastards but Meforia is one who...I feel is interesting to play around with...How far is she willing to go for Demon Drop? Could she ever sway herself enough to get out of the cult? (Probably not at this point easily since she's the Queen of the Shadowdemons in Demon Drop's absense...The cult probably will not take kindly to the queen stepping out of line...) Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo yeah, yknow lolololol, It's not just The Trio and The Trio defs aren't the only characters who have arcs and developments and whatnot... Also!!! Cuz i feel like it might be asked You say it Mah-for-ia=Meforia Just for clarification lol...

Also incredibly old art and i ABSOLUTELY need to draw her again soon, here's a pic of Meforia as a refresher... (would've posted the actual image but i am presuming it is too big...idk, won't let me so you get a link instead to some super oldass art...Ik it's old but at least you'll get some idea of her design lol...) Also Meforia isn't a shadowdemon, she's a shapeshifter as a reminder as well!! (and shapeshifters are more rare and hard to find so yeah, fun lol)

I'll find some more posts with her later, maybeeeeee more up to date dialog stuff lol XD

#kidnappedseries #kidnappedseries dialog stuff #kidnappedseries rambles

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burntoutwaxwings · 3 months ago

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I keep seeing this "Rick Riordan can't write women" sentiment. I never get it. I am a man (I think?? It's still up for debate.) and I just don't get it.

Is he lacking in diversity? Maybe. Piper McLean, Annabeth Chase, and Rachel Elizabeth Dare all come from rich backgrounds. So does Sadie Kane, for that matter (waterfront property in London. That cannot be cheap.) So obviously we have a "rich girl" trend there. But what about characters that aren't rich. Hazel? She grew up with a mom that practiced Gris Gris for a living. Yeah, there's money in that around the 1940s, but Hazel was actively being exploited. She didn't grow up with a whole lot, she grew up in a segregated New Orleans during WWII and had no dad. She died on an island in Alaska, broker (yet simultaneously richer) than she had ever been. She went to a segregated school, where her only escape was a boy named Sammy and trespassing on a horse ranch. She was not rich.

Okay, but what about Samirah? Samirah was well written, in my opinion. She was a Muslim Girl around the age of 16 with a husband lined up (for reasons explained in the first book, that made sense with her culture!) She was indeed rich! She had flight lessons paid for!! Wait, no. That was her inlaws paying for those. She had a private school she studied at though. I'd confidently say Samirah is Upper Middle Class. But note, she has to do a lot of things. She puts WAY too much pressure on herself to be a good Muslim. She had to continue Ramadan on her quest (which Ramadan wouldn't apply to. You don't have to fast when you are traveling) and she didn't partake in violence. She never wanted to use her shape shifting (it was as close as I've ever seen somebody write a sin out properly) and she always cared for her fellow person. She followed the prayer rituals perfectly, even going so far as asking Magnus to stand watch to make sure she was safe! (Iirc, I may be misremembering that part) Sam is provably one of my favorite characters in that series, behind Alex and Magnus, and obviously Jack.

Okay, Mallory Keen then! Wait, she's traumatized. By her last actions no less. She has a horrible relationship with her mother, she grew up in Ireland (not sure which, just know it was the island though) and she is overall a determined person. I will say, I haven't seen her character flesh out much over my 3 ish reads of the series.

Alex, Both Man and Woman, but never either simultaneously. Yes, she did grow up rich! How did you know! Oh wait, it was mentioned, RIGHT AWAY! She has a deep connection to her identity, down to the point of causing chaos because she thought she would be stuck as a man forever. She doesn't hate her mom's abilities, but she does hate her mom. She loves pottery, she loves the outdoors, and she has a genuine connection to grandpa. (Or was it her bisabuelo? I'm not sure.) But she has some serious flaws. She's kind of a dick sometimes, and has an air of pretentiousness just surrounding her. Always. Yes, she is a shoe in for Annabeth! But not really. Annabeth is full of pride, and it's her fatal flaw. Alex? She's full of angst. That's about it. She wants to be accepted by someone so badly. You can see it in how she interacts with Sam and Amir when she needs to chaperone them. She gets on their case about being too lovey dovey, but she's just really trying to show she cares! Yes. It is exaggerated. But it's also important. She tells Halfborn that he can't use a word for "unmanly" (I forgot the exact phrase used)because she decides if it's unmanly or not. What does Halfborn do? He goes with it. He gets it. Sure, he doesn't get why it's bad, but he has enough respect to say, "oh it's okay! I knew plenty of people like that back in my day!!!" He's trying, but also not very hard? He's kinda dumb for a guy with a PHD in Germanic literature. She also enchants her garrote with as much reach as it will ever need, which is basically saying "idgaf where you are, I will kill you if I see you." And nobody else seems to care. She becomes happier over the course of the two books she appears in. She isn't lashing out as much, and she's really just doing annoying stuff to show her love (cutting Magnus' hair when it gets too long, "Beantown," Guava Juice, running the homeless shelter with Magnus.)

