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winryofresembool · 3 years ago

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Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 36

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: New Year’s Eve

A/N: Oops, I'm late again. But this is the longest chapter so far (over 6k words) so I hope you can forgive me for that!

This chapter finally brings back some friends we haven't seen in a while and introduces a couple of new ones too. I'm not gonna lie, having read ToA just once about a year ago, my characterization is probably very off so my apologies for that!

Now, hope you guys enjoy this mega chapter! Please let me know what you think! It's suuper important.

Words: 6,2k

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

…

After the boxing day Leo and Calypso returned back to their flat and the ‘normal’ life. Calypso already started remembering the downsides of working at a flower shop as it was a surprisingly busy time of the year with the wealthy people of that area wanting some flowers for their New Year celebrations. She and her boss Demi were the only two running the shop between the holidays while the second assistant was on a break. The older woman promised Calypso a day off for New Year’s eve, though, claiming that young people like her should be having fun that day instead of working. She graciously accepted the offer even though she didn’t have any plans for that day; after the eventful Christmas she kind of just wanted to stay at the flat with Leo.

But as it happened, Hazel texted her the day before the eve that she was having a small ‘gathering’ with a few friends and since Calypso hadn’t seen her for several weeks due to the work and a break from the art classes, she told Hazel that she would come. When she had asked Leo how he would feel about it, he had offered to go with her. Usually he would have spent the New Year Eve at Jason and Piper’s annual party but it was not happening this year due to their complicated situation. The flatmates had still decided to not tell Hazel or Frank about their own, developed situation, because they hadn’t even told Leo’s parents yet.

“So what is this Hazel like?” Leo asked Calypso as they were getting prepared for the evening out. “She doesn’t mind a stranger coming to her party, right?”

Calypso almost missed his question because of Leo’s current state of shirtlessness. A moment earlier he had wanted to know if she thought he should wear a light red or a white shirt to the party and hadn’t bothered to put either of them on yet. Not that she minded. No, her boyfriend definitely was not a bad sight with his tan, strong body, a quiet voice in her head said. “Oh no, she doesn’t mind,” Calypso finally remembered to answer. “I think she was even happy to hear you are coming with me. Besides, you have met Frank before, so technically you are not a complete stranger.”

“Are those two dating?” Leo asked.

“No, they are not. Not officially, at least. Hazel likes him but due to various reasons they have decided they shouldn’t rush it. Sounds kind of familiar to me.” Calypso looked at him significantly.

“It does? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Leo raised his eyebrows, and Calypso nudged him on the arm playfully.

“Anyway, Hazel is great. She is the kind of person who seems really sweet on the surface but she would probably kick your behind if needed. She’s also kind of mysterious when it comes to her own story but I feel I can trust her. I may have even accidentally slipped her once that my flatmate is kind of neat.” She smiled at him shyly.

“Oh? So you’ve talked about me to her.” Leo grinned in response. “Hope you remembered to mention my good looks and quick wit…”

“Yep, and your modesty,” Calypso shook her head. “Seriously speaking, though, I find her very inspiring. Despite everything she’s been through, she’s thriving to do the things she enjoys, and she’s an incredible artist. Better than I, for sure.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. I like your art.”

Calypso was happy and slightly flustered about Leo’s compliment but she wanted to explain herself. “I’m not selling myself short; I am just telling the truth. She really is that great.”

Leo raised his hand. “Alright, I believe you.”

“Good. Uh, hey, how should I wear my hair for the party?” Calypso asked as she stepped in front of a hallway mirror, taking some hairpins into her hands.

“I… I like it the way it is?” Leo looked at her with slight disbelief, as if he couldn’t believe that she didn’t like her current hairdo.

“Thanks… I don’t know. I could leave it mostly free but maybe I’ll add some waves.” Calypso wasn’t quite sure why she cared so much how she looked because that wasn’t like her, but she figured it might have had something to do with her being nervous about meeting new people at the party. Hazel and Frank were probably the only ones she knew there, after all. Her paying attention to her looks definitely didn’t have anything to do with the fact that she liked it when Leo gave her that special look that he reserved only for her.

“Sunshine, just so you know, you are the kind of person who will always stand out no matter what you wear. Me? Well, you could perform your magic on me but I’d still look like Santa’s elf.”

Calypso couldn’t believe that her boyfriend clearly had no idea of the effect he had had on her only a moment earlier (and still had). “Leo, don’t let this get to your head but I think there's a certain charm in your elf ears.” She took one of his earlobes between her fingers and tugged it gently.

Leo’s eyes brightened at her comment.

“If that’s what you think, then screw what anyone else says.”

“That’s the spirit,” Calypso approved, letting go of his ear and almost leaning close enough to give him a cheek kiss, but then she withdrew quickly. Leo looked quite disappointed. “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked teasingly.

“I thought that you were going to kiss me,” Leo replied honestly.

“I’ve heard that there’s a habit that you kiss your partner at midnight on New Year’s. It’s not midnight yet, is it?” Calypso blinked innocently.

“No, but…” Leo couldn’t come up with any arguments to Calypso’s statement so he didn’t finish his sentence.

“Sometimes good things are worth waiting for,” Calypso finished with a smile and withdrew into her room to change her clothes. While doing that, she admitted to herself that this phase where everything was so new was pretty exciting.

…

A little bit later Calypso was dressed up in a dark blue short dress, tying the bracelet she had gotten on Christmas around her wrist when Leo got out of his room. He had switched his usual mechanic’s overalls to a white collarless shirt, suspenders, and pinstripe pants. Calypso had a feeling that he would have also put his tool belt on if that had been socially acceptable. To her surprise, he seemed to have even tried to flatten his curly hair a little, although it hadn’t quite worked out.

“Wow, look at you. The only thing you’re missing right now is a hat,” she noted, ruffling his hair a little. What she actually meant was that she thought he actually looked very nice in his current clothes. It was quite different from what she was used to seeing on him – even at school Leo usually wore a casual t-shirt or a hoodie and worn jeans – but she didn’t mind either look. Leo frowned at her, though.

“Don’t look so concerned,” Calypso continued with amusement. “I just meant that you kind of remind me of some film stars of the past. I just can’t get my finger on who. It’s a compliment, though.”

Leo’s frown disappeared. “Alright, thanks.” Then he took a second look at her and his eyes got that funny gleam he always got when he was about to say something embarrassing. “Woah, Sunshine. I’m suspecting that you are made of copper and tellurium.”

“And why’s that, mister chemistry nerd?” she asked, although she could pretty much guess his answer.

“Because you’re CuTe.”

Calypso shook her head in disbelief, but couldn’t hide her smile. “Really, Leonidas? Out of all the cheesy pick up lines in the world you chose that one?”

“Nothing wrong with chemistry puns, mi sol,” Leo claimed. “But I do think that you, um, clean up nicely.”

“As do you,” Calypso admitted, feeling the warmth gathering to her cheeks. “But we should probably get going now before we melt each other with these compliments. It’s getting pretty late already,” she noted when she checked the clock of her phone before dropping it back into her purse.

“Okay, I’m as ready as I can be,” Leo replied and tugged a strand of Calypso’s hair gently before picking his keys and heading to the door after her.

…

Frank and Hazel lived on a different campus than Leo and Calypso so it took them a while to find it. The party was organized in Frank’s flat because it was bigger than Hazel’s. The latter had explained that Frank had applied for a two-room flat because he had several pets (who would however be spending their New Year at Frank’s granny) and he was lucky enough to be able to afford it due to his work and because he had inherited his mother.

“I’m not sure what I was expecting but not this,” Calypso told Leo when she noticed a cat tree and a big pile of toys for both cats and dogs in one corner of the house. “For some reason I pictured him having a gym or something in one of his rooms.”

“I guess never judge a book by its cover,” they heard a voice behind them say. Calypso felt heat rise on her face as she realized the speaker was Hazel.

“H-hi, Hazel!” Calypso stuttered. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Hazel waved her hand when she noticed Calypso’s expression. “I can see why you would imagine that.”

“Well, I shouldn’t have assumed anything either way,” Calypso muttered. “What about you, though? What is your place like? I really should visit you some time.”

“Way smaller and I have a couple of flatmates there. But to be honest? I like it that way. My father tried to buy me a new apartment several times but something always happened to those places, like they were cursed or something. One burned, one had some water damage, one was full of bugs… But I was able to get my current place because I do some odd jobs for a neighbor. So far nothing weird has happened.”

“Not that it’s any of my business, but didn’t you once tell me that your father doesn’t contact you all too often? Yet he was going to buy you an entire apartment? Calypso asked, confused.

“I think it’s because he’s proud as hell,” Hazel shrugged. “His cousin or something - a president at your uni, I think - bought his son an entire house in a nice area, and my father just couldn’t let him flex about it. Well, his plan didn’t quite work out as I just told you.”

“Wait, the son of our uni’s president… then do you happen to know Jason Grace?” Calypso asked, connecting the dots in her head.

“Yes, I do,” Hazel answered. “A distant cousin. We lived in San Francisco at the same time for a little while until he moved away. And now we’re somehow both here. Small world.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. Jason is Leo’s good friend. And this is Leo, by the way,” Calypso introduced, feeling weirdly happy about being able to introduce him to her friend, even if they were still keeping their relationship status a secret.

However, soon Calypso noticed that Hazel took Leo’s appearance in for a moment longer than was necessary and she couldn’t help but feel just a little bit uneasy even though she knew that she didn’t actually have a reason for that. Leo was dating her, and Hazel seemed very interested in Frank. But there was something unusual about her stare, and she couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Hello, Leo.” Hazel seemed to return back to her regular self as she shook his hand, although the color of her cheeks might have been a tiny bit darker than a moment ago. “I’m Hazel. Calypso never stops talking about you at our art classes. I’m not entirely sure if it’s extremely adorable or a little annoying.”

“What?” Leo turned towards her and she couldn’t stop herself from blushing. “Cal, I didn’t know that you are constantly talking about me behind my back! Hope they have been good things, at least.” “Don’t worry, they’ve been nothing but good things,” Hazel reassured him, glancing at Calypso mischievously.

While Hazel’s teasing reassured Calypso that she had simply imagined her interest in Leo, they were getting dangerously close to the relationship topic, so she tried to change the course of the conversation. “Hazel, you didn’t have to tell him that! Now he won’t stop boasting for the next two weeks,” she said exaggeratedly even though in reality she was secretly kind of happy that Leo heard about her compliments.

“Sorry, Caly,” Hazel grinned at her, not looking particularly sorry. Then she leaned closer to her, whispering. “Just a little help from a friend. I thought you were going to get together during your vacation!”

“Th-thanks, but that really isn’t necessary,” Calypso whispered back, hoping that her acting was good enough to convince Hazel that she and Leo hadn’t made any progress yet. To her relief, her friend got distracted when a guy who was at least a head, maybe even more, taller than Hazel, with dark, short hair appeared next to her.

“There you are,” the guy said. “Nico was wondering if…” When he realized they had company, he gave them a polite smile.

“Oh, hi! Nice to see you guys!”

“You both have met Frank before, right?” Hazel asked.

“Yep,” Leo confirmed. “Frank thought I was a bad dog owner, but quite frankly, that was an understandable mistake.”

“How is your dog doing now?” Frank wanted to know. “Hope he’s good?”

“Never better! He enjoyed following Calypso everywhere while we were at Waystation over Christmas,” Leo replied happily.

“So are you two…?” Frank turned his head between Calypso and Leo. Calypso couldn’t help but wonder how many times they would still be asked that question that evening.

“No, no, no,” Leo denied. “That’s crazy talk. Right Cal? She just came with me because it was a better option than spending the holidays alone in our flat.” Calypso nodded along even though she didn’t like that they had to lie to their friends. But it was her who had made the decision to not tell them.

“Yeah. We’re just flatmates,” she confirmed.

Luckily, Frank didn’t ask more. Again, Calypso noticed that Hazel was staring at Leo with that mysterious expression on her face and she was already going to ask if something was wrong when Hazel addressed Leo:

“Have we… Have we met before? I mean, before tonight? You look so familiar to me but you can’t be…” She frowned.

“I don’t think so?” Leo seemed a bit confused. “Not that I remember, at least.”

“Oh… alright. I guess you just really look like someone I used to know. You haven’t ever lived in New Orleans, have you?”

“No, I haven’t,” Leo shook his head. “I’m originally from Texas. And yeah, I’ve also lived in a few other states for short periods of time when I was moving from a foster home to foster home but never in Louisiana.”

“Alright, sorry for bothering you about that,” Hazel said.

“It’s OK. Now that I think of it, though… I did have some distant relatives in that area, but I haven’t seen those people since I was a baby.”

“Really? What’s their last name?” Hazel seemed to get more interested again.

“Valdez, like mine. I think the mom of the boy who was around my age was my mom’s cousin or something like that. Why? Do you know them?”

“Yeah… Possibly… The boy’s name is Sammy Valdez. Does that sound familiar?”

“Hmmm…” Leo stopped to think about it. “Maybe. The boy’s name did start with S. I’ve seen pictures of me playing with another kid who looked a lot like me in our relatives’ yard but I think I literally met him just once. I was like one back then.”

Hazel seemed a little bit disappointed by Leo’s answer. “Alright. Sorry, it’s just that Sammy used to be my only real friend until I moved away from there and I was just wondering if you knew anything about how he’s doing now. I guess you don’t.”

“No, can’t say I do. My fam… well, they weren’t particularly accepting of me after what happened to my mom…” Leo said bitterly. “One of my aunts spread some sick lies… So, yeah, I moved to a foster home and haven’t seen any of my relatives since then.”

“I understand…” Hazel said sympathetically. Calypso imagined that Leo must have been grateful that Hazel didn’t question him more about what had happened. “Sorry, this is not a good topic to talk about at a party. My curiosity just got the best of me, that’s all.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Leo waved his hand dismissively. “Let’s just move on.”

“I agree. Frank, were you going to say something about Nico before you got interrupted?” Hazel turned to him.

“Oh yeah,” Frank remembered. “Nico wanted to know if it’s OK that Will comes here a bit later. He’s working today, apparently.”

“No problem,” Hazel replied. “We may not have a lot of food and drinks left by that point, though, but he’s gonna have to deal with that.”

“Nico? Not Nico di Angelo, by any chance?” Leo joined the conversation.

“Yep, that’s him. He’s my half brother. I know, we look nothing alike,” Hazel commented when she noticed Leo’s expression.

“No, I was just surprised that you know him and Jason too… Soon you’ll probably tell us you know Percy Jackson too.”

“I’ve heard stories of him from the others,” Hazel chuckled. “But no, haven’t met him personally, at least yet.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you met him some time soon,” Leo predicted.

Calypso felt she had already been quiet uncomfortably long, just listening to Leo and Hazel talk and trying to figure out what to make of it. She couldn’t deny that she had felt a bit jealous at first but when she had learned that Hazel had only seemed that interested in him because he had looked like an old friend of hers, she had relaxed somewhat. Maybe the trust issues were a result of many failed relationships, if she could call them that given that most of them hadn’t lasted too long. Cursing herself for her unnecessary thoughts, she asked:

“So, is there anyone else I know here besides Nico?”

“I invited Rachel from our art classes too,” Hazel answered. “You remember her, right? She said she was really happy to spend the New Year’s Eve in any place that isn’t his father’s penthouse.”

Calypso remembered Rachel as a really enthusiastic and unique artist. She herself tended to try to make her art look a bit more simplistic while you really had to stop and look at Rachel’s art to be able to see its many dimensions.

“Yep, I remember her,” Calypso responded. “I’ve often thought about talking to her but there’s something a bit… intimidating about her, like she knows something about me that even I don’t know…” “She’s fine, though, when you learn to know her,” Hazel reassured her.

“That’s nice to know. If I see her, I’ll say hi.”

“Good,” Hazel nodded.

“Hey, Sunshine,” Leo nudged her on the arm. “I’m getting hungry. Maybe we should go and get something to eat.”

“Somehow he is already hungry even though he ate at home before we left,” Calypso said in disbelief. “How’s that even possible, Repair Boy?” Then she realized how the nicknames may have sounded to the others’ ears so she hurried to add: “Um, sorry, we’re used to using nicknames at our flat. With everyone. I’m Sunshine, Jason is a Lightning Boy and so on. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure he won’t eat everything!”

“It’s OK, there’s plenty for everyone. Also, if you plan to dance at some point tonight, watch out for my pink haired friend Lavinia. She is a little bit eager about tap dancing.”

“I don’t think we are gonna dance…” Calypso cursed herself for blushing like a teenager when she pictured herself going for a slow dance with Leo, standing as close to him as possible. “…But thanks for the warning.” Then she waved at the hosts quickly and started dragging Leo out of the room.

“Well? What do you think of my friends?” Calypso whispered when they were picking some nachos on their plates and no one was in the hearing distance.

“Hazel seems cool,” Leo replied nonchalantly. “But you really think I pay attention to anyone else when I have my amazing girlfriend next to me?”

“You’re so cheesy, Leo,” Calypso said but gave him her brightest smile. She might have also kissed him if it weren’t for the other people nearby and the fact that she was carrying a plate full of food.

“Part of my charm, babe,” Leo claimed, giving her that stupid grin that never failed to make her feel things. He sat down on an unoccupied chair near the table and started enjoying his nachos. “Hey, these are really good! You gotta try them.”

“Babe? I thought we already had our nickname discussion,” Calypso interrupted him. She sat down next to him but didn’t taste her nachos yet, instead expecting his answer.

“But it’s better than Mamacita, isn’t it?” Leo asked innocently.

Calypso couldn’t argue with that logic. “Well, yes, it is, but… maybe you should stick to Sunshine. Or just Cal. I’m not… huge on pet names. I’m just not used to them.”

Thankfully Leo seemed to understand. “Alright. I won’t call you a babe, then. My mom just used to say ‘a dear child has many names’ and it seems that has stuck with me. I think she meant that we have a tendency to give nicknames to those we care about. Maybe that’s the reason why I sometimes go a bit extra with the names I give you guys… especially you.”

“Oh. I see.”

There was something weirdly sweet about Leo’s reasoning behind his nicknames and Calypso couldn’t help but smile down at her food. She didn’t realize she had been lost in her thoughts for a moment until Leo said:

“Earth’s calling Calypso. Try this,” Leo handed her a nacho that had some sauce she wasn’t familiar with on it.

“Chili?” she asked when she tasted it and felt a slight sting on her tongue. It wasn’t a bad sensation, though; this sauce was notably milder than the one Leo had once fed her. “You really find ways to make me eat it.”

“Admit it: you liked it.”

Calypso was feeling a little brave because they were somehow still alone in the room: “Make me.”

Leo was about to lean closer to her when someone entered the room without a warning.

“Uh… Hi!” Nico di Angelo finally reacted to their presence when Calypso and Leo jumped a bit farther from each other.

“Hi, Nico,” Leo greeted him. “I wasn’t expecting to see anyone I know here but it looks like I was wrong.”

“Seems so,” Nico replied, not in a mood for small talk.

“So how is it going?” Leo asked. “And how’s Will?”

“It’s going,” Nico shrugged, combing some of his long bangs to the side with his fingers. “Been trying to take it easy lately. Doctor’s orders. Will works as an intern at a hospital and turns out they really needed his help on New Year’s Eve so he’s not here yet. Something about lots of fireworks related accidents and so on…”

“Fireworks suck,” Leo commented, and Calypso noticed an angry spark in his eyes. “They feel like such a waste of money and they cause people to lose their eyes and such.”

Calypso wondered if Leo’s hatred towards the fireworks had something to do with the fact that fire was involved but she decided to ask about it later.

“Tell me about it,” Nico agreed. “Anyway, how do you two know Hazel and Frank?”

Calypso briefly explained how she had met Hazel at the art class and Leo told Nico about Festus’ vet visit.

“Somehow Hazel even knows my second cousin from Louisiana. How crazy is that?” Leo marveled.

“Pretty crazy, yeah,” Nico admitted, not contributing more to the topic so Leo decided to ask about something else.