And like, every single one of you is pointing out "oh but what about the rich girls!" Rachel and Piper are two different people. I hate when people say "RACHEL IS JUST PIPER" no she's not. Rachel has an overbearing dad who gives not a fuck about her interests and wants her to be the perfect princess. Rachel is an extremely kind and compassionate person who literally became a living statue for charity and missed a week of school to help Percy and Annabeth on a quest that would actively put her life in danger. She was extremely smart, and helps Apollo when he's in need.

Piper on the other hand is a girl who needed more attention and desperately tried to get it. Please, read through her exposition. She took a BMW because she "wanted one." BULLSHIT! She took it because she knew it would get her dad's attention. Like, seriously. She knew exactly what she was doing. She was 15! You don't just steal a car at 15, no matter how entitled you are. She also doesn't make a big deal out of it. She hates the story because it's embarrassing. She has evil step mom syndrome, and she doesn't even have a step mom. She just wanted a bit of time with her dad.

Annabeth did have evil step mom syndrome, and she had a step mom. But her step mom was not evil, just concerned. She was scared for her daughter's mental health. "Hey honey!! Annabeth had that nightmare again! Yeah, the one about the spiders! She's terrified, can you talk to her??" And like, Annabeth swore up and down she would get bitten a thousand times by those spiders. But there wasn't any evidence. I mean, a 7 year old is going to see "hey honey? Are you sure your little brothers (who are toddlers) can play at the same level as you?" As "STAY AWAY FROM MY SONS!!!" That would be so easy. Especially for a neurodivergent kid who has a mom that won't believe her about her spider bites. Her mom was scared and didn't know what to do, and we can see that by the start of the 4th book.

Sadie was British. Sadie was a predominantly white girl from a mixed family (her father was black) and had a black brother with no home life. She got a homelife, she had friends in England, she had a NORMAL FUCKING LIFE. Oh yeah. Her mom is dead and her dad and brother fly around the world because her dad is an egyptologist, but she gets to stay home with her gran and eat scones. She gets to go to normal schools with normal people in a normal way and learn normal things. She was just a pretty normal girl. And honestly? Reading through the little we have of Sadie in Kane Chronicles (remembering really) makes it feel as though she was emotionally neglected. She had a room in the attic (which is pretty normal) but she didn't have an outlet with her grandparents. She saw her mum's shrine on the way to her room everyday. And she didn't really seem to have all that great of a relationship with her family.

So like, yeah. I don't get it. Sure, some of the female characters could be written better, but can someone explain how he just CANT write female characters?

Like, bring up something other than PJO if you can. Daughter of the Deep, Tres Nevarre, LITERALLY ANYTHING! Fuck, even Thalia and Reyna have a great arc. But, ya know, if they have similar backstories, they must be the same person!!! Obviously PJO is going to be the easiest to cite, so please do that. But there's gotta be other stories you can use.

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vaultsixtynine · 2 years ago

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more late act 3 stuff. adding "quests" in my brain for the fun of it and massively reorganizing things to hit certain beats i need to hit

a) additional pre-bhaal-temple "quest" (cutscene where you mitigate how bad something is but it will still be Bad) where you are actively aware that [orin]* (more on this in a second) is taking your party member - i want her to be a bit scarier because she's my favorite of the three xoxo. the timing on this is what's frustrating me because i need there to be a chunk of time where anathema is in active despair but astarion finally feels like he has his shit together. so. hmm. before cazador but not by much.

b) pre-facing-cazador Moment...... not sure if this is while you're in the mansion itself (which, btw, i'm assuming she was cut but i really wanted there to be a super fucked up vampire hiding in the attic like a wretched creacher (as many many notes intimated there would be) and i wanted to be able to help her. i'm adding that in my brain also. - anyway, not sure if this is while the spawn are attacking (using them to ferry an object of control? or using one of them as a direct conduit? much to consider) or while you're on the "above-ground" portion of the mansion, but a moment where cazador does pierce astarion's relative immunity to his control (as he does when you're actually facing him) and exerts his will to get a little stab happy on a party member - probably ana bc. gestures. this of course Of Course sets astarion the fuck off, for good reason, and it's not that he shouldn't be angry but he should be careful - cazador is fucking with him. to think that he would silently sit in the basement and merely wait while astarion's creeping down to him is foolish.

hmm now i'm trying to figure out Timeline and i think orin might be the last thing ana deals with before the elder brain (besides getting the orphic hammer because she is also waiting until THEE last moment for that) Because her doing it alone and having people who say "why the fuck did you do that, we are coming to help you" is very critical in my brain and also, again, orin has more stuff going on / is scarier.

so to that end, and also because i need to figure out the timing of her personal quest (needs to happen Before orin but i'm kind of handwave past that point), and BECAUSE HE HAS A WHOLE RAPTURE-ASS PRISON and BELIEVES IN HOLDING HOSTAGES, i think miss gortash becomes frustrated with ana's seeming unwillingness to deal with the bhaalists (and because of Other Factors, this worries him immensely bc he's afraid a pawn has figured out too much for her own good) and does kidnap somebody. but it's still very much framed as a bhaalist kidnapping, sans orin coming to say it in person. she does still come to demand a duel a bit later and is like "lol you fell for that? gortash took your person. i would simply kill them. and i can - since i'm here in your camp, soft and beautiful as silk" and then fucks off immediately in that annoying way she has. to that end, gortash is smart enough to Not take astarion, too aware of his skillset. sorry gale. into the prison cell and a fun little anti-mage collar for you.

that doesn't mean that orin doesn't continue to fuck with her, though. without a hostage, her leverage is exerting the bhaal blood thing to make anathema's life fucking miserable, and she DOES. ana's control is waning, getting so threadbare as to be see through, and the fear of becoming just a husk who could hurt anyone around her at any time is what drives her to seek resolution by herself. because i also think that durge should be a fucking scary scary scary experience if you've been rejecting it by the time you're this deep in act 3. camp isn't safe. sleeping isn't safe. walking around on busy streets isn't safe. nothing and no one is safe from her, and she isn't safe from bhaal.

i have. okay. another post after this one that is way less filled with spoilers and is more about characterization so i'll make it separate

#uhhh got long sorry i am balancing several beautiful juggling balls in my talented hands #anathema #bg3 tag

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fatopiaplus · 2 years ago

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Roxan Micha Foxx

Now, you ask, why the hell I wanna be so fat? Well, lemme tell you. When I was a kid, I was chubby. Not fat, just a little overweight. Well, my mom constantly nagged me to lose the weight and I did, nearly becoming a full fledged bulimic in my quest to please her. Then one day, I said, Hell no! I'm not going to deny what I want just to please her! From the day I moved out of the house, I began to pack away as much food as I could. I didn't have a big capacity at first, but I finally built up to over 20,000 calories a day and I'm getting so fat, my mother can't stand to be anywhere near me. Good. That's my defiance of her. I don't want her to be a part of my life. I want to be a fat woman. I want to die in my sleep when I'm old, lying on my many rolls of fat, my loving husband by my side. When I begin to have difficulty with my weight, then I'll be finished and might even slim down. Until that time, pass the grub and get the hell outta my way or you might be dinner.

Wow! Check it out! Roxi at 160 skinnnnny pounds! Heh. This was for Senior Prom. My date was a loser and I remember how beautiful this one fat girl looked and how much she and her boyfriend were in love. I wanted that. It wasn't really a conscious effort to fatten at first. It just sorta happened. Then, I decided I like what I saw and felt.

Over the course of a year and a half, my weight has creeped up to 235 pounds. I kinda like the way it feels. This is how big I was when Alexander Veranovich asked me out on a date. Little did either of us know where that first date would lead us.

I've gained up to 270 pounds after a few months with Alex. That man loves to feed me and watch me eat. He loves my growing self and with him by my side, I'm wanting to grow fatter and fatter. And this is where I made the active choice to grow.

330 lbs in just over seven months. Wow! That's almost a hundred pounds of fat! It feels so wonderful to have Alex massage my growing gut. I find I'm getting hungrier sooner and that it's taking more to fill me up. I guess my stomach is gaining capacity. Hmmmm. Yay!

It is I, Roxan Micha Foxx, enjoying a nice dip in a paradise freshwater spring. Alex says I'm sassy for sure, and a definite feedee. I love the way I look and feel and can't wait until my next yummy meal. I'm 5'8" tall and around 380 lbs of sexy vixen here. I dyed my hair a more normal vulpine color but I think my flamingo heritages (yeah, my dad was a flamingo) means I should have pink hair and I'm gonna grow it back to it's natural color.