“You haven’t happened to hear anything about Jason or Piper lately? I accidentally ran into Piper at Christmas and she seemed to be doing OK then, but… I’m still a bit worried about them.”

“I don’t really know much.” Nico replied vaguely. “Just that Jason hasn’t been home much lately. He’s always training, or with Percy and Annabeth or… I dunno. Just avoiding dealing with the situation. Or that’s at least how Will has interpreted his behavior. He’s way better at reading others than I am.”

Leo let out a frustrated sigh. “If only those two talked it out, said what they really thought…”

Calypso couldn’t help but see the amusing side of Leo’s statement. She started chuckling at him and both Leo and Nico gave her perplexed looks.

“What’s so funny about this? I was trying to be serious, Cal.” He narrowed his eyes, folding his arms over his chest.

That only made Calypso even more amused. “I know, I know! I’m sorry. It’s just that… don’t you think that’s a little bit ironic coming from your mouth?”

“From my mouth…?”

Nico still looked like he understood nothing about what was going on, but Leo had at least a tendency to blush when he realized that Calypso was right.

“Oh, this is totally different!” he claimed. “I, um, have my reasons to keep my mouth shut in certain situations. But those two… they’re just being weird.”

“I’m not even trying to follow this conversation anymore,” Nico stated, going to gather some chips and a beer from the food table. “Will would probably be able to translate Leo’s incoherent speech but he’s not here so I’m just gonna eat quietly now.”

Leo gave him an annoyed look and focused on his own food for a while. Once finished, he told Calypso that he wanted to see where the rest of the guests were. Calypso, relieved that Nico hadn’t apparently connected the dots about their relationship, agreed to follow him, but soon she realized that it might have been a mistake when Leo was walking towards the dancing area.

Being on the dance floor usually meant that you were expected to dance.

And she was not ready to dance. At all.

First of all, she hadn’t danced in years and while Calypso usually wasn’t too self conscious about those kinds of things, she still didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of Leo and the others. Second of all, she was quite sure that people would speculate - again - if they saw her dancing with Leo and she didn’t want that. She may have told Hazel about her crush some time ago and she did trust her, but who knew what kind of connections the other people in the room had?

Suddenly she realized that she was being paranoid. The people at this party were in their late teens or early twenties and probably had never even heard of her father. And why would they care if she was dancing with him? That was a normal thing to do at parties. It didn’t automatically have to mean anything.

There were already a lot of people gathered on the dance floor when the roommates arrived there. A few were dancing a bit farther from the rest of the group, while the others were watching a pink haired girl with real tap dance shoes on showing her skills. She must have been Lavinia, Calypso concluded. And based on her determined look, she seemed ready to challenge anyone who dared to pass by into a dance battle.

“Lavi!” Hazel’s voice came from behind Calypso. “Are you showing off again?”

The group that was standing in front of Lavinia moved from her way, and Calypso got a better look at her. Her shoulder length hair was flying freely and she was wearing a purple T-shirt and black pants to go with her shoes. Calypso also noticed that even though she had stopped dancing, one of her feet still kept tapping quietly on the floor, as if she was unable to stand still.

“Sorry, Hazel. Couldn’t help myself,” Lavinia muttered, and Hazel’s expression softened a bit. Calypso was still surprised to see this side of her because usually she seemed very kind, but clearly she still had authority even over people who were way bigger and older than her whenever it was needed.

“It’s OK! But try to let the others dance too, and not just tap dance.”

“Alright,” Lavinia answered but rolled her eyes when Hazel didn’t look. Calypso could hear her whisper to the closest people: “She just doesn’t understand the art of tap dance.”

Soon after that, the people in the room started dividing into smaller groups, some trying to chat over the loud music, some dancing. Calypso and Leo tried to spot some familiar faces but Hazel had already disappeared somewhere and Frank, Nico and Rachel weren't nearby either. Just when Leo opened his mouth to ask something, Calypso noticed that Lavinia, who had stopped dancing, was approaching them.

“Hi. We haven’t met before,” Lavinia started.

“Yeah, hi. I’m Calypso. Hazel’s friend from the art classes.” She shook Lavinia’s hand and then turned towards Leo. “This is my b… flatmate Leo. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Lavinia Asimov. Hazel and I used to go to the same school,” Lavinia said, but Calypso couldn’t help but notice that even when she was shaking hands with Leo, she was actually eyeing her.

“That’s cool,” Calypso replied casually although she was starting to feel slightly weird because of the staring.

“So, Calypso, do you know how to dance?” Lavinia asked.

“Not really, I just know some very basics,” she replied. “Haven’t danced in years, to be honest.”

“I could teach you, you know,” Lavinia blurted.

“Really?” Calypso asked, slightly confused by the other girl’s eagerness.

“Sure, why not? I’m pretty good.” Lavinia grinned at her.

“Do you mean now or...?”

“Now or whenever you’d like.” The girl twirled a strand of her pink hair around her finger as she spoke.

It took Calypso a moment to realize that Lavinia was actually trying to flirt with her in her own way.

“Hold on. I’m really flattered, but… I’m already taken.” Calypso rubbed the back of her head. From the corner of her eye she could see Leo’s stance getting more relaxed when he heard her answer. “Sorry. You seem like a cool person, though.”

Lavinia seemed visibly disappointed by Calypso’s response. “Are you taken by him?” She pointed at Leo judgingly. “You could do better than that.”

Calypso wasn’t sure what to answer, given that she wasn’t supposed to reveal their secret to anyone, but to her relief Leo cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Miss Pink? We literally just met; what makes you think you know what kind of person I am? You’re right in one thing, though,” he continued before Lavinia could reply. “Namely, she is way out of my league. And her boyfriend would probably kill me if I looked at her in the wrong way.”

“But… didn’t you just say you two are flatmates?” Lavinia asked suspiciously.

“Oh, yeah,” Leo responded quickly. “Cal’s boyfriend lives far from our uni so it was more convenient for her to get a flat from somewhere nearer to it. He knows he can trust me.”

Calypso wasn’t sure what amused (and scared) her more: the lies Leo came up with or the way he managed to sound that convincing even though he was literally coming up with the story as he spoke. At least Hazel wasn’t listening because she probably wouldn’t have bought it. Eventually Calypso decided she needed to contribute to the story as well.

“Besides, my boyfriend knows that I would kick Leo’s ass if he ever did anything inappropriate.”

Calypso noticed that Leo’s mouth was twitching slightly, but he quickly pulled the poker face back on and rushed to nod along.

“Totally. I wouldn’t wanna try that.”

Lavinia finally seemed convinced enough. “Alright. Well… I think I’ll go and find something to drink now. Dancing makes me thirsty.”

“Okay, we might see you later.” Calypso nodded at her before she disappeared from view. Once they were sure that she was far enough, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Whew, she really seemed convinced we are dating,” she whispered to Leo. “I was worried she wouldn’t believe us. Also, Mister Not-boyfriend, I’ll have you know I do not approve of lying but in this case it was probably for the best. So thanks.”

Leo grinned at her. “You’re welcome. Geez, Sunshine, do you see the effect you have on people? Everyone is falling on your feet.”

Calypso blushed a bit. “It’s a bit weird… I am not used to getting attention.”

“You’ll get used to it once I shower you with the Leo love,” he whispered and Calypso blushed even harder.

“Gods, Leo! Don’t say that here!” Calypso peeked around and was relieved to see that no one they knew was nearby.

“Couldn’t resist,” he claimed but then got more serious. “Uh, so… do you think dancing would be pushing the line that we have set?”

“It probably would,” Calypso said a bit sadly. “Maybe when we’re home, though.” She added quietly.

Leo seemed pleasantly surprised by her answer. “Oh! Okay. I’ll be looking forward to that.”

“Hey, listen,” Calypso spoke again. “Maybe we should split up for a moment. Nico and Frank could probably use your company and I’d like to catch up with Hazel a bit since I haven’t had a chance yet. Is that alright with you?”

“Sure, go ahead,” Leo nodded. “I need to make sure that Nico doesn’t eat all the miniburgers from the bar.”

Calypso chuckled. “Alright. Save some for me too! I've only tasted the nachos so far!”

“I will try,” Leo replied, emphasizing the word try. “Well, see you in a bit!” He waved at her.

Once Leo had disappeared, Calypso started looking for Hazel and found her from the balcony with Rachel and a couple of other friends of hers, watching the fireworks from the distance.

“Hi, you guys,” she greeted. “Looks like nice weather for the fireworks show.”

“Yep, it is,” Hazel agreed. “So… how did your little vacation go?” She went straight to the topic, smiling at Calypso slightly mischievously. “You and Leo seemed pretty chummy over there.”

“Chummy?” Calypso laughed awkwardly. “I don’t even know what that means,” she lied, trying to use the fact that she wasn’t a native English speaker as her advantage. “But the vacation was pretty good. Sure, there were some ups and downs as you can expect when you’re spending the holidays in a new place with people you don’t know very well, but overall? I had a good time.”

“I can almost see with my own eyes what exactly happened there now…” Hazel rolled her eyes. “Come on. Give me some details. Please tell me that some progress has happened.”

“But there really is not much to tell,” Calypso insisted. “I taught Leo’s little sister Georgina some baking and sewing and stuff like that and helped with the Christmas preparations and met some new people… Oh! And Leo’s family has an animal shelter; they had some adorable dogs and cats and…”

Hazel looked less enthusiastic when she realized that Calypso really was not going to tell her any news about her and Leo.

“So… nothing really happened?” she asked.

“No,” Calypso said as convincingly as she could. “Although we did have a good talk one day and I feel that we can be more open towards each other now. But we are not together. It’s not the right time for that yet.”

Hazel tilted her head, still unconvinced. “I heard Lavinia talking about you a moment ago, though. Something about some guy not realizing how lucky he was.”

Calypso started feeling she was reaching the limits of her acting skills, but she tried her best. “I… uh, may have told her that I was taken to make things less awkward. Sorry, I know that was extremely rude of me.”

“No worries,” Hazel reassured her. “I’m sure she’ll get over it quickly. Besides, I happen to know that there’s someone she really really likes and hasn’t just found the courage to ask her out yet.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I hope she manages to do that at some point.”

The girls proceeded to talk about other things, such as Hazel’s vacation, the foster animals of Waystation and their expectations on the upcoming art classes, with Rachel joining the conversation as well. Calypso was just laughing at Rachel’s story about the many uses of a hair brush (she had used one for painting and another for threatening her teacher who had misbehaved towards her) when Nico rushed into the balcony, looking even paler than usual.

“Calypso, I think you should come. Something’s not right with Leo.”

#caleo #leo valdez #calypso #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #trials of apollo #my fics #caleo uni au

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dying-suffering-french-stalkers · 5 years ago

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wendy’s great big pirates of the caribbean fic rec list

Hello, friends! I’ve been meaning to make a Pirates fic rec list for years and the day has finally come. This list is obviously in no way exhaustive and is very much indicative of my personal biases (*cough* lots of Norrington *cough*), but I can heartily recommend every fic that made this list and I hope you all enjoy it. Making this was a labor of love and I would be thrilled to hear your thoughts on any you choose to read (though you should leave a kind comment for the author first)!

Other notes: I collected the bulk of these years ago, so there are a lot on FFnet and I have tried my best to screen them for various content warnings. I believe only two fics on this list are explicit and are marked as such. There is precious little slash on this list since that’s just not what I tended to read at the height of my Pirates phase; my apologies.

Under a cut to spare your dashes from this monster of a post.

“Mutiny on the Dauntless” by Marnie - Governor Swann and Lieutenant Norrington narrowly skirt disaster at the hands of a ruthless captain and dangerous crew on the crossing from England. [19k words. No ships. Warnings: seasickness, battle violence, minor character death, semi-graphic naval discipline.]

THE HONORAT COLLECTION in (hopefully) chronological order. This author is my uncontested favorite Pirates of the Caribbean fic writer and I’m forever grateful to them. Here’s to you, @honorat!

“Here’s Luck To You” - A collection of drabbles about Jack and Bootstrap Bill’s friendship, written in late 2005. [6k. Mind any posted warnings.]

“Homecoming” - Author’s summary: The young Captain Norrington has a rare moment alone with his beloved ship. [1k. No ships but the sailing kind. No warnings.]

“Daring Rescue, Daring Escape” - A narration of Elizabeth's rescue following her tumble off the battlement and of Jack's attempted escape afterward. [7k. Can be read as Sparrabeth. No warnings.]

“Worthy of His Steel” - Picks up where DR,DE left off, then flashes back to Will’s apprenticeship with Mr. Brown. [44k. Light Willabeth. Mind any warnings: I remember minor character death, alcoholism, and general angst.]

“A Bargain At Any Price” - Elizabeth reflects on James’ interrupted marriage proposal. [968 words. Unrequited Norribeth. No warnings.]

“Marooned” - A movie novelization of the time Jack and Elizabeth spent on Rumrunner’s Isle. (If you haven’t seen the deleted scenes from CotBP, they’re now required viewing: Part 1, Part 2.) [28k. Can be read as Sparrabeth. Warnings: alcohol; discussion of past injuries including burns, a brand, and a gunshot; discussion of death, murder, and suicide (latter related only to marooning and not seriously entertained or acted upon); mind any others.]

“Aboard the Dauntless” - Takes place directly after Marooned. More movie/deleted scene novelization. [20k. Can be read as Sparrabeth and/or (unrequited) Norribeth. Mind any warnings.]

“No Mercy” - Set aboard the Dauntless just after the battle at Isla de Muerta. Have you ever been unreasonably hecked up by the sailor who rang the bell when he spotted zombie pirates? I have because I’m Like That but now you can be too! [1k. No ships. Warnings: blood, minor character death, funeral, survivor’s guilt, mention of execution by hanging.]

“For Remembrance” - Elizabeth visits Jack in prison the day before his pending execution. [2k. Can be read as Sparrabeth. Warnings: brief mention of unsanitary prison conditions; death tokens; discussion of death, murder, and execution by hanging.]

“Balance of Justice” - The same night, Norrington struggles with the idea of Jack’s pending execution. [990 words. No ships. Warnings: mentioned minor character death, survivor’s guilt, discussion of execution by hanging.]

“Crossing the Bar” - My all-time favorite PotC fanfic. After the events of CotBP, Norrington thinks he has Jack cornered, but the pirate has other ideas. A story of truly literary proportions ensues. [156k. Canon divergent: written pre-DMC. Light Jack/Anamaria. Warnings: battle injuries, period-accurate first aid, minor character death. Other warnings posted in fic.]

“Just Between Us Dying Gods” - Jack’s POV, takes place on the island of the Pelegostos just prior to Will's arrival. [1k. No ships. Warnings: cannibalism, canon-typical ethnocentrism.]

“Bits of Shine” - A collection of drabbles (in the classic 100-word sense) spanning Pirates 1-3. [14k. Assorted canon ships. Mind any posted warnings.]

“Christmas Reunion” - Author’s description: A Christmas reunion of several beloved characters set post-AWE. Jack's POV. Entirely fluffy. [2k. Willabeth. No warnings.]

SCRUFFINGTON ANGST - Me, aged 15: but sir that’s my emotional support Good-ish Man Brought Low By Hubris (who am I kidding, that hasn’t changed a bit). As you would expect, general warnings for this section might include minor character death, survivor’s guilt, self-hatred, alcohol abuse, unsanitary conditions, etc. If you love Tortuga-related angst, this section is for you! If you don’t go for whump and other unpleasant things, scroll on.

“Seven Deadly Sins: James Norrington” by Edoraslass - Classic drabble format, exactly what it says on the bottle. Follows James’ DMC arc beginning in Tortuga. [711 words. No ships. See tags on AO3.]

“Three Days” by geekmama - Several scene narrations following James from the pig sty to Isla Cruces. Smelly bastard man. [1k. Several unrequited ships. Warnings: unsanitary, alcohol abuse.]

“Interregnum: Icarus” by ConcertiGrossi - Follows James all the way from the hurricane to Tortuga, with an epilogue just after delivering the Heart to Beckett. I dislike headcanons about Norrington ever employing sex workers - it seems very out-of-character to me - but other than that I stand by this fic. Angst alert. [16k. Canon-divergent only if you read Sins of the Father. Referenced unrequited Norribeth. Warnings: near-drowning, vomit, mass minor character death, implied (but ultimately untrue) medium character death, funerals, survivor’s guilt, self-hatred, unsanitary, coughing, nightmares, pregnancy mention, parental death, under-eating, alcohol abuse, referenced suicide, suicidal ideation.]

“Birthday Wishes” by YouCantGetThereFromHere - A one-shot AU in which James has a twin brother and they celebrate their thirtieth birthdays, one in England, the other in Tortuga. [4k. Referenced OCxOC ship in the first half. Warnings: alcohol abuse, self-hatred.]

“Eye of the Storm” by Edoraslass - Tortuga barmaid Kate is intrigued by the island’s newest barfly and strikes up a sort of friendship with Norrington until he moves on. [4k. No ships. See tags on AO3.]

“Oil and Wine” by Argyle - Norrington’s descent during his time on Tortuga. Everything comes with a price and a familiar face dogs his steps. [500 words. Norribeth. See tags on AO3.]

“Absence and Memory” by Meddow - Post-CotBP, Elizabeth reflects on her relationship with Norrington over the years. [3.7k. Norribeth. No warnings.]

“Penance More Will Do” by Meddow - Set directly after the hurricane. While a wounded James is adrift at sea, he is visited by Hector Barbossa, who gives him a choice on behalf of Calypso. [5.7k. No ships. Warnings: blood, vomit.]

“A Song for the Wretched and the Wrecked” by jadeddiva - Post-CotBP AU in which Will runs off to sea and Elizabeth consents to marry James after all. They have a lot of growing to do, but it ends well. [6.5k. Norribeth. No warnings.]

“Jack Sparrow’s Black Pearl” by Zath_Chauvert - A filk song in which Elizabeth and Will discuss Jack to the tune of “Tango: Maureen”. [468 words. Willabeth, J/W/E if you’re not a coward. No warnings.]

“Of How a Lieutenant died at Sea” by YouCantGetThereFromHere - Foregoing the ending he's given in OST, Lt. Theodore Groves instead dies in the wreckage of the Endeavour in AWE and briefly greets Will in the afterlife. [703 words. No ships. Warnings: implied major character death.]

THE ERINYA COLLECTION (I forgot that I saved a ton from this author as well! Not arranged in any particular order.)

“Curiosity” - Elizabeth reflects on her growing feelings for Jack during DMC. [828 words. Sparrabeth. Warnings: alcohol.]

“Sacrifice” - More Sparrabeth UST, Elizabeth’s POV. [527 words. Sparrabeth. No warnings.]

“One Shot” - A collection of PotC drabbles, all written pre-AWE. [6k. Various pairings. Warnings posted in fic.]

“The Game” - Jack and Tia Dalma play cards. [600 words. Can be read as Jack/Tia Dalma. No warnings.]

“Frayed” - Will and Elizabeth, post-DMC, semi-compliant with AWE, but angstier. I’m afraid this one isn’t very kind to Will but it sets up this author’s character dynamics/reasons for Sparrabeth. [1k. Willabeth, implied Sparrabeth. Warnings: very poor communication.]

“Something Rich and Strange” - A Will/Tia Dalma one-shot, of all things. A touch of destiny, indeed. Written pre-AWE based on fan speculation. [2k. Canon-divergent. Will/Tia Dalma, background Sparrabeth. PG-13.]

“Ocean Heart” - Post-AWE, Elizabeth is visited by Calypso on that lonely beach. [1k. Implied Willabeth. No warnings.]

“The Pirate’s Progress” - Post-DMC, Jack takes a jaunt through the afterlife, featuring all sorts of fun mythology/folklore. [10k. I’m gonna be real with y’all, I don’t remember if there’s anything shippy or triggery but I don’t think so? Implied major character death I guess but he got better]

“Worlds Enough, And Time” - Futuristic AU in which Jack and Elizabeth both partook of the Fountain of Youth. Our beloved pirates...IN SPAAAAACE. Angst with a happier ending. [3k. Sparrabeth, implied Willabeth. Canon-divergent in multiple ways. Warnings: alcohol, discussions of death, suicidal ideation, referenced minor character death.]

“Janus and the Prodigal” - A conversation between Jack and Teague, a few years post-AWE. [1k. Can be read as Sparrabeth. No warnings.]

“At Peace” by Rising Waters - Author’s summary: Elizabeth has been faithful for the allotted ten years, so Will is free of the Dutchman—but he is still plagued by thoughts of a man whose death he feels responsible for: James Norrington. [1k. Willabeth, unrequited Norribeth. Warnings: referenced character death.]

“Second Chances” by geekmama - AU in which James was only wounded by Bootstrap, not killed, and Will drops him off at Shipwreck Cove to be with Jack and Elizabeth for the next ten years. Fluff all around. [1k. Willabeth, can be read as Sparrington if you’re not a coward. No warnings.]

“For Honour A Heart’s Demise” by Meddow - Another AU in which James is only wounded aboard the Flying Dutchman, only this time he gets to partake in the rest of AWE and becomes captain of the Dutchman instead of Will. A goddess is defied and everything makes sense. [10k. Willabeth, unrequited Norribeth. Warnings: brief suicidal ideation, survivor’s guilt, grievous bodily harm, major character death (but he gets better).]

“Between Wind and Water” by rexluscus - Author’s description: “England and Spain are at war, and Norrington needs a quick solution to the Jack Sparrow problem. Meanwhile, Jack discovers that the Caribbean he once knew is gone. The deal they make could solve both their troubles, or it might be the worst mistake of their lives. This story is AU after the first film (sequels never happened). It's an experiment in dropping POTC characters into an actual historical event: the Battle of Cartagena de Indias in 1741.” [90.3k. Sparrington. See tags on AO3.]

“betwixt the devil and the deep sea” by notbecauseofvictories - A character study of Jack Sparrow in an AU with angels and demons. [2k. No ships. See tags on AO3.]

“coda” by notbecauseofvictories - Elizabeth during her time as the Pirate King. [1k. Willabeth, Sparrabeth. See tags on AO3.]

FICS I HAVE NOT YET FINISHED but would nevertheless like to recommend:

The “Rash Actions” series by @blanketed-in-stars - I’ve been meaning to finish this for 7000 years but I thoroughly enjoyed the early chapters! Nicole is a wonderful writer and is doing the Lord’s work in writing quality Turrington content. [147k. James/Will. See tags on AO3.]

“In Service to the King” by sleepylotus/@apirateslifeforme123 - An AU in which Elizabeth finds James in Tortuga after she becomes the Pirate King. I loved the first few chapters! [31.7k. Norribeth, Sparrabeth. Explicit. WIP. See tags on AO3.]

OTHER LINKS SINCE I HAVE YOU HERE

Curse of the Black Pearl early screenplay (first draft)

Dead Man’s Chest screenplay (final production draft)

At World’s End early screenplay (leaked draft)

Deleted scenes: (CotBP above in Marooned) DMC, AWE

#pirates of the caribbean #potc #fanfiction #fic #fic recs #willabeth #sparrabeth #norribeth #jack/anamaria #sparrington #turrington #tortuga #holy god this is long #i hope this posts #masterpost #long post

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w-ngs · 4 years ago

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aug20

very proud of myself

this month. 6 books isn’t even a big number—it’s a small number, actually—but it’s been literal years since i’ve read that consistently. i guess i could say some good things came out of quarantine.

***

normal people, sally rooney — well, i mean, it was nice. two white, het teenagers, falling in love(?) and having sex on the side. nothing groundbreakingly new. not to mention how toxic and co-dependent their relationship was. i didn’t expect much going in, and that was probably a good thing because i didn’t really get much out of it either. i found reading connell’s pov a little annoying because he was very much a helpless child who didn’t have the balls to do much of anything for himself. reading marianne’s story, how she grew up in such a toxic household environment, and then her downwards spiral towards the end of the book was quite pitiful in its own way. one thing i did like, however, was how rooney depicted depression for both characters. it was natural and not overdone or too in-your-face with the “i am sad.”

a 6/10.

***

the little prince, antoine de saint-exupéry — so cute!! so, so cute. i remember trying to read this when i was younger, but i don’t think i ever actually finished it. the book was a simple, refreshing read—something very much needed after months and months of brain dead-ness during quarantine. i didn’t expect such a melancholy ending, but for being such a little guy, he made a lot of good points about what life should really be about. a good book to read from time to time to remind yourself about the true value of life.

a 8/10.

***

heartless, marissa meyer — i expected a lot from this because i was so freaking obsessed with meyer’s lunar chronicles when i was younger (which i never actually finished, so i will have to get on that soon), but unfortunately it disappointed. the pacing was waaaaay too slow, there were a lot of unnecessary scenes i found myself forcing myself to get through, and the chemistry between the two leads was more of a fizzle than a spark. the only part that really grabbed my interest was the very end of the story when catherine finally became the literally heartless queen everyone’s familiar with. the way she got her heart stolen was pretty unique and a good plot twist. but the romance in my opinion served as nothing more than a dragged out plot device that would’ve been more impactful if the book had been half its length.

a 6/10.

***

fahrenheit 451, ray bradbury — what can i say man. it’s ray bradbury. he’s a literary genius whose effortless way with words loses me completely in his worlds. i read this once before in middle school, but i read it again recently to jog my memory of the plot. and also because it’s a work of art. it felt kind of psychedelic, the way he described the “family,” his perhaps slightly unhinged boss, and the voice of our little girl clarisse who met a very untimely end. the ending had quite a nice message, i think. i love books, especially physical copies of books, holding them in my hands and literally feeling myself getting sucked into a whole new world, and i would hate if our society ever had to lose that.

a 9/10.

***

calypso, david sedaris — i’ve never read a book written for comedy before, but i believe this one was a pretty good first choice. while reading, i never really find myself laughing out loud at anything—most likely the books i’ve read in the past didn’t have humor as one of their main genres. but i couldn’t believe it when i heard myself literally cackling at a witty insight or snide insult at a dead relative. sedaris is one heck of a comedian, even when he doesn’t even try. also, his fashion sense? amazing. i wish i had the confidence of a tiny gay man who has no problem pulling off waist-high cowboy boots.

a 7/10.

***

all the light we cannot see, anthony doerr — a separate review of the book here. please read it if you haven’t yet. please.

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frogocado · 5 years ago

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A Golden Labyrinth of Noise Part 5 (Damien Haas au)

These past two weeks since the last chapter have felt like two dang months, you guys. With all this negative stuff happening, I’m v grateful to have a place for me to channel things into writing and making people smile. A shorter word count this time, but I think you’ll be pleased with it. Remember that reblogs help out creators a lot!

Begin the series here. Warnings: none Tag list (please message me if you’d like to be added): @latenlghtdevil, @star-mum, @thegigglehutsbonkyjilliams, @wierdlywonderful, @damiien-haas Word count: 1.6k.

5. Calypso

Two voices carried up the hill to the mausoleum. It was a windless night in the kingdom and both young men were still adjusting to the silence in the graveyard as their boots carried them up and up. After the first escape, Damien made sure to carry conversation on while they were surrounded by graves and mementos, as if talking cemented him in the current reality.

As Knight Topp pulled his chain plate back on, Damien was leaning against the stone chamber of the mausoleum. “Who is that bar maiden? Not the blonde one,” He questioned, glancing over at the Knight.

“Which one?” Knight Topp responded. “At the Lion?”

“No, at the apothecary,” Damien rolled his eyes, a hand ruffling through his hair. “Of course at the Lion, Shayne.”

Knight Topp was still not used to the prince calling him his first name. It had been about a month since they had begun their escapades out of the castle walls and each time, Damien seemed to be just as—if not more so—enthralled by the village beneath the castle. He always insisted that Knight Topp stand or sit right next to him, as if their statuses were dashed in the wind the moment the King had assigned the Knight to his side. The Knight considered that this was all because of suspicion until the Prince had started to insist that Knight Topp walk side by side with him even within the castle grounds.

“I don’t know that much.”

As Knight Topp adjusted his plates, he watched Damien’s eyes narrow in his peripheral vision. “You must know something,” the Prince continued. “I know you don’t frequent other taverns as much as Moss’s place, you said it yourself.”

“I don’t know that much about her, honestly.” Knight Topp rose, his armor and bones both creaking as he stood. With Damien’s help, they pulled the loose board over their escape route free. “She came about half a year ago. She sings every month.”

The Prince nodded thoughtfully as Knight Topp began his descent into the tunnel. He didn’t speak again until he had climbed in after his Knight and their boots fell in step back toward the castle. “You know nothing more?” The Prince prodded, glancing over at the other man. “Not even her name?”

Knight Topp thought for a moment, realizing he never actually heard David call her anything but “caged bird” or “siren.” He pulled at the threads of his memory, tracing them back to a time just before he had met the prince. He had gone to the Lion with Apprentice Grossman after a particularly hard day for the young lad. Courtney had been joking with the two of them when the other bar maiden had finally come around the other side of the bar, bumping shoulders with the blonde. The Knight had noted the way that Courtney’s smile grew wider when the maiden had appeared, a laugh immediately lacing her breath before the other even spoke.

Damien’s left boot dragging dirt in the tunnel under the village pulled the Knight back into reality. “Y/N,” he answered definitively, turning to watch the Prince.

Damien was watching his feet but Knight Topp still saw his eyes glint, the corners of his mouth creeping up into a smile. “Y/N,” he repeated, humming with curiosity. The Prince’s hand was skimming the stone walls, fingertips moving along like he was tracing familiar symbols.

The Prince hummed soft melodies that filled the space with warm notes. The Knight hadn’t realized why the tune had sounded so familiar until they reached the heavy door that led back into the castle. “My friend, I have a favor to ask you,” Damien said softly. He had stopped walking and turned, facing Knight Topp straight in the face. The young man never got used to meeting his Prince’s eyes, no matter how often Damien tried. His gaze always wavered away, even when there was no one else but the two of them.

Once, in the library, Damien stared at his friend for a full two minutes and timed how long his friend met his in return. The Knight had grown so frustrated with the game, he had left the section.

“What is it?” Knight Topp asked, eyes flickering away from the other man.

Damien, the twisted prince, smiled at how quickly he could get his friend to flinch. What a fun game, much better than when he would play hide and seek in Sir Overshire’s maze. Damien was still learning Knight Topp’s limitations like dead end hedges.

“Don’t include any mention of Y/N in your reports to my father.” Knight Topp’s eyebrows began to knit and Damien interrupted him before a single syllable could slip out of his now opened mouth. “Please, Shayne.”

Knight Topp could not recount a single time he had heard the king or queen say “please” to each other or others in the past two and a half months of serving under the crown. And yet, Damien would say the word and his thanks with a pure sincerity nearly every day. Even with Miss Takahashi, who was seldom ever speaking anything but mumbled curses and a series of grunts, was met with (petty jests but also) gratitude and appreciation from the prince.

“M-may I ask why, my prince?” Knight Topp’s voice entered the fray, a soft whisper as the prince’s hands landed on his shoulders. He could feel the weight of the request even through his chainmail.

“Because I am asking you, my friend. Shall I get on my knees and beg?”

“That’s hardly necessary,” the knight brushed off the prince’s hand, rolling his eyes. “It’s also not very princely. Would you like me to leave that out of my reports as well?” He was wondering now when Damien was going to wrap on the charade of the evening so he could retreat to his quarters and write about the past few hours. Miss Takahashi had brought Knight Topp a bundle of papers bound to leather covers a week prior, gruffly telling him it was a “gift from His Royal King Haas.”

The prince gave him a laugh shirk and stood in front of the door to the kitchens, folding his arms in front of his chest. “I may order you, if you’d prefer, but I thought you and I were past that line of thinking with one another.”

Knight Topp sighed, defeat escaping from his chest. “Fine, yes, fine. I’ve already committed enough treason to last my entire career and study as a knight—what’s something more?” He met the prince’s eyes, expecting him to be proud of his victory. Instead, Damien’s eyes were cast down on the ground, arms unfolding. The knight had never seen the prince so solemn and suddenly, he was struck with the realization that he had never once seen Damien’s face turn grave. “My friend?” Knight Topp gave a small offering, watching as Damien turned away from him, his hand on the oak door.

“I understand how this whole thing may seem jovial and silly to you.” The prince’s voice was soft, nearly swallowed into the wood. “I have never once felt free in my life. I am tied to my family, my privilege, my status. I know how that sounds, especially coming from me. There are so many expectations, so many rules. Everywhere I go, I am watched, but I cannot recall a time beyond the past few months that I have felt so seen.

I ask that you don’t include her in your reports because having her there binds another to my title. I have never heard someone sing with such freedom. I have never felt so…” Damien’s voice died in the air and he turned back to Knight Topp again, his expression fixed into an even serenity. Knight Topp was struck by this portrait of a true prince. Damien chewed on his lip and the Knight shifted, watching as he searched for the correct word. The prince had begun bringing Knight Topp his favorite books from the library, which they would discuss over breakfast. Knight Topp never knew there could be so many words.

“Infatuated,” the prince settled on.

The knight had heard this word many times, often in stories his mother would read to him before bed as a child. It was always in fairy tales, which the knight could not find more insufferable, but the wispiness in his mother’s voice calmed him into slumber that made the stories somewhat redeemed.

He found himself nodding as Damien’s eyes settled on his own. “I understand,” he said gently. “I shall keep her out of my reports, then.”

“Do you promise?”

Knight Topp scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Yes, I promise.”

Damien’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, my friend.” Or a moment, he thought about hugging the knight, but turned away to push the door to the kitchen open. “Shall we meet at the same time tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow? Why so soon?” Knight Topp questioned, moving sacks and barrels back in front of the door once they were inside. Smells of seeded bread and remnants of dinner’s beef stew made his chest feel warm and calm, despite the break in routine that the prince had just suggested. They had only been leaving the castle at most twice a week.

“I must find a way to know more about her.” Damien shrugged out of his cloak, discarding it over the sacks. “I’m off to retire to my chambers. Have a pleasant sleep, my friend.”

Knight Topp’s boots felt as if someone had pasted them to the floor of the kitchen, watching the prince wave as his frame disappeared into the hallway. Even though most inside the castle were asleep, Knight Topp could hear Damien humming as he wandered to his room, the prince’s voice carrying like waves.

#smosh #damien haas #shayne topp #prince!damien au #smosh fic #smosh imagine #smosh au #damien haas fic #damien haas imagine #damien haas x reader #damien haas au #shayne topp au #shayne topp fic #glon #fic #mine

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cruddyborderlandstheories · 5 years ago

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Museum of Mayhem Art Analysis

ahhh it’s finally here and it’s AWESOME. Lots of credit to @ifalnasminiatures for bringing this to my attention! Also credit to Hayder Hype for providing (nat zero six on gearbox forums) sources (Ashley Landry on twitter) in the description of his video because oh man it’s a lot

you can view most of these art pieces on the borderlands instagram as well

lots to talk about especially regarding the calypso twins so let us dive right in

tl;dr: tyreen has a weird red marking on her face in some old designs. i think troy used to be blind and missing his metal plates. more proof for my elpis/chemical sludge/lost legion theory that the twins are using said chemical sludge to give their followers psuedo-siren powers bc a dahl pumping station (hyperion pumping stations on pandora) but dahl had a presence on the moon

one of my favorites, it reminds me a lot of the Mask of Mayhem, but for villains.

Punk Girl is shown again twice, probably further proving she’s tied in with the CoV somehow

we also got some crazy looking villains such as

baby face. which is all kinds of extremely fucked up

this dude who looks like he could be a miniboss with the glasgow smile and the cool goggles

this guy who i legitimately thought was dr zed for a hot second there

could it be

the evilest brother?? pfft nahhh

this girl who seems like she could be a unique character with a baseball cap. wondering if maybe she’s related to Punk Girl in any way. What’s the verdict on the other band members? 🤔

uhh let’s give it a solid maybe and move on

this piece! very interesting to me

so, the very first thing i noticed is zane’s eye patch being on the other eye lol

amara’s tattoos are also gone, however that might’ve been for reasons similar to the japanese cover art of the game.

most interestingly is a point @ifalnasminiatures made and it’s that the calypso twins are actually palette swapped! you can see Troy is the one with the white hair and Ty is the one with the darker hair. which I think mayyy play into a few things we see later about the twins

we also see a tiny ship in the background. i can’t tell if that’s sanctuary-iii or the blue/yellow ship, it all blends together a lot due to the quality of the pic. but it is next to the calypso twins, which makes me want to believe it’s the blue/yellow ship we see with red markings all over it. you know this one from the mural of mayhem wallpapers

you can see the reddish markings on the back right next to the engines

then we have ummm

this cover art

😬

thanks for not using this one gearbox cuz

oh my god

she just reminds me of suicide squad, that’s not a good image you wanna dredge up from the deep recesses of your fans’ brains

she might be a unique character given the clothes/hair? cuz you don’t normally see psychos with stilettos on. or yknow, shoes in general. the hair also seems way to clean and neat to be a psycho/cultist

i just feel uncomfortable looking at this, so moving on

a different logo. also not my favorite cover art, but at least im not physically uncomfortable looking at this. that poor girl’s pelvis... anyway

lots of silhouettes

interestingly, i feel like the roses might have been a thing they just put in for the new cover art. haven’t seen hide nor hair of them across any of the pictures i’ve seen.

we got a lot of figures. out of them i most definitely recognized amara, salvador, maya, another salvador?, zer0, moze (maybe?), and axton. i thiiink one of them is maya as well, but im not 100% on that.

i can guess why they didn’t pick this one: it’s hard to tell who’s who. a lot of these poses make the silhouettes kinda hard to see and the merging together at the bottom makes things even worse. i do think it’s interesting there are some bl2 characters on here as well, but hayder hype mentioned they very well could be placeholders, and given that i can’t make out fl4k or zane, im inclined to believe him.

this art which was used during the promo for this event

rip elpis i guess LMAO

a better look at the psycho himself from the promo released by the borderlands twitter.

there’s a new red planet which hasn’t been shown off before, looks like a gassy planet kinda like jupiter, but interestingly it has this green crack in the side?

very reminiscent of pandora’s eridium scar. i am wondering if this is because this planet had a vault opened, or if it is tied to the Eridians at all. be interesting if it was their homeworld.

also i have no idea what the symbolism is in the homeworld destroying another planet but maybe we shouldn’t think about it too hard e_e

the other planet that’s being destroyed... idk fellas

it doesn’t match up to me but like, this is only one shot

i don’t know 🤔 if you really squint, maybe you can see that hint of purple at the bottom there?

here

tbh, i thought this was elpis the first time i saw it due to the cracks, but i figured elpis doesn’t have like continents across its surface, just craters. and wayyy more cracks.

so it’s probably not pandora and it’s probably not elpis.

huh...

i do think the actual shot is suspended above promethea, you can see the familiar asteroid belt surrounding it

there’s also a planet in the background,

which i imagine isn’t pandora bc no eridian scar

could be elpis or eden-6, or the 5th planet we don’t know about. i kinda get the feeling the 5th planet may be that gaseous red planet tho. which is probably going to be super weird to traverse now that i think about it. they said oz kits weren’t coming back, right? i wonder how that would work. hmmmm

there’s also this redder planet here which i actually DO think is Pandora. if you squint real hard u can see the purple from the eridian scar. plus the color matches up pretty well with the pictures provided above.

there’s also these two bodies over in the corner where the light is coming from. i can’t tell what they’re supposed to be

there are also these little dudes in the top right

i assume they’re maliwan? they remind me a lot of the maliwan drop ship things that fly overhead when you enter promethea

YESSS okay this is the start of some PRETTY WILD twin stuff

troy: missing his tattoos, blind in one eye, has a weird mark above his eyebrow. also, no metal bits!