Meet Alexander Veranoff. This is MY hunky guy. He's a feeder of the ultimate persuasion. He can think of nothing more enjoyable than watching me grow fatter under his diligent care. He met me when I was a mere 200 pounds and under his astute and loving hand, my weight has soared faster than I had ever dreamed possible. We'd both like me to hit 1000 pounds of wonderful foxy flesh, and the way I can pack it on, there's no doubt we're both going to get our wishes. I'm about 420 pounds here.

"Chocolate cake? Did somebody mention CHOCOLATE CAKE?" I love sweets and am particularly fond of chocolate cake. In fact, I have more than once devoured a full sheet cake by myself in about three hours. I can eat so much, my tummy actually distends and pokes out a little bit. My thing then is to brush these pretty teeth and go take a nap, slowing my metabolism and increasing my weight. Here, I'm a lovely 460 pounds and definitely looking for more weight to settle on my frame. I'm just too skinny! When my hip measurement reaches 100 inches, then I'll stop.... maybe.

Hmmm. Lookit that belly! Wowww! Five twenty. What a growth spurt! I think I'm getting prettier as the pounds go on. And on. And on. My hair has finally grown back out to it's naturally beautiful pink color. I'm never gonna do that again!

I got snowed in with Alexander and since there's always plenty of food on hand, we made good use of it to further enhance my heavenly body. I'm just a growing girl, you know. I can't wait until my belly slips past my knees. It won't be long the way I'm going. I hope to be the fattest woman who ever lived. I'm a beguiling weight of 572 luscious pounds.

Since I still work in a public enviroment, I have to dress conservatively, here in a suit by acclaimed large fashion designer Natalia Daski (who incidentally is 450 delightful pounds of Venison). I started at the CPA firm when I was 160 trim pounds and quickly got promoted to a partner when one of the senior partners retired. As the years passed, my weight increased, but "her beauty, intelligence and her kind nature have won her the admiration and respect of all with whom she works." Not my own words, mind you. That's from my co-workers. Alexander was a client of mine before we got together, and when he saw me growing bigger, he knew he had to marry me. I weigh in at about 593 pounds in this picture. I love this blue suit. It'll be a shame to lose it.

Once I got my sisters living with me, Alex and I took them out to Washington state to meet Alex's parents. I think they were a little shocked at my size, but they're wonderful people and respect me for who I am. Anthy and Cici are so happy to be with me and Alex. I love road trips. It give me a chance to chow down on the road. All that riding and eating with little activity ... I gained about 25 lbs on this trip. Man. I'm 618 pounds now and I just can't keep my tiny tummy full. Keep it growing, Roxi!

I love this picture. Thanks to Anthy for taking it. Look at how happy Alex is! Not to mention how darn big I'm getting. This was about 4 hours of straight feeding and I could barely move, I was so stuffed. I rolled over and went to bed not long after Anthy snapped the pic. I weighed in at about 658 pounds here. I can't help myself anymore. I just can't wait to get fatter and fatter. It's so much a thrill to have Alex read my weight to me. I won't be happy until it's four digits instead of three.

"She wore an itsy bitsy teeny weeny fuschia polka dot bikini ..." Those long winter nights of gorging myself on everything that Alexander feeds me has paid off. I'm getting so big that Alex has to lay on top of me just to find room in the bed. I'm still going strong though, and I ain't gonna stop until walking becomes a major production and then, I'm off to the bedroom and there, I'll just gain until the bed breaks. I love to be fat and will not be satisfied until I'm as fat as I physically can be without exploding. This is called, "The Low Rider" ...for obvious reasons. Weight of 708 pounds, give or take. The scale broke when I stepped on it. =BLUSH=

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the-tenth-arcanum · 1 year ago

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okay ri I have thought about this, the problem is that any time someone asks me about my personality or hobbies or interests I immediately lose any sort of self-awareness.

also I initially misread the question as "if you were a character what would you be like", as in a fictional character in any kind of scenario, and came up with an answer that isn't related to your question at all.

so well, the answer to the question I dreamt up is that I would probably be a character in a 19th or early 20th century novel. I'm the wide-eyed idealistic penniless poet or musician in love with the female protagonist, who likes me as a friend but isn't aware she is the object of my affections and is tragically oblivious to my pining. I get drafted for the war and die at the front before I can confess my feelings. I might or might not leave a letter to her revealing I've always loved her and always will, but she should be with the man she truly loves, who's so much more deserving of her heart. she weeps as she reads it; eventually she moves on with her life and marries the other guy, as I would have wanted. my death isn't a huge deal as I was just a secondary character.