Tyreen!!! with a red stripe across her left cheek going up to her eye??? no tattoos on her left arm as far as we can see, but that might be for marketing reasons (she’s also covering up part of her bicep). she’s also missing her coat and chains and wearing a different glove.

we also have a bunch of bl2 VHs taking up space. again i think hayder hype is right in that they’re simply placeholders. not much else to say, but

this trend of Tyreen having red markings on her face and Troy being blind in an eye (or both) actually continues through a fair amount of these posters!!!

more cover art. one of my least favorites again... i just think it looks like the psycho is puking out the VHs. also, seems to be an older version of the psycho mask.

fl4k seems to be less rendered than the rest of the cast? like they have less detail, especially on their coat

also you can see an older looking space shuttle up at the top, which reminds me a lot of the one we use in TFTBL to get to helios. except less caravanny and more rockety

the splatter also reminds me of siren powers, with the purple and the glitter. it’s cool that it’s showing a different shot than what’s behind it. maybe a hint to siren powers because it’s sort of like a portal.

more puke!

this time troy is blind in both eyes it seems,

tyreen seems to still have a mark on the left side of her face, im wondering if this ties into her scars at all? it doesn’t seem as prominent as the previous red mark.

Zane seems to have an actual eye patch instead of his more high-tech eye patch, which reminds me a lot of the leaked character concepts from like january i wanna say

amara seems to be dual wielding lol i wonder if originally that was going to be one of her 3 skills but then they were like “wait salvador. wait. nisha. FUC-”

also fl4k is being obscured by this weird saturn-like planet. let them be free!

moze is missing, the saturn like planet shows up 2 times total, and that blue/yellow ship is seen again behind troy

as for the purple stuff? you already know my theory that the twins are going to be using the chemical sludge on elpis to empower their followers. it could also just be straight eridium/slag. you know, like the testing from the WEP with bloodwing and even krieg. we’ll have to see. it would be interesting if they tied krieg into the story through there.

i do lowkey think it’s chemical sludge though, because some of it is actually glowing blue in places, you can see it clearly below amara’s feet. maybe some tie in to siren powers cuz they glow the same blueish color. who knoooows not i

big shot of this psycho here, looks like he’s crumbling.

i really like the 4 VHs standing at the base with the elongated shadows. very dark vibes from this tho, probably not suitable for the series as a whole. i can see why maybe they decided not to do it.

i wonder if we’ll see this giant psycho statue somewhere on pandora. it would certainly be a sight to behold.

also i kinda wish we had cloaks like the concept art shows. cloaks are cool

more sketchy art. this one is also kinda strange, i definitely get why they decided not to go thru with it.

possibly tie-in with the ‘mother’ imagery we get on the propaganda signs across pandora.

lmfao the foot

very bl2 like, im glad they didn’t stick with this. i like that they decided to change things up

troy seems to be blind and also missing his metal implants on his face. his jacket also looks a lot different, it looks more like tyreen’s with the spikes and stuff across it. we also can’t see his metal arm at all, tho we do see his sword! which looks a lot different, im glad they decided to revamp it to be more visually interesting lol

tyreen is more interesting to me. it looks like her right arm has like a silver coating over it? unless that is a metal arm as well. she also is wearing a different kind of glove. her tattoos are missing as well, but again, it’s probably because of the cover art. her scars also definitely seem to have reached her left cheek at some point.

zane also looks a lot different, tho amara, moze, and fl4k look about the same.

another shot of the ship, this one is definitely the blue/yellow one. there’s gotta be some significance with that, right? either we’re getting skins for sanc-iii, we’re going to be painting it a new color, or it’s a different ship.

what the HECK

maybe the twins stole sanc-ii and we’re using sanc-iii. idek. this ship is driving me up a wall lol

gun head.

not a lot to say here. i actually like this one lol it’s very mellow and straight to the point. it’s nice that the logo is right in the middle, not at the top like most of them.

game. buy it. okay? cool.

similar to the other background we did, a bit different. again, like @ifalnasminiatures pointed out, the twins are actually palette swapped here.

Zane also has the old eyepatch on his right eye instead of his left eye, and his jacket is black instead of blue. fuckin’ edgelord.

one of my favorite ones out of all of them. it’s beautiful, i really wish they had kept it. Fl4k is missing but i assume they were meant to go next to Amara? i also think it’s interesting Moze is in the front, as I took Amara to be the leader this time around. Zane is also an older design, with the eyepatch back on his left eye again (starting to think this is an aesthetic thing lol) and a black jacket instead of blue.

We see the twins on the top. Tyreen has that mark on her face again, and Troy is the same as the last few covers.

We also see Maya, Zer0, and for some reason Brick? Which is weird to me considering we have a few other characters who initially feel much for important to the story (cough Lilith cough), but I’m not complaining.

the purple splatters again make me think this is a tie in to eridium/slag/elpis’s chemical sludge. i also like the logo being worked into the design instead of just thrown on top, i think that’s a nice detail

i couldn’t find a great shot of this poster which is a shame because it’s one of my favorites

a lot of baddies to go around on here. i love the dude up top, he reminds me of the Anchormen from the captain scarlett dlc in bl2!

these dudes

we can see Punk Girl on the left again

and this guy who appears to be in some medieval armor

i have no idea what’s going on there but i am EXCITED

i’ve been thinking and tbh i think the multiple planets thing was just an excuse for gearbox to go absolutely ham on the character designs/settings.

i mean why should they have to hold back all their medieval armor designs for another dlc like tiny tina’s? all their pirate/sea-fairing designs for a pirate dlc? fuck it! go WILD. i think they did, anywho

there’s also this post which... tbh i can’t make out much at all. again, seems like an older psycho mask design. it looks like there are characters in the splatter on the bottom left, but it’s very hard to tell who’s who, especially at this angle and image quality lol

if we get a better shot later on i may return to this piece and try to figure things out!

we also have this piece which is giving me huge ‘Happy Together’ vibes. very trippy

moze looks like she’s using an untextured atlas gun? dunno what’s going on with that tbh lol

i really like this one too. it’s cool. i get why maybe they wanted to go a little crazier tho, feels too simplistic for the MAYHEM vibe they’re going for.

oof! can we get an F in chat for whatever planet/moon this is

lots of pink floyd vibes going on here as well

we see a different looking blue/yellow ship flying away from the explosion. it seems to missing a lot of the parts that make sanc-iii so recognizable including the engines/wings

i like the destruction vibe they’re going for here, really sells the “universe destroying power” the twins are supposedly going to get.

anyway, in addition to the cover art pieces, we also got a few concept art pieces as well!

this bit which looks like a gun

you see the aiming mechanism up there? you see how it’s aimed at that planet/moon? yeah i 100% timed this so you’d see the above concept art with this immediately after :P (im kidding i didn’t but hey now you don’t have to scroll)

fuck yeah babey

we also have seen something similar to this in the gameplay trailer!

i didn’t actually think it was a giant fucking GUN tho. can we get an F in chat for Promethea and/or whatever else this thing gets aimed at

yooo

i thought this was opportunity at first cuz of the bridge but it’s more likely promethea

when u go meet zer0 you can see some water surrounding the city so i would guess this is somewhere else on promethea

im mostly interested in the giant fuckin triangle in the middle of that courtyard looking area

oh also the giant trench of destruction on the right there. that’s probably important, too.

more concept art!

i think the bottom of the 4 VHs is actually what was leaked in january.

some art of the twins on the left there, tyreen is so much shorter than troy omfg

and this does indeed looks to be a younger version of angel so credit to @prettypinkdork for mentioning that on my angel post. it is nice to see those tech-y wings in action, definitely does prove it’s her.

we can also see this art of what i think is Punk Girl, which is interesting to me because she looks to be doing something with her right hand. possible siren powers? maybe!

we also get a much cooler, bigger version of that maliwan ship people were talking about, with what look to be maliwan... eye bots? surrounding it. this is soooo fuckin awesome to me because it reminds me of a sailboat. and airships are fucking COOL

but something interesting is that i don’t think this ship was actually always maliwan

we got an A in the back here... for Atlas? i mean... you know it’s coming... the colors would match up. Yeahhhhhhh...

more interesting is that it actually looks like maliwan covered it up with their flags/tarps. i would not be surprised if this was claimed by maliwan possibly during the takeover.

a cyclone, with a whole fuckin lot of detail. just... holy shit.

not much else to say here though. i like the stuffed animal on the side, though

a better shot of jakobs manor which holy shit looks badass as fuck

big turret/observation thing on the right there? im not sure

pretty sure this is eden-6. also more tropical trees? possibly a water planet? but maybe just ocean on eden-6. also there seems to be like webbing on whatever is on the road, so maybe some spider-like wildlife?

most important to me is this

yeah i would bet that’s eridium/slag/the chemical sludge from elpis

im pretty convinced this is something on elpis mostly because the DAHL logo on the side. which again, they were on pandora yes but they were mining for iridium not eridium. if this was pandoran pumping stations, that would be hyperion.

i do think this is elpis. and i do think the twins are using the chemical sludge that mutated the lost legion into those fake siren things to give their followers superpowers.”holy holy holy” indeed.

this, plus the rakk wings on the psycho in the mask of mayhem are just convincing me more and more

that’s all for now folks. i gotta run

#borderlands #bl3 #borderlands 3 #OOF

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phoenix-downer · 6 years ago

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Dead Man’s Heart

For the KH3 Countdown Challenge.

Day 10 - Love

Love. Davy Jones had no place for it on his ship… or in his heart. Which was why he wanted to get rid of this blasted fool as soon as he could.

Oh, and William Turner, too.

“Tia Dalma said you took out your own heart,” the boy said, face young and youthful, like Davy Jones’s had been before love had waged its costly war.

“That’s what’s in the chest, right?” he added. “Not whatever it is Luxord’s looking for.”

Davy Jones gave the foolish boy a glare. He truly had no idea of danger, mentioning her name in the presence of Davy Jones.

“Do you fear death, boy?” Davy Jones snarled, tentacles flaring.

The boy was remarkably calm, his gaze steady. “No.”

Davy Jones jerked his head back. The boy wasn’t lying, that much he could tell. And there was something else, something—

Hmmmm. “I offer you a choice, then. Join my crew. ”

Even if the boy did not fear death, he could always use new crew members, especially after how all the battles lately had reduced their numbers.

The boy held his hands out in front of him. “I like being a pirate, don’t get me wrong, but I think I’ll pass.” He flashed him an easy gold-toothed smile. “I have someone waiting for me back home.”

As Davy Jones suspected. He turned around to hide his disgust.

“You’re better off without her, whoever she may be,” he spat. “A heart will bring you nothing but pain.”

“Speaking from experience?”

Davy Jones whirled around and grabbed the boy by the collar so they were standing face to face. To his credit he didn’t flinch, just stared right back.

“I'll take that as a yes,” he said, his nose wrinkling.

Davy Jones’ eyes narrowed. “You’d do well to keep your nose out of my business, boy.”

But he couldn’t take a hint. “She’s why you took out your heart, isn’t she?”

Davy Jones flung the boy against the wall, and he hit it with a painful-sounding thud, his face scrunching up and his eyes shutting. But after a few moments he peeled himself off it, and his blue eyes opened, brilliant against the murky depths of the Flying Dutchman’s bowels.

“I know something of what that feels like.” His hand went to his heart. “You see… I took out my heart, too.”

Davy Jones stared at him. “Your heart beats in your chest.. I can hear it.”

“I got it back.”

Was that even possible?

“You… forgave her?” Davy Jones asked, taking a step closer to the boy.

“She found me, alone in the darkness, wandering around without a heart.” The boy actually smiled as he continued. “There was nothing to forgive, because I chose to do it. I took it out to save her. And then she saved me in return.”

Davy Jones stopped. “She didn’t betray you, then.”

He shook his head. “No. But if I can get my heart back, why can’t you?”

Davy Jones should’ve known. It was too good to be true. The betrayal he had suffered could never be forgiven, should never be forgiven. His heart was better off where it was, under lock and key.

“Foolish boy, you think there’s hope for me and for her. But I…” He stabbed himself in the chest with his claw, and the boy’s eyes went wide, “…am a heartless wretch,” he said, yanking it back out. “I do not love her and she does not love me. Now, get off of my ship before I tear your blasted heart out a second time.”

The boy gave him one last look, his eyes filled with pity. “She’s not the one who failed you. You failed her.”

Davy Jones moved to make good on his promise, but the boy was faster than he looked. He warped out of the way and was gone within moments, leaving Davy Jones alone once more.

He lifted the small locket that always hung from one of his tentacles and listened as its familiar haunting melody played.

“Calypso…”

Yes, his heart was better off where it was. Love had brought him nothing but pain. If the boy hadn’t learned that yet, it was only a matter of time before it taught him life’s cruel lesson.

A heart just wasn’t worth the cost.

Quick story time: I grew up watching the Pirates movies and am really glad the franchise is making a return to Kingdom Hearts. Davy Jones is a great villain and I really felt for him in At World’s End when he and Tia Dalma/Calypso talk about what happened to their love for each other. Anyway, Davy Jones’s heartless (literally) condition as a result got me thinking about a certain character who also lost his heart as a result of love, but for a very different reason and with a very different outcome. I’ve been wanting to write this conversation since E3 of last year, and I finally got around to it. I'm curious to see if canon will make the connection, but if not, this was a lot of fun to write :)

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!

#kh3countdownchallenge #kingdom hearts #sora #davy jones #phoenix writes #phoenix downer #sokai #shiptease #kh3 spoilers #potc spoilers

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etherealblasphemy · 6 years ago

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Calypso, Revisited

OOOH THE TIME HAS ARRIVED AT LAST! this is the penultimate chapter of Starbound!!! it’s almost over, holy crap!

I’m really excited about this chapter, since I’ve never written a battle scene. I’m kind of nervous about how y’all will like it.

Anywho, away with the story!

TW: Battles, heavy language, mentions of guns, mentions of blood and injuries, (dare i say it) character death

No. No way. The myth of Calypso was just that— a myth. Yet, a beast so akin to the one of legend stood before them, bent by chaos to kill them. The serpent swayed in front of them as if mocking them. Cal’s breath hitched, heart swelling with something akin to terror.

“Guys?” they whispered, their voice small and childish. “What’s happening?”

“...I don’t know,” Roman replied, clutching his drowsy head as he shook off the effects of the ragar. Virgil clung to his arm, terrified that the serpent would attack and take Roman away from him.

“So docile, Descendant? One would have thought you would be more proactive with the fate of the universe in your hands…” the serpent hissed. “Perhaps there is something that can be done about that.” In a heartbeat, the ground began to shake violently. Someone, one of the guards, let out a shriek as a blackened hand shot out from the ground beneath them. Cal clumped with their family, terrified, as bodies dug themselves up from the ground, their forms smokey and wavering as though they were made of mist and shadows.

“Rise, my little warriors,” the monstrous serpent cried gleefully. “Destroy the Descendant of the Heavens!” The serpent made some noise that could only be described as a cackle as the shadows arrived from the depths of Chaos.

“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit,” Virgil muttered. “If it weren’t for the adrenaline in my systems right now, I would have definitely blacked out at least once by now!”

“Silence!” the serpent commanded. Virgil’s eyes flew wide with fear as he obeyed, his mouth snapping shut. “Mortals such as yourself shouldn’t even think of speaking to me. There is only one here who I’ll even dream of considering my equal.” Its eyes fell onto Cal, who squeaked quietly.

“Tell— tell me why you’re doing this, Draven!” they shouted, their voice echoing across the rolling hills. The serpent seemed to scoff.

“Draven? Who’s he? Never heard of him.”

“You lying bastard!” Roman bellowed, moving only a foot before Virgil caught his arm, holding him back. “I’ll kill you my—”

“I SAID SILENCE.” The prince froze, at last submitting. “I am the beast. I am the monster. I am the shadow-creature, the destroyer, all that wrong with this world and then some. Or so you mortals choose to write me. I am more than a story, my darling. I am the rightful holder of the Gazer Stone. I am the one who shall rule this wretched universe and right all of your pitiful wrongdoings, for I am the only being in existence who truly understands my actions and their consequences. I am the past, the present, and the future. I am the good and the evil, the light and the dark.” It seemed to smile, proudly showing off its gleaming fangs. “If I am but a beast, do tell me, Descendant of the Heavens, why I cannot be defeated?”

Cal whimpered under their shaking breath. “You— you haven’t been defeated yet. But there’s always a first time for everything.”

“Like how there’s a first time for you to die as you ought to?” Cal fell silent, an irritated flush on their cheeks. The serpent’s eyes narrowed to slits, pleased to be able to continue with its tirade.

“Did you know? It was so incredibly easy to convince him. A little spite and a little self-hate will do the trick. Let him get to know you, trust you— like you, even. Add in the death of his only child—” Roman gasped, hands flying to cover his mouth at the reveal of his cousin’s fate, “—and he’ll be willing to do anything for you!”

“Shut up!” Roman cried, clapping his hands over his ears, unable to hear more.

“Is the prince scared? Is he terrified of what his own blood is capable of?” The serpent’s grin grew menacing. “Is he petrified of what he is capable of?” A wave of black hit their vision, sending Cal their knees with a scream as they fought of an overwhelming sense of pure, unadulterated terror.

“Oh, Calypso, I’m going to die,” they whispered as a shadow flew overhead, heralding an arrival— though whether the newcomer was a friend or foe was yet to be determined.

“Heya, Cal!” a familiar voice shouted. “Thought ya might need a hand or eight!” They broke into a smile, so relieved they felt small tears spill from their eyes, as a shining gold dragon flew overhead, circling around to reveal the mechanic, Wonderling Finch, in all her glory. She took off her black goggles, wiping the sweat off her brow. Beside her were three men, each of them displaying an animalistic trait. The Vasryian guards. Thank Calypso they were safe. “A’ight, boys, let’s see how this li’l shit of scales likes the taste of Legion fire!” she cried as she threw a fist in the air. As though alive and responding to her commands, the dragon opened its gargantuan mouth, releasing a column of flames and a mechanic roar that shook the ground.

Cal watched in awe as Wonderling slid off the dragon with the guards in tow. She strode towards Cal and their friends with murder in her eyes, none of the beast’s warriors daring to come near her. “I’m mighty glad to find y’all in good health,” she greeted, “though I would’ve preferred not summoning giant snakes on my day off.”

“It’s not like I wanted to battle a chaos-bent serpent on my day off either!” Roman countered.

“We’re outlaws, Roman, we don’t have days off,” Patton sighed.

“Would you all focus on the matter at hand, please?” Logan chimed in, gesturing to the rapidly approaching shadow-soldiers.

“You three, join the other guards. They’ll trust you more than they’ll trust us, and right now, we need all the ready fighters we can get,” Cal cut in, addressing the guards, who nodded and split up, headed for three largest factions of Vasryian guards.

Wonderling whistled, calling over her dragon. She climbed back on top, opening up a small hatch on the back. The mechanic reached inside, grabbing something, and triumphantly pulled out a few swords and a gun. “Let’s get serious, hmm?” She slid off the metal dragon with a smirk, tossing the gun to Virgil. “Ya got these where ya were birthed?”

Virgil scoffed as he caught the gun. “Unfortunately, yes.” He tested out the weapon, raising it towards the sky and firing it with a loud pop. Wonderling handed a sword to Cal, who tested out its weight as the mechanic doled out her final weapon to Logan, a double-edged sword that fit in the robot’s hands as though it was made just for him.

“Split up,” Wonderling ordered. “Trust me ya want as much room to move as possible when ya vengeance be a-swingin’.” They nodded, moving quickly. Virgil and Roman paired together as the serpent’s army reached them, running out of reach of their smokey arms. Logan and Patton immediately engaged the ashen soldiers as Wonderling pulled Cal out of their way.

Cal’s fingers closed around their blade as a darkness grew in their eyes. The growing smell of blood and the movements of swinging knives was something all too familiar to them. It dug up memories from long ago, times when they spoke the word “family” with disdain and disgust, times when their heart turned to stone from being pelted too much with rocks. It dug up memories of a time when all they knew was revenge and a cold within.

When they moved, it seemed they were a child again, a teen again, a young adult again, running, screaming, fighting, swinging their blades like death’s cold scythes until they were left in a black void, alone, but safe.

They screamed as they cut down warrior after warrior, thick channels of tears flooding their face as they fought to control their breathing. “Ya a’ight, Cal?” Wonderling called. They shut their eyes, forcing themself to breath slow and deep, and turned towards her, smiling, and nodded.

Cal looked around for their friends, anxious to see they were still alright, if not faring better than they were. They saw Roman and Virgil, nearly dancing with each other as they lacerated shadow after shadow. They saw Logan and Patton, Logan’s attention turned away from the Drisine as he tackled one of the larger shadow-monsters, wielding his double-ended sword as expertly as a master swordsman. His back was turned, unable to see Patton watching him in awe as the robot spun and twisted and slung and slashed. Unable to see the twilight-warrior behind him, claws outstretched.

“Patton! No!” they screamed as the shapeshifter turned too late, barely able to register the shadow form in front of him before it slashed across him. Patton’s eyes flew wide open, a soft whimper escaping his lips. He had no time to react before he was pushed to the ground, safe from further harm, as the creature let out a guttural screech, before it, too, collapsed upon earth. Cal let out a cry relief, seeing Logan standing above Patton like a colossus, staring down coldly at the creature.

“Don’t touch my friend,” he growled in a clipped tone, a look pure homicide on his face. He raises the double-ended blade in his hand that Wonderling had given to him. A flash of movement, and the shadow-warrior was gone.

“Cal!” Wonderling cried, tugging on their arm. “I trust Logan to tend to Patton. We’ve got our own miseries to fret over.” Sparing a reaffirming glance at the robot and the shapeshifter, Cal turned back to Wonderling, sighing.

“Alright.”

They moved as one unit, back-to-back, each one just a moving part of something bigger. They protected one another, in full understanding of how crucial the other was to the end of this fight. When Wonderling had her back turned to an approaching shadow-warrior, it was Cal who swiped as threateningly as possible at the shadowling, growling. When Cal was focused on guarding Wonderling’s back, it was Wonderling who lunged at another shadow risen from chaos, dissipating them as soon as her blade touched their ashen skin.

“You move well, for a mechanic. What’s the story?” Cal asked as they danced across the battlefield. Wonderling snorted, shaking her head.

“I’m a merchant, too, ya know. A sage hen gotta know how to keep her dignity about her when she’s a stranger, and where I come from, dignity is derived from the number of quarrels ya win. Ya learn quick in alleys how to handle a sword— watch it!” Wonderling sprung at the black-cloud combatant, quickly taking care of it, letting her sword fall to the ground as she panted heavily. “Ya need to keep ya eyes peeled, Cal, or ya might get hurt.”

“Eh, don’t worry. Where I come from, you either hurt or get hurt. I think it’s pretty obvious which path I chose.” Cal smirked twisted the blade the mechanic had given them, playing with it. “Trust me, I know how to handle myself. Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that,” they said, shaking their head, unaware of the soft patter of footsteps behind them. They saw her face melt into horror and rage as her eyes trained on something over their shoulder.

“Cal! Watch out!” Wonderling cried as the mechanic shoved Cal out of the way. They whirled around in time to see Wonderling whip out a blade tucked away in her boots, blocking a slash from a figure Cal hadn’t seen until then. Wonderling growled, kicking the person out from under their feet. They fell with a grunt, Wonderling easily disarming them. “Ya don’ hurt my friends, got it?” she snarled. The person rolled over, pushing themself off the ground to stand as Cal’s jaw dropped in shock.

“Cato.” Their voice was flat, absent of any sort of mercy. “You won’t stop at anything to see my demise, will you?”

Cato laughed, a maniacal sound wrapped in echoes of slipping sanity. “The beast wants to see you destroyed. So do I. Our interests aligned,” he muttered, eyes flickering around like a bird unable to keep still. He raised his sword again, poised to strike, but the fate of Cal’s life was not in his hands. Wonderling brought down her blade once more, blocking the blow of the crazed man. Cato went on a rampage, swinging and swinging, blindly striking Wonderling’s sword until he hit something.

The mechanic cried out suddenly, clutching her arm as she collapsed, leaving Cal wide open for the destructive rage of Cato. “No!” they screamed, unable to see the flash of silver that surrounded them as Cato dropped his weapon at once, falling to his knees. They, too, dropped to their knees, cradling Wonderling as she hissed in pain, shielding her from the blows that never landed. Someone was screaming behind Cal, audibly choking, but Cal could hear nothing but the blood pounding in their ears, nothing but the pure rage in their veins, nothing but the pained groans of Wonderling in their arms.

“Hey, hey, it’s gonna to be okay, Cal, ya hear me? I’ve been through worse, nothin’ can off me that easy,” she laughed, smiling through the agony she must have been going through. “Ya don’ need to fret,” she assured them. “I’m not gonna see the Old Scratch just yet.”

“I don’t care. You’re not fighting another second,” Cal demanded. Wonderling’s sleeve had been torn where blade had met thread, and the wound was already soaking the edges of the garment’s hole in rusty blood. “Not until you’re healed.” Wonderling cocked an eyebrow, smirking. “You’ve done enough already. Please, allow me to finish what I’ve started.”

A pained shriek, sonorous as the rapturous call of a vulture, interrupted them. Cal turned and nearly screamed, their nausea skyrocketing. Cato was convulsing on the ground, clawing at his throat as though some invisible force was grasping it too tight to breathe. Silver surrounded him, dark as cold cobblestone, as he jerked and twisted each and every way. His eyes were glassy and bloodshot, his lips turning blue.

“What in the hell is happenin’ to him?” Wonderling asked, the trepidation in her voice evident.

“I… I have no idea.”

“You wretched bitch! No matter what vessel you choose, you cannot escape His fury!” Cato screamed between gasps for air. Cal subconsciously stepped back, willing themself not to run and abandon Wonderling. Their eyes were glued on the dying man as he thrashed about, every limb subject to whatever terrifying curse had been inflicted upon him. Blood welled up behind his eyes, spilling over the lids down his paling cheeks. Cal tore their gaze away, unable to watch any longer as they swallowed the bile in their throat threatening to reveal their nausea to the outside world.

They refused to look, not even when someone— no, it had to have been the wind— behind them whispered, “Please, Cal. Kill the beast. Save us.” The coughing and choking and noise stopped with the single exhale of a final breath. Cal looked upwards, blinking away what was not tears— they weren’t going to cry for a monster.

Instead, they told themself the tears were for Wonderling, who was watching them carefully. “You need to get off the battlefield right away.”

“I’ll signal Axel,” the mechanic replied, whistling immediately. The mechanical dragon, some ways away, turned its head towards its creator and roared, lifting up into the air, leaving several shadow-warriors milling around, confused. Axel landed gently by Wonderling as Cal helped her to her feet, leading her to the dragon. Axel’s head lay on the ground, allowing the two to climb aboard. “Go on, Cal. I can handle myself from here. Go save the universe, how ‘bout it?” Cal nodded as they leapt off the dragon, smiling softly.

“I’ll try, Wonderling,” they promised as Axel lifted off, heading for the abandoned palace. “I’ll try.”

With Wonderling safely out of harm’s way, their attention fell back on the serpent, which seemed to have not moved an inch since the start of the battle. “Hey, fucker! Did you fall asleep or something?” The serpent’s eyes trained on them, unblinking.

“Last of the Stargazers,” it addressed. “One would expect your feet to move as quickly as your mouth.”

Cal smirked, hoping to hide the tremors running through their body from the serpent. “What can I say? I have a talent for not living up to people’s expectations of me.” The serpent growled, unamused. “You called me ‘Last of the Stargazers,’” they called, stalling for enough time to think of a plan. “Wanna explain what that’s all about?”

“You, darling, are known for destroying an entire galaxy, taking responsibility for the death of Calypso’s Legacy. Have you realized yet who you took the blame from?” it taunted.

“Well, obviously you. Still haven’t answered my question, though. Why do you keep calling me all these names?”

“Darling, haven’t you figured it out yet?” it mocked. “Your parents were Stargazers and their parents before them. You are a Stargazer, and the last of your kind. You should have perished with the rest of them!” Cal felt their fist clench on something cold and opened their palm, seeing the Gazer Stone. They glanced back at the serpent, its eyes still piercing their soul. “Your cursed parents trapped your true form inside of you. But, now that it been freed… I can rightfully take what’s mine.” The apprehension in their stomach only doubled.

They could feel the Gazer Stone grow heavier in their hand as though it carried the weight of worlds, heating up until Cal was confident it was burning through their palm. Without thinking, Cal held up the Gazer Stone, wings outspread, screaming the final verse of the myth that guided all: “Then come and get it!”

The serpent’s eyes fixated on the stone, every one of its shadow-warriors stilling. It grinned, its mouth full of rows upon rows of shiny, sharp knives for teeth. “Gladly.”

A flash of white enveloped the rolling hills. Cal could see nothing, though they could feel chilling winds pick up around them, whipping and whirling and racing and rushing, a hurricane in which Cal could not open their heterochromatic eyes. But they had to look, had to see what was going on.

“Oh, holy Calypso Above,” they murmured in horror as the black winds rushed past them, nearly blinding them. The serpent was but a sphere of darkness, so black it seemed to not even be a color, but the true absence of all known hues. They felt cold to merely peer at it, shivering uncontrollably.

A wretched scream torn from the depths of chaos reverberated across the battlefield as at last the hurricane settled, the winds clearing to reveal a monster. It was tall as the heavens, a mass of black smoke with two yellow pinpricks for eyes that stared them down with what had to be a leer. There was no doubt left in Cal’s heart. The myth of Calypso was truly repeating.

Cal covered their ears, shielding them from the piercing sound emanating from the mouth of the beast. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit,” they muttered. Cal could hear their friends’ curses over the cacophony of their beating heart. How the fuck were they supposed to… what, defeat this?

“Cal!” someone shouted. They looked up and saw Roman, running towards them. “What in the name of the Generals is that thing?”

“I have no clue. Is everybody alright? Patton got hurt, is he okay?” they asked.

“I do hope so. We haven’t been able to get far enough away from the shadow-things to treat his wounds. It appears that will have to wait even longer though, hmm?” Roman replied, sparing a peek at the monstrous beast that was slowly inching towards them like an all-consuming hunger. Roman picked up Cal’s fallen sword from the ground and handed it to them. “I assume you’ll need this more than I.”

“Thanks. I’ll be fine, Roman. Go fight with your boyfriend. That’s romantic, right?” Cal grabbed the sword offered to them as Roman barked a laugh.

“Alright, then. You stay safe, you hear me?” he told them, his voice grave and serious. Cal nodded, smiling sadly.

“I’ll try my best, Princey. But I can only try. I said I would give my life to defeat Draven that day in Sleeping Stars. My word still stands.” Roman sighed solemnly, nodded, and left for Virgil’s side, gripping his own sword ever so tighter.

Not a moment after Roman left did Cal have to face off with one of the beast’s shadow warriors, lunging towards them with hellbent rage in its soulless eyes. They shrieked, caught off guard, and slashed the sword, barely grazing the soldier. Cal cursed as their heart crawled into their throat, pounding mercilessly.

“Calypso Above, save me!” they cried out, throwing their sword in the air. A bright light appeared before them, stealing them of their vision, effacing the shadow in front of them. A woman dressed in white stood in front of them, a sylphlike arm extended towards them. “Take my hand,” she whispered. “Take my hand, Cal.”

“Mama?” Happy little drops of salt water pricked at the back of their eyes as they reached to grab her smooth palm. The woman smiled sadly, shaking her head as Cal’s fingers interlaced with hers. She vanished as quickly as she had appeared.

A feeling of determination overtook them, their wings beating in time with their racing heart. “The beast does not rule me,” they whispered to themself, eyes glowing silver as the midnight moon. “He is as mortal as I.” They took a step forward. As though hearing their thoughts, the beast’s head snapped towards them, eyes glittering with evil. “I can and will beat him.” They smiled.

“Hey, guys! I think I have a plan!” At their words, the heads of friends turned towards them, eager to end the madness that had enveloped them. Cal beckoned them over, a quick respite from their skirmishes with the shadow-warriors that had sprung up from the ground like the undead. Quickly, they explained what they had in mind. “Got it?” they asked, scanning their surroundings for the beast’s brutal soldiers. Their friends nodded. “Let’s end this, alright?”

Virgil cocked the gun Wonderling had tossed him, aiming it easily at the beast. “I hope you like the taste of bullets, shitbag,” he grunted as he fired the weapon. “You guys go ahead, I know how to handle myself with a gun,” he told the others. Roman gave Virgil a quick forehead kiss. “I promise I’ll be alright.”

The earthling continued firing his gun as the others launched into the next part of Cal’s plan, running for the beast. Virgil aimed his weapon towards the ashen warriors of the beast whenever they came too close for comfort to his friends. As soon as they had covered enough ground, Patton jumped into the air, shapeshifting into a dragon, much like the one Wonderling and the guards had arrived on. Cal grabbed onto the fearsome creature’s horns as it lifted further into the air.

The beast’s attention was now on Cal and Patton. It opened its mouth, smokey vines shooting out from its throat, just like in the myth Cal knew by heart. The vines raced forth for the warrior and their companions. Virgil blasted them, muttering indecencies as the vines snapped back, deterred by the earthling’s gunfire. “Fuck you, too!” he shouted at them for good measure.

While the beast was distracted by Virgil’s attacks, Roman had tossed Cal the Halo Sword. Cal had grabbed it midair, letting out a cry as they felt their grip loosen. Luckily, they hadn’t fallen, but now the beast’s attention was back on them. It growled, peeved at the momentary diversion.

“Logan, I think now would be a good time!” they shouted, hoping to the heavens the robot could hear them. He had heard, apparently, as he faced the beast, and closed his eyes. Instantaneously, he let his eyes flash open, the brightness in the little bulbs that made up the steel grey orbs turned to their maximum level. They were searchlights now, beams of luminosity that illuminated the path they all had chosen to take together, blinding the beast and its shadow-soldiers. The beast shrieked, eschewing its head from the dazzling light.

Patton took his chance and took flight, soaring across the battlefield, letting out a splitting roar. Cal let out a long sigh as the wind whipped past them. They shut their eyes so they wouldn’t have to see if they failed, and let go of Patton’s horns. Cal felt themself falling, falling, racing toward the ground as they unconsciously lifted the Halo Sword in their hand. As they heard the gusts rush past them, seeming to whisper to them, they opened their eyes and saw a mass of black. The beast.

To their surprise, the beast wasn’t solid. From far away, it appeared to be a black figure, but up close, they could see that the beast was nothing but a hurricane made of ash and smoke with two glowing yellow eyes. It then hit them that they were about to fall through this hurricane of smog. And then probably die.

They raised their arms, accepting their impending doom. They ripped through the beast with a puff of charcoal smoke and found themselves in the eye of the storm, an eerie calm surrounded by vicious winds.

It was too much like the dungeons. Everywhere they looked they saw black swashes, and while little rays of sunlight were able to penetrate the inky storm, they were few and far between. The air in their lungs was caught in their throat, stalling as their eyes fell upon a woman the color of amber, her eyes a brilliant blue the color of a shining ocean. It was the woman from their visions in the dungeons.

“My darling, what are you doing?” the woman asked. “You know this won’t solve anything. You’re just going to get your friends killed! Won’t you listen to your mother?” Cal growled, their grip tightening on their weapon.

“You are just a vision. You’re not my mother, or anyone of importance to me. The only ones who matter to me are out there right now, fighting for me so that we might all be able to see another sunrise. And this is the only way to save them. Whatever you have to tell is only going to try to stop me, so you might as well shut up!” Snarling, they swung the sword at the vision, which dissipated as quickly as it had confronted them.

They flew onwards, wings beating to the rhythm of their erratic pulse. They saw black mist in front of them beginning to form another vision and steeled themself.

It was their family again. Even though they knew for certain this time these were just illusions and were nothing to be wary of, the sight of their beloved friends still jarred them. This time, however, they were not cold and uncaring. Rather, they were dead. Blood trickled out from their eyes and mouths, their heads limp on their shoulders. Cal covered their mouth, swallowing the rising bile in their throat as they tore their eyes away from the frightening sight. They could hear whispers of the damned clawing at their ears, making empty promises of glory and wonder and love if they would just give up.

“No!” they yelled, surging forward past the illusionary corpses. They struggled onward, their pace much slower as they continued their search for the beast’s weakness. They felt their wings begin to grow heavy, the tips starting to lose their color. But still they marched onwards, towards whatever nightmare awaited them.

They couldn’t give up just yet. Not yet.

Cal thought they were beginning to lose their mind; no matter how far and wide they seemed to fly, all they saw was a whirlwind of ebony smoke that seemed to be closing in on them. They were just around and around in circles. Their breath caught in their throat and adrenaline began to creep through their veins, harbinger of panic. Shit, shit, this wasn’t the time…

“Calrex…” someone called. Their head whipped up at the distant lilting voice, the voice’s name on the tip of their tongue. They saw a figure through the smoke, but they still couldn’t make out any distinguishing features. “Listen to my voice…” Dread settled in their stomach as the figure approached.

It was Cassandra.

Cal almost dropped the Halo Sword in their shock, it never occurring to them that of all the visions they would encounter, she would be one of them. Cassandra’s arms were open, reaching towards them, inviting them to drop the Halo Sword and forget everything and just lay with her for the rest of eternity.

“Calrex… listen to me. You can do this, right?” Cassandra asked, eyes unblinking. Cal nodded enthusiastically, tears forming on the lids of their eyes. “Just remember to swing, Calrex. Otherwise you’ll be just as useless as last time.”

They jumped back as though stung, their blood freezing in horror. “...What?” they whispered, their voice lost to the howls of wind around them. “What the hell are you talking about?” they snapped defensively.

Cassandra only smiled. “You couldn’t save me, Calrex. What makes you think you can save all your new friends? Or are you just going to let them die and move on to someone new who’s dumb enough to fall for your tricks?” They stepped back again, no longer full of bittersweet memories of a time they loved, rather full of terror of what would next leak from this vision’s mouth. “That’s right, Calrex. Run. Run away from your problems and they’ll just magically disappear, right? Is that what you think? That you can just run and everything’s going to be okay? Well. Running didn’t bring me back to life, now, did it?”

“Stop it.” Cassandra’s eyes finally focused on them, not through them, a sneer making its way onto her face. “You’re not… you’re not Cassie. Cassie loved everyone too much to say something so hurtful. She’s dead and gone, and… you’re right.” The vision froze in surprise, blinking hard. “Running away isn’t going to change anything,” they conceded sadly, shaking their head. “But I’m not running away anymore. I’m staying right here, with my family. We’re not leaving one another. You can shove any other idea up your fucking ass.”

Cassandra scoffed, her sweet smile becoming a sour scowl. “Pity. I thought perhaps I could knock some sense into you.”

Cal returned her scowl with one of their own. “Bold of you to assume I can keep that sense. Cassie would’ve known.” The illusion scoffed again. “I’m sorry, Cassie,” they muttered as they swung the sword across the vision.

It didn’t disappear. Instead, the sword made contact with flesh and bone and suddenly blood painted the silver blade crimson. They jerked back, eyes widening as they watched Cassandra’s eyes bleed, her body falling limp to her feet.

A soft, pained moan left their lips as visions— no, memories— flashed before their eyes. They sunk to their knees as the body of their first friend, first love, first everything, disappeared before their eyes, leaving nothing but black mist and a hole in their chest. Their lungs were heaving as they fought off the nausea rising through their body, clutching their chest as if they could rip out the pain.

“You see? You left me to die, Calrex. You left me,” they heard, mindless voices swirling through their head. They shook their head frantically, denying what was right in front of them. “You are nothing. You are nothing. You are nothing.” They swallowed the tears that threatened to drown them.

All at once, they heard a new voice- several. Cal could recognize the intonations, the lilts, the words of each one, and knew who they were. Logan was by their side, telling them they were worth the world and then some. Virgil was behind them, telling them he would always have their back. Roman held Cal’s arm, telling them to believe in tomorrow and themself. And Patton was in front of them, smiling at them, his arms wide open— he didn’t have to tell them anything to tell them he loved them.