when I came back to your actual question I was like, I'm not sure how to transfer this scenario of mine to a fantasy setting.

if it's "what character I would be in a fantasy world" in terms of the best personality fit -- I'm not sure, but someone quiet who doesn't stand out too much and occasionally says something insightful. I want to say a faramir-like character, perhaps. mostly passive with sporadic fits of passion. also likely to be the sacrificial lamb, if one is required (but not voluntarily, it just happens because I am weak).

if it's what character I'd choose to be in a fantasy setting, which I think was more your point, well the only thing I'm fairly sure of is that I want to have magic. having magic and being soft, those are my main priorities. the gender is irrelevant.

what kind of magic? something to do with animals, I think. maybe I can talk to them. maybe I can command them. maybe we just vibe really hard. they flock to me because they can sense my inner worth. I'd be like the most specialest disney princess.

other powers I might add on top of that -- commanding fire, because I think fire is cool. like really cool. any kind of subtle mental/psychic power is hugely appealing to me too. empathy, as in I can literally sense other people's emotions? sign me up. clairvoyance is cool but potentially distressing if future events can't be avoided; I would love to have vague but useful premonitions instead. like, "guys we needs to move!! something terrible is going to happen here!"

if I'm on a dangerous quest I've probably been dragged along by somebody else but I'll do my best to help.

as for the character alignment, I've read the definitions multiple times before but I'm still not sure I really get them. I don't think I'd be evil or lawful. I don't go out of my way to break the rules, unless I think The Rules Are Wrong. not stupid, mind you, I can probably put up with stupid rules if they are harmless, though I will complain about it. but if they went against my moral code/beliefs then yes, I would break them. I think I could be either neutral good or chaotic good?

wow, that was a long rambling answer. I hope somewhere in here you find what you were looking for!

ok everyone... i already asked layal this question, but: if you were a character in a fantasy world, what would you be like? i've asked about alignment (good/neutral/evil) before but you can say it again; besides that, would you be human or not? what powers/abilities would you have? what kind of story would you be a part of? i'm just curious...

no pressure, just tagging so some ppl see this: @arcanespillo @mostlybbucky @thy-golden-knight @max-reblogger @the-king-and-the-druidess @cassiusthecorrupterofsouls @the-tenth-arcanum @jackiefour only if you're interested!

#okay we've established I'd be the most annoying mary sue. what about you #I mean I'm assuming you'd be a knight of course but what about the rest. do tell us #personal

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howlingday · 3 years ago

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tragic backtory (tm) au) the legend of jaune arc grows, slowly bringing more and more people into it, but when his little sister and overdramatic theater kid come for a visit, well apparently jaune's sword is magic now, and he's a master thief. he of course picked this time to learn the aura slash on his own time and now pyrrha is starting to believe there might be more to jaune than even she knew! other stories include, jaune's lost love. his wife via arranged marriage who died tragically (tm) of a broken heart after he left her for his quest for justice. and how he's part of a secret order devoted to protecting the silver eyed warriors Ruby: "of course! that's why he was so nice to me and just walked up to me out of nowhere!" violet: "he's also supposed to marry you to make sure your magic eyes are passed down to the next generation" ... what? a little sister can't rig the game for her favorite ship? ruby's cute and she wants her as a sister in law. besides who ever heard about magic eyes?

Double Trouble

Jaune sat in the lounge while his sisters, Violet and Indigo, sat on either side talking about their trip. Jaune nodded along as they explained their flight, the status of home, and ended by asking how his time at Beacon had been. Before he could answer, however, someone else spoke for him.

Nora: Jaune is the best!

Violet: Ooh! Who is this, Jaune? Your girlfriend?

Nora: Pft! He wishes!

Indigo: Oh, I like you!

Jaune: (Sighs) Nora, these are my sisters, Vi and Indie. Girls, this is Nora. She's on my team here at Beacon.

Nora: (Gasps) Jaune's sisters?! You have to tell me everything!

Jaune: Ugh, please, no...

Indigo: Oh, stop being such a cry-baby, Yawny. Nora, right? We can meet up later for all the juicy details.

Nora: Yes! I'll bring some friends, too!

Indigo: Hey, the more, the merrier, right?