Cal allowed themself a smile as they fell into Patton’s embrace, hugging him tight. They pulled back to see he had become the woman in white who had guided them throughout the battle. “My dear, you are strong enough to overcome these visions. You are strong,” the woman told them. Cal’s eyes flashed silver as their wings regained their color.

“It’s alright, Mama. I know.”

Cal let out a victorious scream fueled by all the emotions running freely through their body that moment. Their grip tightened on the Halo Sword as the black storm around them worsened. Desperately, they looked around, searching for the weakness within the beast.

Their eyes fell on a black lump above them. They shot upwards, propelled by the force of their wings, grabbing onto it to stop suddenly. As though bitten, their hands ripped backwards the moment they had landed on the strange thing, a pain jolting through their chest as Cal let out a cry of pain. They knew. This was the beast’s heart.

Steeling themself, Cal raised the Halo Sword. They could do it. Just one swing, and it would all be over. Just one swing, and they could save their family. Just one swing, and they would end a life. Cal’s arm dropped instantly as their breath began to shorten, coming in little gasps. They couldn’t do it. For all their talk of grandeur and bravery, they couldn’t do it. For all the lives Draven had destroyed, had taken, they couldn’t do it. For Cassandra, the Dragon Witches, Roman’s parents, and countless others, they couldn’t do it.

They could hear something, very faintly. They had to focus, had to hear it. They let their eyes fall shut and immediately they were flooded with the sound of a heartbeat— no, several heartbeats. The heartbeats of their family. They could hear the rhythmic ticking of Logan’s artificial heart, the pounding bass of Patton’s love-filled heart, the panicked beat of Virgil’s overworked heart, and the faint b-bump, b-bump of Roman’s dying heart. Wait, what?

Cal focused further of Roman’s pulse. The beast had him in its clasp, choking the life out of him. They could hear Virgil’s screams, his sobs to let him go. They swallowed thickly and held up the Halo Sword. Just one swing. Just. one. swing.

Without thinking, Cal raised the sword and swung it, slashing straight through the bitter, black hole of the beast. They heard another scream, this one emanating from the beast’s throat. The noise overwhelmed them and they threw their hands over their ears to cover them. The storm that was whirling around them grew more violent, the smoke occluding their airways. Their wings worked on autopilot, forcing them out of the body of the beast, out of the storm, out of the danger. They coughed as they burst out of the storm, feeling themself begin to fall from the sky like the unforgiven. Cal plummeted towards the ground, their wings beating weakly to save them as the sky distanced itself from the failed fighter.

Their eyelids fell shut as their wings tentatively spread out to full wingspan, catching the wind beneath beautiful feathers the colors of a rainbow. An Icarus no longer, they felt themself begin to glide. Cal landed gracefully, their wings folding in on themself the minute they were on solid ground. They whirled around, seeing Roman fall to his knees, clutching his throat as he wheezed for the air he had been denied. Virgil was by his side already, biting back the relief that Roman would be okay.

Cal turned back to the beast. It writhed, having changed back to its serpent form. It let out pitiful screeches and wails that pierced their sensitive ears, screaming incoherent words and curses. The long-awaited moment arrived as the beast at last fell to the ground with a resounding thump, causing the ground to quake.

The gust that blew across the Vasryian lands forced all but Cal to their knees. They felt the air rush out of their lungs as if the wind had ripped it straight from their throat, leaving them breathless and gasping as the whirlwind at last died down.

The beast was gone. In its place, Draven had returned. The king fell to the ground, lying limp in the grass. Cal could do naught but stare at him as they caught their breath, shoulders heaving as they struggled to breathe. Draven was still. Unmoving. Lifeless. As their breathing evened out, they crouched down, scrutinizing Draven with caution.

He was facedown on the ground, a small blood of crimson blood pooling under his chest, where Cal had stabbed the wretched beast. Oh, Calypso Above, what have I done? They felt their heartbeat start to pound out of time as they turned Draven over. As soon as they did, they yanked their arm back as they yelped in surprise.

Draven’s eyes were open, staring right at them as though at any moment he would grab the discarded knife next to them. It reminded them too much of Cassandra. Instead of the heterochromatic eyes they were used to seeing, one black and one yellow, both were a soft brown. The crown made of thorns that encircled had his head in times past now beheld withered flowers. His eyebrows were upturned, his lips slightly parted as though he was about to cry at the betrayal of a trusted friend. Cal sighed. The beast had at last released him of its suffocating grip.

They closed his eyelids, allowing him to finally sleep in peace. Though they had no idea how long the beast had controlled Draven, or which of his actions were truly his, he deserved basic decency. The man was dead, after all.

“Cal? Are you okay?” they heard behind them. Roman stood next to them, staring at the cloud-covered sky, unable to gaze upon the form of the man who had, whether under control of another or not, murdered his parents before his very eyes.

“I think the more important question is: are you okay?”

Roman swallowed thickly, letting out a shaky laugh. “To be honest, Cal, I haven’t the slightest idea.” The prince spared a glance for the body before him. “I can’t forgive him for what he did, even if he was being controlled by some ancient, all-powerful evil. My mother used to always say, ‘the only evil we have to fear is the evil within our hearts.’ Perhaps Draven was but a shell of who he was. But he had those terrible thoughts in the first place— that’s what allowed the beast to take over. I’ll mourn him, sure, but what I’ll be mourning is Draven’s refusal to let himself just enjoy what he had, rather than be jealous of my father for something he couldn’t even control. Maybe if he had… we would’ve been a happy family. I would’ve grown up in the palace, preparing to take my father’s place as king, and playing with Patton on the days I didn’t have training. Maybe I would’ve loved Draven as the uncle I never got to have. I wouldn’t have this pain. I would have a family. But…” He looked at Cal, and then beyond them, where Logan was attending to the cuts on Patton’s arms and Virgil was watching the pirate and the prince worriedly.

“I would have never met you, or Logan, or Virgil. I would be betrothed to... someone, be bored out of my mind at every single dinner party, instead of getting to pilot around space with my best friends and my emaja, having a new adventure every day.” Roman tore his sight away from the fallen king. “I don’t know… I don’t think I’ll ever be truly okay. But I can live with it. And that’s good enough for me.”

“What in the name of the Generals are we going to do now?” Cal wondered aloud. Roman shrugged, having as much of an idea as them. “We should go see if the others are okay.”

Cal took Roman's hand to help push themself off the ground as they stood. As they made their way over to where their friends congregated, Cal saw the guards begin to help one another up, some gathering around those who had fallen and bidding them farewell for the final time. They shuddered. Had anything gone differently, it might be Roman lying dead on the ground. Or Virgil. Or Logan, or Patton.

“You’re okay?” Virgil asked worriedly as soon as they were within an earshot. “You’re both okay?” The two nodded, breaking off in different directions. Roman, of course, headed for the human, pulling Virgil into an unbreakable hug as the two collapsed into one another, sharing whispered words and promises they were alright. Cal headed for Logan and Patton, who were inspecting each other, ensuring there were no further injuries on one another besides those on Patton’s arm.

“Hey, kiddo,” Patton greeted, wincing as he clutched his arm. “Logan, I thought you said the disinfectant wouldn’t sting that much!”

“Nonsense, you just have a low pain tolerance,” Logan shot back. Cal smothered a giggle.

“We almost just died, what are you two crabbing about?” they said, their voice full of amusement. “Are you going to be alright, Patton?”

“Logan thinks so, as long as I keep them clean.” The Drisine frowned. “...what about… Draven?” Cal stiffened, shaking their head wordlessly. “Oh.”

“Perhaps we should join Virgil and Roman,” Logan interjected, sensing the tension in Cal’s shoulders. Cal grunted in concurrence. The three joined the Vasryian and the earthling, whose hands were intertwined as they shared a slow kiss, full of everything they might have missed had either one of them fallen.

As the lovers pulled away, Cal felt something tugging at their heart. Someone was behind them. They whirled around, ready to confront the figure behind them, and froze dead in their tracks.

The woman that had appeared in front of Cal in the midst of the battle was standing before them again. The others gasped, seeing her, too, as they spun around. Cal stared the woman down. “Who are you?” they challenged, stepping in front of their friends. The woman in white broke into a playful grin.

“I am the conqueror. The vanquisher. The savior. Your predecessor. I go by many names, but the one I am known to by all is ‘Calypso.’” Cal blinked, processing the words. In slow motion, their eyes grew wide and their lips parted in shock as they understood.

“Holy sh— You’re— you’re— you’re… who?” they stuttered.

“I am the one called Calypso. My time in this form is limited, so I must be quick with my intentions. Come here, so I may speak with you in private.” Cal did as they were told, too wonderstruck to disobey. “Do you know why I’m here, my dear?” the divine woman known as the savior asked. Cal shook their head, dumbfounded. “You have at last taken up my onus as defender of the worlds.”

Cal ran their hands through their hair, trying to wrap their head around such a concept. “Wait, you’re saying that I’m your successor or something?” Calypso nodded gently. “If— if I’m supposed to take on your role, where are your Generals, then? Aren’t they supposed to protect you— or me— or whoever?”

Calypso giggled softly. “They’ve been with you a long time, my dear.”

“Who’re you—” The realization hit them like a spacecraft crash. They looked over their shoulder, at their friends, watching them curiously. Their head whipped back towards Calypso. “Are you shitting me?” Calypso snorted.

“I wouldn’t necessarily phrase it as such, but, no, I’m not jesting.” Her tone grew more serious. “Now, I can’t be in this form forever, so I apologize, but I must continue. The beast may not be gone. He resurfaced after near eons of hiding, after I thought I’d killed him for once and for all. You may rest— you’ve certainly earned a respite— but you must be conscious that at any moment the beast could come back. I’ll be watching from the heavens, my dear, so know that I will help should the beast prove himself alive once more.”

Cal nodded mutely, overwhelmed by it all. “I just nearly lost my life trying to kill an ancient beast that might not actually be dead, got it.” Calypso allowed herself to smile.

“You and I have a very similar sense of humor. I can see why the storytellers chose you as my successor. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must attend to the others,” she said as she pulled away from the proximity of Cal to address the others.

“You all have given this universe a gift by protecting it, even if you feel you are not the best person to do so. Thusly, as a… thank you, of sorts, I shall gift each one of you with the wish you hold most dear to your heart.” Virgil squinted, raising a hand.

“So, if we wanted, say, a hundred GameBoys, you’d grant that?” he asked skeptically.

“...Game… boys? ….No matter, I know that most certainly isn’t your wish, is it, my dear Virgil?” Calypso responded, taking a step towards him. Virgil paled. “You needn’t worry. Your friends shall not judge you for the wish you hold.” She smiled gently, coaxing him to divulge his wish so that she might grant it.

“...I want to know what happened to Vae,” he blurted, bowing his head. “I’ve felt… so guilty leaving without knowing what happened to her. If anyone could know… it would be you, wouldn’t it?”

Calypso let her eyelids fall shut for a second before reopening them. “She’s alive, my dear Virgil. But she left your world for another one that needed her assistance.” The holy woman gave the human a pointed look. “She does not blame you for leaving.” It seemed those were the words Virgil needed to hear most; his shoulders sunk as though relieved of some burden, his face growing serene.

The goddess-woman turned to the person beside Virgil. “Patton, correct?” The shapeshifter nodded shyly as Calypso breathed a soft laugh. “It’s not hard to hear what your heart yearns for. The heart of the Drisine is one of the loudest.” Patton blushed, ducking his head. “Now, now, my dear, it is nothing to be ashamed of.”

“...but... but, it is…” the Drisine whispered. “Maybe it’s because I never lived among my own kind, but I hate how my heart works.” A stunned silence fell over the others, who gaped at Patton’s revelation. “I— I tend to misread situations, and I feel like I’m too emotional. I don’t know how to control my feelings, much less how to understand them. It’s all one big mess up in here—” Patton smacked the side of his head, “—and I’m so confused I’d rather have no feelings at all.”

This statement seemed to anger the divine woman. “My dear, I know you are frustrated, but you should never regret your emotions. They are what allow you to connect with people so easily. They are what allow you to love indifferently, no matter the history or skin color of a being. That, my dear, is something very special and rare. It is not to be underestimated or cast aside. You should be proud of it, my dear.” She took a breath, calming herself. “I won’t take away your emotions. What I can do, however, is… oh, how I explain this? ...I can make your emotions bleed into one another, so you can associate them with much simpler feelings, allowing you to express yourself with ease.” Calypso sighed. “Would that be okay, my dear Patton?”

The shapeshifter thought over his choices, brows furrowed as he pondered over the outcomes of either. “I… I think so…” Calypso smiled, extending a hand towards Patton.

“It won’t be immediate, but over time, you should notice a difference between your emotional state as of now and as of later,” Calypso said as she grasped Patton’s head. She dipped her head, her eyes shutting, and began muttering in a language foreign to all. Her body glowed silver for a moment before returning to its normal state. The holy woman opened her eyes. “It is done.”

Patton's smile wavered. With no warning, he threw himself at Calypso, his arms squeezing her in a hug. “Thank you so much.” Calypso gladly accepted the gesture, wrapping her lithe arms around the shapeshifter. “Thank you.”

As they parted, Logan stepped forward, biting his lip. “I assume you already have a general concept of what my wish might be,” he stated. “Before anything, I am resolute in my wish. I have been tantalizing myself with such a possibility for a while, and after thinking it over, I am sure I want to do this.”

Cal raised an eyebrow, unadmittedly worried. “I have a general thought of you will be wishing for, yes,” began Calypso, “but I believe your companions ought to be aware of your decision.” Logan huffed, nodding.

“Very well. My wish is to be given a body like the rest of you, one made of flesh and blood rather than metal and wiring. I constantly back up my memory onto the Sanders Yersinia, so we wouldn't lose any data. I would be far more vulnerable— it's far easier to replace a robot’s hand than it is to replace that of a person— but I'm willing to take the risk. For too long I've suffered these damned errors in my programs. After recent events, however… I've begun to desire changing my body to match these errors rather than changing these errors to match my body, and—”

“Logan! Logan, it's alright,” Patton interjected. “This choice is entirely up to you, there's no need to convince us. If it's what you want to do, then go ahead and do it.”

Roman continued the sentiments. “Agreed. It's not up to us to decide for you. To reiterate Patton, the choice is yours. We'll love and support you no matter what.”

“I mean, I won't be able to make as many DBH jokes, but that's fine with me. You're still going to be Logan, that's all I care about,” Virgil added. All gazes turned to Cal, who had yet to speak up.

“You've become a brother to me, Logan. How could I not love you, no matter what? With or without coding in your brain and wires in your veins, you're the smartest of our group. And if you think it's a good idea, then it obviously is.” Cal smiled, genuine and kind, reassuring Logan.

“Well, if your friends have no opposition to your wish, I think it's high time to grant it, don't you?” Logan cracked a smirk, letting out a chuckle. “Take my hand. I must be connected with you.” Heeding the divine woman's words, he stepped forward, grasping her hand. Once more, Calypso mumbled in a foreign language, her eyes glowing silver as a mist white as snow spilled out of her mouth. The mist swirled around Logan, enveloping him. The others held their breath as they waited in anxious silence.

By now, many of the bystanders had gathered in clumps, vying for the best spot to witness the miracle-worker in white. They observed in awe, all emotion and thought scattered to the wind as the woman they knew in their hearts as Calypso fell suddenly silent, the mist disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.

It was Logan, without a doubt, who stood there. But as Cal studied him, they noticed little differences. Logan now had a slight hunch in his posture rather than the perfectly straight line he normally kept his spine in. The nearly invisible lines along his face that outlined the metal plates that created his head were gone. They could see his shoulders rise and fall as he breathed for the first time with real lungs, see him running a hand along his arm as his felt for the first time with real skin, real nerves. It was his eyes, though, that convinced them Logan’s wish had been granted. They were the same steel grey color, reminiscent of storm clouds on a horizon, and they still beheld the same warmth as always, but Cal could see it— the pure joy inside of his eyes. The look of happiness on Logan’s face was certainly one they liked seeing.

Tears began overflowing from his eyes as he fell to his knees, overwhelmed. At once, his friends surrounded him in a hug. “Don’t worry, Logan. This stuff is normal,” Patton explained. “Just let it out.” Calypso let out a soft cough.

“Do pardon me, but I can feel my grasp on this form beginning to wane, so I must ask that we continue,” she said apologetically. Regretfully, the five friends released their grasps on one another, falling back into line. The divine woman’s eyes flickered towards Roman, who refused to meet her gaze. “Look at me, my dear.” Roman’s shoulders trembled slightly as he shook his head.

“You remind me too much of my mother,” he whispered, swallowing hard. Calypso’s eyes filled with pity. “Forgive me, sweet Calypso, but this day has already tested me enough.”

“Very well. All I ask is for you to tell me your wish,” she replied. Roman carded a hand through his hair, careful to avoid his crown of flowers as he stepped forward.

Roman closed his eyes, mumbling a small prayer. Virgil stepped up, clasping his lover’s hand in his own, offering the prince a bright smile. Roman returned with a bittersweet grin before turning back towards Calypso. “My wish... is to give my parents the proper burial they deserve. I don’t know what happened to their bodies after…” Roman swallowed hard. “After… their death. But if I know Draven, he likely disposed of them in some unmarked grave, denying them the dignity of having a proper final resting place!” he finished passionately. Calypso nodded as her tongue poked out between her lips, deep in thought.

“Perhaps… yes, I do believe that will work…” she murmured. Abruptly, she clapped her hands together, small sparks of electricity igniting between her palms. “When you have a moment to spare, I suggest you seek out the West Corner of the Gardens. What you desire will be waiting for you there.” Roman bit his trembling lip and schooled his face, taking a deep breath. He gave a curt nod to the goddess-woman, a wavering smile coming to his face.

“I will,” he promised.

At last, Calypso faced the pirate. “Have you had long enough to think about your wish, my dear?” she asked in a playful tone. Cal smirked, shrugging. “Come, now. Indulge me.”

“If you had asked me maybe a month ago, I would have said that all I wanted in this world was a family. Someone to love me.” Cal spared a glance for their friends beside them. “But, I think my wish has already been granted.” They giggled as Patton squealed, cooing with affection. “Instead, my wish is acceptance. I want the people of Vasryia to accept Roman as their rightful king, and love him, as subjects of a just and benevolent ruler would do.” Beside them, they heard soft, unbelieving gasps as Calypso’s silver eyes closed, incantations bubbling from the holy woman’s lips.

“Dammit, Cal, now I’m going to cry!” Roman whined, sniffling as he wiped small tears budding from his eyes.

“You’ve been through enough, Princey. I’ll do everything I can to lessen the burden you carry,” they said delicately as they strode towards the prince, taking him into their arms. Roman eagerly returned the hug, pulling Virgil into it, too. Patton grabbed Logan’s arm and dragged him back into the group hug as the robot-no-longer grumbled beneath his breath. “I’m so happy I met you guys,” they whispered tenderly, holding tight onto their friends. “I thought I’d never find a family again…” Cal sniffed, blinking away teardrops from their eyes.

They pivoted away from their friends to speak to Calypso, but found she had disappeared, gone as quickly as she materialized. Their teeth dug into their bottom lip. Had Calypso granted their wish?

Cal heard footsteps behind them and broke out of the hug to face whoever it was. It was one of the guards who had fought alongside Wonderling— Terrence. “Thank you. Not just for defeating the beast, or whatever it was, but for protecting Roman.” The guard bowed deeply as Cal flushed, unused to such a gesture of respect. They stuttered their thanks as Terrence stood.

“Calypso’s disappeared?” Roman asked behind them.

“Yeah. I think we’re on our own from here on out,” they replied, their eyes flickering towards the heavens, where Calypso was surely watching over them, and then towards the palace. “We’ve got our work cut out for us, but I think we can do it, right?”

“Of course,” Roman agreed, grinning. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

“Well, first off, we’re making you king, Your Highness,” Terrence quipped. “Most of the common people never accepted Draven as their king— we’ve always waited for you to come back.” Roman’s eyes widened, his jaw dropping in shock.

“I-is that so?” he breathed faintly.

Cal smirked. “Come on, how about we make for the palace? I’m sure Wonderling and the others are waiting for us.” The prince nodded mutely. Virgil popped up behind him, Patton and Logan just beyond the earthling, grabbing Roman’s hand, squeezing it.

“It’s about time you go home, Roman. For once, and for all,” the human said. They headed for the palace with the guards lingering about like tumbleweeds in the winds on the battlefield as the brilliant sun began to die, painting the skies crimson with the blood of a beast defeated. Tomorrow, or maybe the day after, they would have to confront the consequences of their actions. But for now, they were all one big family, fighting for survival one day at a time.

OH MY G O O D N E S S G R A C I O U S that was a lot to write and edit. But, it’s done! I’m really proud of this chapter overall. There are some parts that make me want to crawl into a hole because I hate how they read, but I’m tired so we’re not rewriting that b.s.

(i may also be too busy binge-watching buzzfeed unsolved to rewrite but um... i have my priorities)

Happy holidays to all you lovelies, and have a wonderful new year!!! <3

Tag List:

@asofterfan

@alix-the-skeleton

@hufflepuffsscrewdriver

@v-blue-writer

@sanderssidesstuff

(thank you to you lovelies who stuck around for the whole thing!! :D)

#Starbound #I mean I hope I can finish starbound for y'all before this hellsite gets shut down but uh #my au #sci-fi au #Sanders Sides #sanders sides au #Calrex the Pirate #Virgil Sanders #Roman Sanders #Patton Sanders #Logan Sanders #Deceit Sanders #Wonderling Finch #i want to do some shit with wonder and cal please tell me if you want this ship to sail

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agent-7-at-your-service · 6 years ago

Text

The Hamartia Arc Recap (Incomplete)

Characters mentioned (special thanks to) to @inklingleesquidly @myzzy @son-of-joy @teamuntyblue / @ryan-sign-guy @ask-hybrid-havoc @alphadeathsquad @alpinesquid

This is still a rough draft, place wait for official release.

The Document (Brief Recap of the Trinity Arc and the Odysseus Arc)

The Sealant Rebellion

Prologue

“Breaking News: Return of the Amemasu Federation of Hokkaido

It appears after years of the island’s silence since the Great Turf War, a federation thought to have fallen has risen from its ashes. Rumors spread that they’ve been rebuilding since the end of the war, and records about the nation are long gone.

The people behind the return of this forgotten nation go by the name The Brethrens of the Brine. There is still no insight to their leader, their beliefs, or their activities.

We are being informed to instruct the Citizens of Inkopolis to remain calm and stay tuned for more information.”

BrineFire

Agent 7 and Marie meet once again in an abandoned park. It is the same park where they’ve danced during the Fancy Party vs Costume party, where Agent 7 proposed to Marie, and where they’ve spent most of their honeymoon. But now things are different: it is where Agent 7 and Marie go their separate ways and see other people – their divorce is official.

“So… I managed to be the Agent I want to be, I got the girl, had her leave my life, almost lost her to some ammonite, and things are changing in Inkopolis – what next?” --Agent 7, BrineFire

Agent 7 would find an Octoling named Ampth who was present in the part, having overheard what has just happened between Agent 7 and Marie. He was only there to collect his thoughts. Ampth saves Agent 7 from an attempted murder from a propelling drone. It left a dart containing an icy brine solution. Agent 7 decides to meet Ampth some other day in some other place so that Ampth can continue dealing with his thoughts.

They would meet in Port Mackerel where they ended up discovering a trade between Leviathan and the Great Amemasu Federation of Hokkaido. Calypso, leader of Leviathan, traded an inkling clone named Cassandra in exchange for information from a ghost sharkling named Hector Norman, and his soldiers from the Federation.

Ampth is shocked to hear that Calypso is a genetic clone of Marie, and his exclamation left him and Agent 7 detected by her. Calypso reveals Hector Norman, his organization The Brethrens of the Brine, and the Great Amemasu Federation of Hokkaido to Agent 7. She also reveals the newest clone, Cassandra who is a clone of Callie with foresight on an event of the next day.

Mercury arrived on time to make sure Calypso doesn’t harm Ampth, and Mercury is still a bit miffed by their last cooperation.

Calypso mentioned Agent 7’s father, Jason Gatzling Cassius Sr., who was a veteran of the Great Turf War. She is willing to give Agent 7 the information she received, and it was revealed Hector’s revenge on Agent 7’s father.

Transistion: Reignite the Great Turf War

The Speech

Sins of the Father?

Three days later, Agent 7 and his little sister Pammy (Agent 7.5) make a trip to Calamari County via train. He was going to drop off Pammy at his mother’s manor to stay for a while. At the train station, they meet two inkling twins named who asked Agent 7 to pick a card from either the red deck or the blue deck. Agent 7 picks the blue deck and gets a 7 of Diamonds. When the twins leave them be, Agent 7 feels they’ll meet again.

On the train, Agent 7 and Pammy meet two agents who recognize Agent 7. The two agents are named Roxanne Lannister (Agent 27) and Marcellus Valentine (Agent 36) from the United Kingdom and United States respectively. They were drafted to come to Japan for diplomatic reasons. They decided to join Agent 7 and Pammy on their trip to Calamari County to kill time.

Once in Calamari County, they were escorted to Cassius Manor where Agent 7’s mother, Darla Gatz-Ling Cassius, was waiting for them. Darla welcomes her son and Pammy back, and she helps them inside. Agent 7 introduced his mother as a former field medic of Conesnail Splatoon during the Great Turf War.

Later, Agent 7 privately talks with his mother about Hector Norman which shocks her. Darla explains that she was supposed to take part in a mission with his father, but had to be discharged due to pregnancy. It was called Operation Sea-Bream which was a mission Agent 7’s father took in before his heroic sacrifice.

During the Great Turf War, a private military company called the Amemasu Bayline promised to support the Squid forces in exchange for sovereignty over the island of Hokkaido as it’s own nation. The agreement was fragile to the point where the Amemasu Bayline broke it by seizing the island for itself. That’s where Hector Norman comes in. He along with two factions, The Sealine of Uchiura Bay and The Lakeline of Lake Tōya, formed a triumvirate, forming the nation–”

“– The Amemasu Federation of Hokkaido.” Agent 7 recalls the news mentioning it.

“Exactly, and the broken oath outraged some of the Splatoons. Your father was given permission to lead a liberation campaign and apprehend Hector in Operation Sea-Bream. Hector tested him somehow….. I heard Hector got killed in the end. And he made haste later to help in the final battle against the Octarians. The federation was supposed to dissolve after the Great Turf War….” She then covers her mouth. -- Darla’s conversation with Agent 7.

Darla remind Agent 7 about his father’s will and suggests he finds whatever his father left in Inkopolis.

As Agent 7 leaves to return to Inkopolis, Agent 7 is saved by another drone who tried to shoot a dart at him.

Transition: Raps and Beats

Agent 7 meets Callie and Marie again with Pearl and Marina. Agent 7 meets an ally of his, Fang from the Alpha Death Squad. After Callie, Marie, Pearl, and Marina go off on their own errands, Agent 7 takes Fang to Bigfin Grotto to help with something.

Agent 7 tried to locate whatever his father left in Inkopolis according to his will. Fang helps by marking an unexplored area in the ancient subway systems built by the human race. Agent 7 thanks her, and she adds in keys to an ATV to help him along the way.

The marker was on an area underneath the Tohoku Shinkansen train route.

The Sparrow Finally Calls

Agent 7 meets Blueshift at the entrance to an abandoned subway. They talk for a moment about Marie and later about a few friends in Inkopolis. A runaway cargo truck force Agent 7 and Blueshift into the subways. They had to explore the subway system together. Agent 7 explains his situation to Blueshift.

Eventually, Agent 7 finds the ATV that Alpha Death Squad supplied him. Both he and Blueshift get on and started driving their way to their destination. The ride wasn’t that long as Hector’s infantry ambushed them, making them escape the subway system and crash into their destination.

Robin and her friend, Mint, both find the two in the area, and they end up in the mess. They’re forced to cooperate with Agent 7 and Blueshift to fight off Hector’s infantry and unknown Brine Unit. Robin was able to defeat the Brine unit.

Afterward, Agent 7 finally finds what his father left him: A bullet train and a final note:

“Son,

I didn’t realize that the consequences that Hector made were promised. All of Hokkaido was after me and only me after leaving the island. And I was able to escape it at a cost. Afterward, they remained on that island, giving up the chase. And what happened after you knew from your mother as my sacrifice for the Inklings to win against the Octarians.

I am sorry for not being there. I’m sorry for not being there to see you grow up. Whatever you are now, I am proud of it. And what I told you to do earlier – to promise to never befriend the Octarians – I take it back. That’s shouldn’t be you.

If you found this letter, I ask you to prepare Inkopolis for the worse to come from Hector’s nation. This situation I am sorry to put you in.

Your father,

Jason Gatz-Ling Cassius Sr.”

It was a mission Agent 7’s father started, and now he has to finish it.

Revenge of the Railgunning Octo-Train

Bigfin Splatoon prepare Agent 7 to a trip to Hokkaido. Agent 27 and 36 meet Agent 7 again with a familiar face: Vladimir Shepherd. They join Agent 7 on the trip.

When the bullet train departs, they encounter an old enemy of Bigfin Splatoon. It was an octoweapon called The Railgunning Octo-Train. They manage to defeat it.

Afterward, Agent 7’s rival, Sarah Phenotyne arrives on a hovercraft to drop off another ally for Agent 7, an Octoling soldier from Sarkhalin named Laguna “Garza” Rayne.

They make their way to Aomori Bay.

Side Story: Tenkai & Fate of Mistuhide Revealed

Erikka returns to Earth once more to meet Indo and to find her brother, Mitsuhide. They track him all the way to a monk’s monastery before tying up loose ends with refugees in Inkopolis. Mitushide was alive and has remained in the monastery as an exile, trying to reflect and start a new life.

Transition: The Sea Fleet / Sail to Hokkaido

Agent 0 turned out to have snuck his way into the bullet train and join Agent 7. Agent 7 and Laguna make their way into the bay to commandeer one of the ships in a mercenary fleet paid by Hector. Agent 7 meets the twins from the Inkopolis train station who are offering either a red keycard or a blue keycard. Agent 7 picks the red keycard.

Agent 7 and Laguna steal the fleet’s fastest ship and they sail their way to Hokkaido after killing the fleet’s commodore and disabling most of the battleships.

Urchinball

Agent 7 gets to meet his father’s enemy, Hector Norman, and they have a conversation over the Great Turf War. Hector justifies his actions, saying that the Inkling broke a promise with his nation and that Agent 7’s father was a thorn in Hector’s side.

Hector then started getting under Agent 7’s skin, mentioning his relation with Inkopolis residents, his family, and his allies. He begins a “social experiment” on Agent 7 once he leaves Hokkaido.

Returning to Hokkaido, Agent 7 brings The Great Barrier Reef Treaty Organization back and announces concern about The Great Amemasu Federation of Hokkaido. But during the speech, he becomes poisoned with a cocktail of hallucinogens which caused a scene in the meeting. Agent 7 ends up in an induced coma.

And it turns out Agent 0 was behind this for he was forced to poison Agent 7.

Transition: The First Move

Blueshift interrogates Agent 0. Agent 0 confesses that he was forced into poisoning Agent 7 with the hallucinogen. Captain Cuttlefish arrives on time to clear Agent 0 o any wrong doing. Agnet 8 was with him at the time.

Lee and Robin check on Agent 7, and they meet Darla who explain what happened.

Dr. Julia Noh, an ally of Agent 7, was also there to try and help cure Agent 7.

Blueshift and Agent 0 arrive to ask Darla everything she knew about Hector Norman and Agent 7’s father.

--Splat from the Past

Darla was having trouble sleeping when she heard about the poisoning of Agent 7. She couldn’t leave his side or the hospital. An acquaintance of Agent 7 named Damien Zendall came by, meeting Darla at the hospital. Darla considered getting a therapist in to help her son and figure out what’s been troubling him.

Darla and Damien soon end up part of a game in Hector’s Social Experiement on Agent 7. They were forced to fight off Shadow Marshalls (they were armed with a unique ink-based skatter shoes) and keep them away from Agent 7, testing if there will be anyone to defend Agent 7. They were able to fight the marshals off with the arrival of Agents 27 and 36 as reinforcements.

The next day after the social experiment, Agent 7 is relocated to another room in the hospital. A therapist help reveal what’s been going on with Agent 7.

Therapy Part 1

Therapy Part 2

Agent 7 ends up in another coma; Darla is convinced by Damien to help fight this. Darla allows doctors to follow a procedure to treat Agent 7 of his condition.

That night, Agent 7 spiraled down in madness as the poison was withdrawn from his body. He was, however, able to recover at the cost of ending up in a catatonic state.

--No Idol Plays It Better

Bigfin Splatoon was ordered by Darla to find a way to snap Agent 7 out of his catatonic state. Grace (Agent 8) joined them along with Laguna to travel to Iwo Jima, where Calypso resides.Hector plays another game in his Social Experiment, sending his mercenary fleet to stop them. With the help of Grace and the relief army of Calypso, Bigfin Splatoon was able to negotiate with Calypso.

Calypso disguises herself as Marie, and she was able to snap Agent 7 out of his catatonic state. Soon, Marie arrived late after hearing Agent 7 was recovering.

--Transition: Inevitable Pain, Optional Suffering

Agent 7 and Marie make up after Agent 7 confesses what he said during therapy. Marie forgives him and offers him another chance in their relationship.

#The Hamartia Arc #Incomplete Recap

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galleryyuhself · 7 years ago

Text

—Pete Seeger, 1958

Calypso clubs created an imaginary Caribbean atmosphere with fishnets, palm fronds and other trappings. Performers often wore straw hats and striped and floral outfits, unlike the dress suits worn by calypsonians in Trinidad. Particularly appealing for Americans were performance routines involving extemporaneous singing about audience members, risqué lyrics, limbo dancing and steel pans. (2007)

U.S. Navy Steel Band at World Fair in Brussels, 1957. Courtesy of the Nimitz Library, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.

At a time when such commercial movies as “Fire Down Below” and “Island in the Sun” are seriously misrepresenting West Indian music and dance forms, Seeger promises the steel bandsmen that he will use their instrument to “tell the true story of Trinidad, as true as I can tell it, wherever I go.” Those who have seen his engaging stage presentation of the steel drum and its music know how well he has kept his word. (1959)

I never heard of the steel drum until I was in Trinidad at carnival time in 1957, when I heard hundreds of them in the fabulous carnival parade. The music just got inside me and shook me up. I bought a whole set of steel drums. . . . During my forty-three years of active duty in the Navy, I had a hand in a lot of things for which one might think I would be remembered, such as inventing new ordnance devices, flying jet airplanes, and capturing a German submarine. . . . But if you ask any Captain or Admiral on active duty now, “do you know Dan Gallery?” the chances are he will say, “Sure. He’s the guy who started that steel band in San Juan.” (1965, 273–5)

Yours Very Sincerely, Peter Seeger

President Dwight D. Eisenhower (left) and Daniel Gallery (right), 1957. Admiral Gallery and Seeger: Correspondences. Courtesy of the Nimitz Library, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.

Dear Seeger: I was very interested in your letter which arrived this morning. I was already quite familiar with the enclosure as one of the several hundred copies you mentioned had fallen into my hands, and I had made quite a study of it. I am having a whale of a time with this band. My sailors have taken to it like natives. They want to raffle off their regular instruments and play nothing but steel drums now. I swear, I think they’re better than any band in Trinidad right now—after only two months experience.

Dear Admiral: All I can say is that my admiration for the U.S. Navy could not be higher after reading your letter. I feel I owe you deep apologies for your mashed thumb and weekend effort. If I had only had the sense to put into those mimeographed directions the information that there were different types of oil barrels and to steer clear of ones that are too thick or made out of too highly tempered steel!

Dear Pete: You owe me no apologies for the mashed thumb. I think it’s on the first page of your screed that you say “you’ll wind up with a mashed thumb” if you try to make a steel drum. It turned out so precisely like you said it would, that I have complete confidence in all the rest of your directions from here on.

I am very much interested in this steel band idea. I really believe this band of mine might start something big. We may be on [Arthur] Godfrey’s show next month. I would appreciate very much anything you can tell me about the present state of arts both making and playing steel drums in the United States.

Poster for New York City calypso club, 1950s. Ray and Stuempfle, “Calypso: A World Music” exhibition, 2007. Courtesy of the Historical Museum of Southern Florida (online).

If your steel band can get on Arthur Godfrey’s show that is exactly what is needed to give the whole thing a great kick off. There will be thousands of people in America begging to know where they can buy them and begging to know how to make them. I agree with you 100% that the instrument is liable to spread around the world. It is unbeatable on parade.

Once you are familiar with how steel bands are used in the West Indies, you should start considering how you want to adapt them to other music familiar to your own friends and neighbors in your home town. It seems to me there is no reason why many popular or folk melodies of the U.S.A. could not be played by a good steel band. Try any square dance tune such as “Old Joe Clark” or “Arkansas Traveler,” and try also rhythms such as an Irish Jig. The only problem I have found here is that rhythmically they sound rather over simple, after you are used to the complex counter rhythmic effects of Caribbean music. To solve this problem will be the problem of young people who start playing steel pans in every country. . . . What I am sure of is that right now the steel band can fill a niche unoccupied in American life since the decline of the fife and drum corps. Here is something for a gang of young people to latch on to, and let the whole world know that they are around. Steel pans are cheap, hard to break, and can be played in the rain or snow. Everyone can participate on his or her own level.

#Steelpan #History of Steelpan #Ealry history of steelpan #Trinidad and Tobago early history of steelpan

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skarletterambles · 7 years ago

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Pirates of the Caribbean 5

I just got back from seeing Dead Men Tell No Tales. I have thoughts. Quite a few of them, actually.

I should preface this review by giving a bit of background on my involvement with this franchise. I saw the first PotC movie in the theater seven times. I saw Dead Man’s Chest three or four times and loved it. I saw At World’s End exactly once, hated it with the passion of a thousand burning suns, and never saw it again.

I was--and am--a hardcore Sparrabeth shipper. The canon status of Willabeth only explains part of my disillusionment with the franchise, however. My biggest problem was how Elizabeth had an amazing character arc over three films, going from a prim-and-proper governor’s daughter to the ass-kicking Pirate King, pursuing her dreams in defiance of society’s expectations, outwitting both the EITC and legendary pirates, leading an armada in battle...and then had it all stripped away at the end of the third movie, where she is left literally barefoot and pregnant to wait for her man to come back. I was--and am--livid. I felt betrayed, both as a fan and a feminist, to see one of my favorite characters do a 180 like that.

So I have very strong feelings about these movies. I’ve tried to get over it in the years since AWE, with limited success. Against my better judgment I did see On Stranger Tides in the theater, and thought it was mediocre. Since Elizabeth wasn’t involved I could just ignore its existence, for the most part.

Then the fifth movie was announced, and Will was going to be in it. I had hoped that maybe, just maybe they could try to rectify some of the mistakes (read: character assassination) of the past.

They didn’t. But they still came up with a pretty good movie. Honestly, I’d even give Dead Men Tell No Tales four stars out of five. I was riveted to the screen for most of it, and it was thrilling to hear the theme music and see the familiar faces. It was exciting and entertaining, the special effects were impressive, and there were some good laughs. Plus, zombie sharks!

Do I have issues with parts of it? Yeah. And I’m going to ramble at length.

**** MAJOR POTC: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES SPOILERS BELOW ****

Sequel creep is definitely at work, where each installment has to be bigger and zanier than the last. The gags are broader, the willing suspension of disbelief gets even more strained, the stakes are higher, and it becomes almost like a Saturday morning cartoon version of itself.