Nora: (Runs off) I gotta get the girls!

Violet: It was nice meeting you! And the reason you two aren't dating is because...?

Jaune: Are you really going to play matchmaker right now?

Violet: The last one worked out just fine, didn't it?

Jaune: Amber literally cried when she found out her "secret admirer" was me. Mom had to get between me and her dad when he found out.

Violet: You were fine! You were young, and her dad was just overprotective.

Jaune: We were twelve, and her Dad just got out of prison.

Violet: Oh, you're exaggerating!

Ruby: (Walking behind them, Hearing everything)

Jaune: I'm not dying just so you can say you guys were right.

Violet: But think of the wedding! Wouldn't you like to be Jaune Oakwood-Arc?

Jaune: No! Especially if that means I'm marrying into a family that doesn't want me!

Ruby: (Gasps, Speeds away)

Indigo: Hm? What was that?

Jaune: (Looks behind) Oh, that was probably Ruby. Her semblance makes rose petals when she uses it.

Violet: Roses? (Gasps) Like the love flowers?! That's so romantic!

Jaune: Oh no...

Indigo: Anyways, while she's planning your wedding, tell me about why Nora wouldn't date you?

Jaune: Aside from it's me, Nora is already with somebody.

Indigo: So? Just because there's a goalie, it doesn't mean you can't score.

Jaune: (Covering his face) For the love of...

Ruby: (Barrels through the dorm room) Guys! We have an emergency!

Weiss: What is it? Torchwick?

Ruby: No! Worse!

Blake: White Fang?!

Ruby: Even worse!

Yang: Well, spit it out!

Ruby: Jaune's getting married!

Weiss: (WBY faceplant, Gets up) You dolt! You said it was an emergency!

Ruby: It is, though! His sisters are here and they're trying to force him to marry someone he doesn't love!

Weiss: A sacrifice I'm sure is for the greater good.

Yang: Hey, come on, Ice Queen, I'm sure whoever Jaune gets with will be one lucky lady.

Blake: Even if it's a Schnee.

Weiss: (Blushing) I would never-!

Blake: But you said his sisters are here? What do they look like?

Ruby: Well, I only saw the backs of their heads, but they were both blonde, and one of them had their hair tied back in a ponytail with a blue bow, and the other one was wearing a headband, also with a blue bow.

Yang: Older, younger?

Ruby: I couldn't tell, but they were talking like they're going to be the ones setting it up.

Blake: Probably older, then. Did you hear who he was marrying?

Ruby: Not really, but I heard them say, "Jaune Oakwood-Arc."

Yang: Wait, Oakwood? Like Chuck Oakwood?

Weiss: You know him?

Yang: Kind of. I remember reading in a motorcycle magazine about him going to jail. He used to harrass and assault people on the road with his gang. They called "The Biker Tyrant." I don't know why they would try to be setting Jaune up with anyone related to him, though.

Blake: Well, what if this girl they're arranging for him is trying to escape her family. If this Chuck is as violent as they say, and she's related to him, it's possible she's trying to live a peaceful life.

Ruby: But why would Jaune say no to helping her?

Weiss: Not to get involved in this game of spinning tales, but maybe he's connected to something higher, and the situation now is too delicate to get involved with now.

Yang: OH! The Biker-Kingdom!

Weiss: ...The what?

Yang: It's an international crime-ring of bikers. They have agents all over Remnant. I bet if Jaune married into one of their gangs, he could rise up to be a head-honcho!

Weiss: (Laughs) Stop! Stop! Do you hear yourself? Arc, the Jaune Arc, becomes a gang-leader of a bunch of bikers! Can you even imagine him, black biker jacket, chains strewn about his shoulders, a helmet under his arms?!

Ruby: (Blushing) I mean, I can...

Jaune: Guys, these are my sisters, Violet and Indigo. You've already met Nora.

Nora: Hi!

Jaune: This is Ren, Nora's partner and also on my team.

Ren: Greetings.

Violet: (Whispers) This must be Nora's man.

Indigo: (Whispering) I can see why.

Jaune: This is Pyrrha, my partner.

Pyrrha: Hello!

Indigo: Wait, isn't she from the cereal box?

Jaune: (Chuckles) Yeah, she is. Apparently, she was a champion over in Mistral.

Indigo: And she got stuck with you?

Jaune: Uh, I wouldnt put it like that-

Indigo: We are so sorry for our brother.

Violet: Really and truly sorry.

Pyrrha: Oh, um, it's okay. (Thinking) These are his sisters? Are all siblings like this?

Jaune: Anyways, this is Team RWBY, our neighbors and close friends... who decided to show up for some reason.

Ruby: We have so many questions!

Yang: Eheh, uh, what she means is that we had to meet you after hearing that Jaune's sisters were here.

Jaune: Right, because I'm such a fascinating subject.

Ruby: You are, though! (Everyone stares at her, She shrinks) Um... Hi, I'm Ruby Rose.

Violet: Oh, so you're the girl from earlier?

Ruby: Huh?

Indigo: Jaune told us about you after you left some petals on the ground.

Ruby: Oh, really? Hehe, my bad.

Violet: Oh, it's no trouble, no trouble! So, tell me, how do you feel about our brother?

Ruby: Huh?

Jaune: Vi! Seriously?!

Violet: What? I'm just trying to help you out here!

Weiss: With what, exactly?

Jaune: Oh, please, no...

Indigo: Our brother's so incompetent with girls, we decide to give him a hand.

Weiss: Such as arranged marriages?

Indigo: We don't go that far.

Violet: (Whispers) Because it never gets that far.

Weiss: Hm. Well, Arc, I think you should listen to your sisters more. Maybe then you would actually have some understanding of how romance works.

Violet: What do you mean?

Weiss: First, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Weiss Schnee, and your brother has been obnoxiously trying to get my attention for months now.

Violet: (Turns to Jaune, Wicked smile) Oh?

Indigo: (Turns to Jaune, Evil smile) Really?

Weiss: Asking me out on dates to events with no interest to me, attempting to serenade me with songs that sound like a dying cat, and constantly standing in my way of achieving success!

Violet: Just letting it all out, huh?

Jaune: It's... a bit of a regular thing.

Indigo: Eh, you're better off, anyways.

Weiss: See, Arc? They understand.

Indigo: After all, you're too good for her.

Weiss: Ex-SCUSE ME?!

Jaune: Uh, moving on! Uh, the girl holding back Weiss' murderous intent right now is Yang, Ruby's sister.

Yang: (Holding back the angry Weiss) Hey! Erk! Wassup?

Indigo: (Whistles) Dang, you are stacked!

Yang: Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself.

Jaune: Ugh, please no. Could you not?

Indigo: Don't mind him. He's always had an issue with how I talk to girls.

Yang: Probably because he can't talk to them like you do.

Indigo: That's what I said!

Jaune: Oh, great, there's two of them!

Yang: Relax, lady killer, I'm just teasing you!

Indigo: I'm not.

Jaune: Ugh... And this is Yang's partner, Blake.

Blake: Hello.

Violet: Hm... There's something off about her.

Indigo: Yeah, now that you mention it.

Blake: (Leans away) Uh, is there?

Violet: Yeah, there is. No doubt about it. (Points her index finger at Blake accusingly) You're a pervert, aren't you?!

Indigo: (Taps her palm with her fist) That's what it is!

Blake: (Blushing) WHAT?!

Violet: It's so obvious. Her quiet demeanor.

Indigo: Those intelligent eyes.

Violet: Her tense, impatient posture, as if she's restless to go back to her debauchery.

Indigo: Be careful, Jaune; this kitten has claws.

Blake: (Digs into the couch)

Jaune: Will you two stop! Blake isn't a pervert! Right, Blake?

Blake: R-Right.

Ruby: Unrelated to anything, what would you think about any of us dating your brother? (Everyone stares at her) J-Just hypothetically! A crazy idea!

Violet: ...Well, since you asked-

Indigo: Oh, boy, here we go...

Violet: Based on my expertise in matchmaking, I can tell a lot of you have potential!

Jaune: Indie!

Indigo: Forget it, Jaune. Once Vi starts, she doesn't stop.

Jaune: (Scroll buzzes) Oh, thank goodness! I have to go. You two stop trying to hook me up! (Sprints away)

Vi: I wouldn't have to try if you just manned up! Now, where was I? Oh, yes! Starting with you, Miss Rose...

Ruby: (Blushing, Gulps)

Jaune: Yes, they're fine, Mom. ...No, Mom, they're not sick. ...I really don't want to think about them like that, Mom. ...Fine, Mom, I'll make sure they don't get pregnant, even though half this school is full of guys too young for them. ...Mom, I really don't need to hear that from you. ...They're hanging out with my friends right now. ...They're all girls, Mom. Well, except for Ren, but he's already with Nora. I think. ...Oh, great, so that's where Indie got it from. ...They're fine, Mom. What's the worst that could happen?

Violet: So you think our brother is an orphan, sky-pirate slave, and we're trying to set him up with someone he doesn't love to benefit our status?

Nora: Well, not anymore. I mean, if you're his sisters, then that pretty much debunks the whole thing, huh?

Indigo: Oh, honey, (Places her hand on Nora's knee) there's so much more to it than that.

Everyone Else: HUH?!

Violet: Indie, what are you-?!

Indigo: It's time, Vi. (Looks to Violet, Stealthily winks) They should know the truth about who he really is.

Violet: ...You're right. Now, let's start with the truth. Jaune isn't an orphan. Not anymore anyways. He was adopted by our family, but we never treated him any different. He's still our baby brother.

Indigo: Technically, he's our cousin, but his parents died while he was young. His aunt and uncle, our parents, adopted him, training him in the ways of the sword when he was old enough.

Violet: That sword belonged to our uncle, but when Jaune used it, it revealed his position. (Tears up) We were so scared when the raid began to search for him! We tried to protect him, but they were unstoppable!

Indigo: Shshsh, there, there. (Snickers, Coughs to cover it up) We didn't see him again for years until he returned home one day, with her.

Violet: (Sighs dreamily) Scarlet. She was the sweetest woman you would have ever met. She helped him escape, and the two eloped shortly after. She trained him to fight without aura, and so he did for the longest time.

Indigo: But then illness took her too soon, and she was buried before that winter came. He never moved on from her. He doesn't even like to talk about her. But his heart would always be hers, and hers his.

Ren: Tragic.

Indigo: (Cough) tm (Cough).

Violet: On her final day, she said to him these words...

Scarlet: (Faceless, Dying in bed) Beloved, my dawn, my noon, my sunset, please do not weep for me. Though my body may perish, my soul shall ever be yours. In times of great peril, I will aid the swing of your blade, and you shall be safe, and find love once more.

Nora: (Sobs)

Ruby: (Bawls)

Pyrrha: (Cries)

Weiss: (Tears up)

Yang: (Grimaces)

Blake: So that's his story...

Ren: Truly tragic.

Indigo: (Cough) tm (Cough).

Jaune: I'm back! I hope everything- WOAH! Why is everyone crying?! Indie, what did you do?!

Indigo: Don't look at me, Jaune! They wanted to hear about you, so we told them everything they needed to know.

Jaune: How do you make people cry telling them about me?! You know what, I don't want to know. I'm taking you guys to your hotel room. Good night, guys. (Walks away with Indigo and Violet)

Ruby: He's so brave!

Nora: Such a brave boy!

Pyrrha: (Sniffs) The bravest boy.

Jaune: Hey, listen, I'm really sorry about my sisters. They can kind of be a handful.

Pyrrha: It's no problem at all, Jaune. After all, you can't choose your family.

Jaune: (Sighs) If only that was different.

Pyrrha: What do you mean?

Jaune: I know it's going to sound weird, since you don't have siblings, but, did you ever feel like you didn't belong? Like nobody understood who you were, least of all you?

Pyrrha: Actually, I have felt that way. As far as I can remember, I have felt different from everyone else, and I couldn't tell who I really was. That is, until I came to Beacon.

Jaune: I'm glad things worked out for you, Pyrrha.

Pyrrha: Give it time, and it will for you, too. And your sisters... They mean well. They love you, no matter where you go or where you came from.

Jaune: Thanks, Pyrrha.

Pyrrha: Anytime, Jaune. Now, onto sparring practice!

Jaune: Yeah! (Spars with Pyrrha for ten minutes, Unleashes a sword beam) WOAH!

Pyrrha: (Blocks it) What on Remnant was that?!

Jaune: I-I don't know! I was going through the motions, then I got distracted by that sunset, and all of a sudden, whoosh!

Pyrrha: Sunset? (Gasps)

Jaune: What?! What is it?!

Pyrrha: Oh, uh, we, uh, just have a big test tomorrow, and we should really call it early tonight.

Jaune: Right! The test! Good thinking, Pyr! We better head down!

Pyrrha: Of course, of course! I'm right behind you! (Looks to the sunset) Thank you, Scarlet. I promise to take good care of him.

Cardin: (From the window sill below) Who the hell is Scarlet?

#rwby #jaune arc #nora valkyrie #rwby au #tragic backstory (tm) au #ruby rose #yang xiao long #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #pyrrha nikos #lie ren #cardin winchester #violet arc #indigo arc #arc sisters #my answer

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