Thinking back to CotBP, we had to buy into the curse turning Barbossa and his crew into undead, but other than that the world operated on fairly realistic terms. Yes, there was movie logic involved as far as coincidences, travel times, fast wound recovery, and all that, but it still felt more or less like the real world. Stakes got higher with each sequel, until we have whatever the hell that “bank robbery” was in DMTNT.

Don’t get me wrong; it was an enjoyable action sequence, but it felt more like a cartoon than anything that could happen under the laws of physics as they exist in our world. That’s not inherently a bad thing, but the tone was noticeably different compared to the earlier films.

Moving on, I was glad Captain Salazar didn’t have that slurpy, blood-drooling voice through the entire film. When I first heard that in the early trailer I was both grossed out, and concerned that he would be hard to understand. Instead it was just that one scene, and he spoke normally the rest of the time. He was a great villain, from his badass and scary entrance through to his delightfully ironic death. He was genuinely threatening, which was kind of surprising considering the cartoony feel of some of the action scenes. Javier Bardem killed it. Thumbs up to him!

The legend surrounding the trident, and the map to find it, seemed cool until you thought about it for more than two seconds, and then it didn’t really make any sense. Calypso is the Sea Goddess in this universe, so where did Poseidon come in? How can his trident override curses that she put in place? If it could be broken by a single sword blow, how did it stay intact under the sea for (presumably) thousands of years? I mean, sure, maaaaaagic, but...eh.

And why did Will get all barnacley anyway? Elizabeth waited for him, so that part of the curse shouldn’t have kicked in.

And what will happen to the souls of the dead without the Dutchman to ferry them to the afterlife?

And what happened to Bootstrap Bill? Did Will figure out how to free him and let him move on to the afterlife?

And if breaking the trident cancelled all the curses related to the sea, how did Davy Jones appear in the after-credits scene? (Assuming it was him. The gait, crab claw, barnacles, tentacley silhouette and the music box theme all pointed to it being him, anyway.) I could almost buy him coming back to life when the curse was broken, but as a normal human again, not ol’ squidface. The mythology makes no damn sense at all!

This review is coming across pretty negative so far, but I really did enjoy the movie. I thought it was much better than OST, and felt like a return to the original vibe of the series. I thoroughly enjoyed watching (almost) every minute of it, and I left the theater grinning and humming the theme music. As a summer popcorn movie, it’s pretty great. It’s just when the adrenaline wears off and I start thinking and analyzing that I see the issues. And, like I said, I have a long history with this franchise, so overthinking it is what I do.

There were definitely some surprises, although I saw a couple of the twists coming. The instant I realized Carina was Hector’s daughter, I was like, “Well, he’s going to die saving her somehow.” And I was right. It was sad (and that damn monkey gave me more feels than any creepy little primate has a right to), but at the same time I’m delighted at how his character grew into so, so much more than he was originally planned to be. He was supposed to be a one-shot villain in CotBP, but Geoffrey Rush is so damn awesome, and he and Johnny Depp brainstormed a history between their characters, decided his first name was Hector, and one thing led to another and here we are, genuinely mourning him in the fifth movie. It was a worthy sendoff for a memorable character.

One of the themes that got raised over and over in the earlier movies was the idea that it’s possible to be a pirate and a good man. Bootstrap Bill Turner was. Jack is. Was Hector Barbossa a good man? I don’t know if I’d go that far, but he wasn’t 100% evil, either. And he was a lot of fun to watch.

Henry definitely reminded me of Will. He had the same wide-eyed earnestness about him, as well as the tendency to charge into danger because it’s the Right Thing To Do without thinking through the full plan first. Elizabeth’s legacy is a bit harder to see, except in the first two scenes. Keeping a secret stash of pirate memorabilia and legends? Totally Lizzie. Back-talking authority figures? Yep, Lizzie’s genes are in there. And later, in the jail, taking Jack’s ego down a peg by scoffing at his legendary reputation in comparison to the reality of a scruffy, rum-soaked pirate? Also from the Swann side of the family. So I think they did a pretty good job of making Henry his parents’ son.

I just wish we had more information on how he was raised, and where. I always imagined him scampering around Shipwreck Cove and up the rigging of Elizabeth’s ship(s), the mischievous pirate prince. Based on the house Elizabeth is living in at the end, and the fact that he was enlisted in the royal navy, I don’t see that happening in canon now.

When Carina was introduced I had a couple thoughts:

1. “I wonder if she’s related to any existing characters... No, don’t be silly. This isn’t a fanfic. They’re trying to move the franchise forward into the next generation.” (Or not.) 2. I don’t want to like her because no one can ever replace Elizabeth Freaking Swann the Pirate King as the best female character in these movies. And that’s still true, but she definitely grew on me. She had a fairly good balance of “smart woman who can take care of herself and doesn’t need a man to complete her story” and “too perfect to be likable or believable.” I could have done with a costume that didn’t draw quite so much attention to her heaving bosom, but I suppose there’s some vaguely historical style going on.

Honestly, there’s a reason her backstory could have been lifted from a story on Fanfiction.net circa 2004: those kinds of long-lost relative reveals can be a hell of a lot of fun. Especially when you have Jack there to tease “daddy” Hector mercilessly.

I’m glad they didn’t have her be Jack’s daughter, though. That thought crossed my mind, too, and that would have been...not good.

Pity Hector never got to introduce himself to Elizabeth and Will as the father of their potential daughter-in-law. Awwwwwkward! Bwahahaha!

Speaking of the dreaded Willabeth... Jack saw them smooching in his spyglass, made a face, and announced that it was a revolting sight. Same, Jack. Same.

Therein lies my biggest complaint about the movie, and, as I mentioned above, it’s just the latest sprout on a tree of dislike that I’ve been nursing since the ending of At World’s End was leaked. How in the seven hells they thought it was an appropriate, satisfying, logical plot development for Elizabeth Freaking Swann the Pirate King to end up standing around passively on a beach in a frilly dress and a fucking corset, waiting for the menfolk to do the important stuff, I will never, ever understand. It’s a slap in the face of everything her character arc was over the first three movies.

“Sure, little girls, you can have adventures and play pirate for awhile if you want to, but in the end you still have to get married, grow up, conform to society’s beauty standards, put aside those dreams, and take care of your husband and children.” Fuck that with a rusty garden trowel.

And here, when they had the chance to redeem that travesty, when they could have showed a glimpse of her at the helm of her own flagship, or holding court with the other Pirate Lords, or just simply wearing pirate-type clothes and carrying a sword, for the love of all things holy, did they do any of those things? Oh, no. No, they doubled down and had her be so passive that she didn’t even get to speak. (Doesn’t that mean they don’t have to pay Knightley as much?) Literally all she’s there for is to be a reward for Will upon his homecoming, and then sleep with him--on land in a fancy house that could have been in Port Royal, for all we know. Any journey her character had is moot. She’s back to square one, and it makes me want to throw things.

Oops, I was going to keep that rant short, and failed. Oh well, it’s a sore spot, obviously. I have never felt so betrayed by a franchise as I did when they did that to Elizabeth in AWE, and it still stings after all these years.

My ire didn’t even stem from my shipping preferences, although that certainly was salt in the wound. If they couldn’t give us a series of movies with Jack and Lizzie, the best pirates in the world, having amazing adventures while flirting like they did in DMC, at least they could have given us a sort of open ending, where she, Will and Jack all sail in their separate directions, knowing that their paths would cross in the future in any number of entertaining ways. I’m never sure if I should blame the writers, the studio, or the actors, or all of the above, but I would have bought, like, ALL THE TICKETS to see those movies.

But, alas, that’s not what we got. We got OST and DMTNT instead. OST was quite forgettable, but DMTNT packed a pretty good punch and I wouldn’t mind seeing it again. I won’t say it totally redeemed the franchise for me, but it’s got its head above water for the first time since DMC, so that’s progress.

Should you see it? Yeah, I think so. If you enjoyed the precious PotC movies, or just like pirate movies in general, it’s a fun couple hours. Just don’t think too hard about it afterward (like I did.)

#Pirates of the Caribbean #dead men tell no tales #movie review #sparrabeth #anti willabeth

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winryofresembool · 4 years ago

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Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 16

aka Caleo uni au

Chapter summary: Game night at Leo and Calypso's flat.

A/N: So sorry for the delay with this chapter, but better late than never, right? This chapter was both fun but also challenging to write, because I wasn't sure how much game description I can have without making it boring. I myself am a big Pokémon fan (among other things) so adding that was very self-indulgent of me, but I hope that even those of my readers who aren't that familiar with Pokémon will be able to enjoy this chapter. I tried my best to explain some of the most important terms in the author's note on ao3 so you can check that if you want to.

Now, please enjoy and let me know what you think! I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately so comments would really cheer me up! (Ps. since it's already Sunday, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to update next Thursday but I'll try)

Characters in this ch: Calypso, Leo, Piper, Jason, Annabeth, special guest appearance in the end ;)

Words: 2900+

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / next chapter / AO3

…

Saturday came and Leo still hadn’t heard anything from his professors, which he took as a bad sign. Maybe they were still considering if such a problem student would ever be able to go through the tough education. He hadn’t even talked to Jo and Emmie after the incident, claiming that he was currently busy but he’d call back when he had time. He was still determined to try to get over his fear because his flatmate believed in him and thought that he could do it. And if not for anything else, Jo and Emmie hadn’t adopted him just so he would waste the opportunity. Calypso and he had agreed to continue the training the upcoming week, but now, they had something different in their minds: the game night.

Jason and Piper arrived first. They brought their Switch, some games and snacks with them and seemed about as confident about winning their battles as Leo was. Annabeth had told the group she would be arriving a bit late as she had promised to tutor a pupil that afternoon but that arrangement suited everyone well since she wouldn’t be able to participate in the Pokémon tournament anyway.

The group decided to have three battles and the team winning two of them would win the whole competition. Unfortunately for Team Flatmates, Jason and Piper won the first battle quite clearly, causing Calypso to throw annoyed glances at Leo.

“Mister Pokémon Master, I thought you had a plan,” she growled at him while their opponents were highfiving each other.

Leo leaned closer to her, attempting his sneakiest expression: “Just trying to make them feel comfortable, Sunshine. And when they think they got it…”

“You’re either an evil genius or simply an idiot.” Calypso shook her head.

“Hey, what are you two whispering there?” Piper asked loudly from her seat. “One would think that you’re plotting something… Maybe even cheating.”

“Just a mandatory team meeting, Pipes. We don’t cheat. I feel offended that you’d even consider that.” Leo put his hand over his heart to feign innocence.

“Yeah, right,” Piper rolled her eyes. “We almost believe that.”

The second battle was much more even than the first one. In the end both teams were down to one Pokémon, but Leo’s Charizard was faster than Jason’s Magnezone and it managed to finish it off with one final Flamethrower.

“See, Sunshine, if it hadn’t been for my Charizard…”

“Oh my gods, Leo. You just happened to get lucky that Tyranitar’s Rock Throw missed it earlier. Otherwise you’d been done for.”

“Well, they say that even luck has to be deserved,” Leo smirked.

“So that’s what your strategy is?” Jason asked. “Luck?”

“Do I hear complaints? You guys just don’t respect the genius in his element.” Leo protested.

“Well, I guess the final battle will decide who really is a genius and who’s not,” Piper noted and that was the group’s cue to stop trash talking and continue playing.

...

Jason and Piper’s team got a strong start in the last battle. They took down two of Leo and Calypso’s Pokémon before they got any major damage done. But after that Leo showed that sometimes he did have luck on his side; he took a small risk by making Luxray use Thunder against Jason’s flying type and it was worth it. The attack didn’t miss this time and Braviary went down in one hit. After that Leo took another risk by telling Calypso to use a water type Slowbro against Piper’s grass type Lurantis. He had planned ahead though by using a move that made Slowbro faster than Lurantis, and his Pokémon also knew a fire type move Flamethrower, which caused Lurantis to go down after two hits.

From then on the battle progressed more evenly. Charizard and Venusaur were Leo and Calypso’s last Pokémon to stand against Piper and Jason’s Manectric and Umbreon. Calypso suggested they’d try to use Venusaur against Manectric but Leo claimed his Charizard might be able to beat it with one hit. He miscalculated, though. Manectric was still faster and its Discharge was enough to take the Charizard down. Calypso looked at Leo with a ‘what did I say’ expression and took over. Her Venusaur, which was resistant to electric moves, managed to win Manectric, and Calypso couldn’t hide her smug smile when Jason and Piper switched to their last Pokémon.

In advance the last match up seemed pretty even, apart from the fact that Venusaur had already taken a bit of damage in the previous battle. Both Pokémon kept slowly chipping the other one’s energy and then healing up again for a good while until finally, Venusaur got a critical hit with its Giga Drain and made Umbreon faint.

“YES!” Calypso yelled probably louder than Leo had ever heard her yell in the short time he’d known her. Before he had time to react, he felt her arms wrap around him.

“Woah! Someone’s excited.” Leo mumbled against her hair.

“Sorry,” Calypso blushed. “I may have overreacted a bit. But we did it!”

“A critical hit, huh? Those need some luck, don’t you think?” Leo asked her smugly once Calypso had removed her arms from around him.

“Yeah, I guess…” she said, wondering where he was going with his comment.

“I’d advise you to check Venusaur’s held item.” Leo winked and Calypso clicked Venusaur’s data open.

“Dire Hit?” she asked in disbelief. “Did you predict this would happen and that’s why you gave him that? To boost the critical hit ratio?”

“Well, I told you the luck has to be earned sometimes.” Leo’s grin was about as wide as it could get. Calypso didn’t know if she should punch him or hug him again. Her hand remained still in the mid air for a while before she finally decided to put it down, in the small gap between his and her thigh.

“You could have told me that earlier, you frustrating, evil…” She started scolding him.

“Yes? Finish your sentence, please.” Leo challenged, leaning a bit closer to her.

“Not genius,” she said quietly, not able to look him in the eyes.

“Has anyone ever told you guys you’re adorable?” Piper asked all of a sudden and it was then that the flatmates remembered that Jason and Piper indeed were in the room too. They flinched for a moment and then jumped farther from each other.

“Hey, what are you implying?” Leo casted an annoyed look at his friend.

“Pretty sure Mister Genius knows what I’m implying,” Piper said back and caused Leo to groan loudly.

“No way. No. We’re not… I mean I wouldn’t… She wouldn’t…”

“No one understands you, Leo,” Jason stopped his stuttering.

Leo wasn’t about to admit his defeat quite that easily, but luckily he was stopped by the buzzer. Annabeth had finally arrived and Calypso rushed to open the door, trying to put her poker face back on.

“Hi! Sorry I’m late, the pupil had quite a lot of questions this time,” Annabeth explained, glancing at the clock on the wall that showed that the four others had been playing for almost an hour already. “And of course Percy had lost his swimming goggles again and we were searching for them for at least 15 minutes. I promise to kick his butt for that later tonight.”

Calypso was still too distracted by the earlier situation to pay attention to the name Annabeth had mentioned.

“No worries, you probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it anyway. The boys were getting a bit enthusiastic about Pokémon,” she told Annabeth.

“Excuse me, who was literally just screaming and glomping people because she won?” Leo retorted back and Annabeth chuckled at his reaction a bit.

“Hmm, to me it sounds like I’ve missed a lot.” She smirked. “Moving on, though, what are you guys thinking of doing next?”

“We were planning to play Mario Kart,” Calypso gestured towards the console, as she went back to her seat.

“And this time we won’t be playing in pairs so it should be interesting to see how these two will be behaving,” Piper meddled in.

Both Leo and Calypso pretended they didn’t hear her, instead starting to trashtalk each other.

“Okay, Repair Boy, let’s see how far luck will get you in this game.”

“Sunshine, if you think I need luck in Mario Kart… you’re as wrong as my middle school teacher who claimed that my jokes were bad and threw me out of the class just because of that.”

Jason had to disagree with that statement, though. “For me you told that that joke was about the teacher himself and that it was kind of inappropriate. So your teacher was right.”

Leo turned to Calypso. “Why did we invite these two again?” He nodded towards Piper and Jason. “They’re ruining my stories.”

“I think they are just telling the truth,” Calypso chuckled.

“Oh yeah? Let’s see who laughs last when they win this contest.”

“Alright, children,” Annabeth stopped them. “This is fun to listen to but I think the only way to find out who really can play is to play.”

“Annabeth’s right, as usual,” Piper said too. “Let’s do it.”

The friends shared the remote controls and put the game on. Before they got to the character picking, though, Calypso confessed something.

“I have to admit that I haven’t played this game before. Well, I haven’t played most of the games before. Pokémon was easy for me to understand because it’s one of the few games I did play as a kid.”

“Wait… what?” Leo turned to her, his eyes wide. “You have only ever played that game as a kid and did that well?

“You created the team, I only picked what felt good in that moment.” Calypso waved it off. “Without that Dire Hit…”

“Looks like progress has been made between those two,” Annabeth whispered to Piper who snorted at her comment.

“One could say that,” she said with amusement.

“Alright, guys, let’s focus on the relevant things here. It’s time to pick your characters.” Jason ordered and the others had to listen to him. Leo picked Mario, Calypso Princess Daisy, Jason and Piper Toad and Toadette and Annabeth Yoshi (she claimed it reminded her of her boyfriend). Leo had to instruct Calypso briefly on the functions of the remote control for this specific game, but after that the group was ready.

It took Calypso a while to learn to use the remote control but Leo had to give it to her, she really gave it her all. In the first race she was the last, but she slowly started getting better until finally she was fourth, managing to win Piper while Leo, Jason and Annabeth were still better.

“At this rate you’ll win the guys before they notice it,” Annabeth complimented Calypso. “But don’t expect me to be as easy as they are.”

“How are you that good?” Calypso asked her, knowing she had meant what she had said.

“I guess I just do a lot of things that develop my hand-eye coordination; I draw, play some sports, and believe it or not, my mom also wanted to make sure I’d be good at knitting and weaving so she started teaching me at a young age. Now I haven’t seen her in a long while but I’m still trying to maintain the skill.” Annabeth shrugged.

“In that case, I’m going to continue my hobbies too. Imagine seeing Leo and Jason’s faces when we both win them,” Calypso said, causing the boys to protest.

“The next Cup will decide who wins, OK?” Jason tried to solve the situation after some bickering between the parties.

“Fine,” the girls agreed, but Leo’s face told that he was very ready to show Calypso who the teacher was.

By the last race of the Cup Annabeth was in a clear lead, Jason was second, leading Leo with 5 points, Leo third and somehow Calypso had sneaked to the fourth place 7 points from Leo. In the last round of the last race Leo was leading, others close behind him, when Jason managed to get a blue shell, shooting it at his friend’s car.

“Hey! That’s so unfair!” Leo yelped as he watched his car getting knocked over. Unfortunately for Annabeth, he was situated on the road in a way that she had to slow down a bit when she passed him, but Calypso and Jason had the space to drive on the full speed on the other side of the road. They were already close to the finish line and if the track had been any longer, the race would probably have ended differently, but Leo didn’t have enough time to bounce back after the collision. Jason ended up winning the last race, Calypso being the second, which meant she gained seven points more than Leo did. That, on the other hand, meant that they ended up with exactly the same amount of points in the Cup.

After Leo said a couple of quiet curse words in Spanish, he dared to look at Calypso from the corner of his eye. She was looking at him too and seemingly trying to figure out what she should tell him. He wasn’t able to stay mad after that.

“Guess we’ll be on the podium together,” he went first.

“Yeah,” Calypso nodded. “Hey, you’re not a half bad teacher.”

“Half bad?” A smile spread on Leo’s face. “Hey, guys, did you hear that? Coming from Calypso, that was a big compliment!”

“I can also take it back, if you want,” she said calmly but couldn’t stop herself from smiling as well.

“Good game, Cal,” both Annabeth and Piper told her, giving her high fives.

“Thank you! Next time, I’ll even try to challenge the champion.” Calypso nodded towards Annabeth.

“Good luck with that!” she responded. “I promise I won’t go easy on you.”

“I wouldn’t want that,” Calypso said before turning her attention back to the screen again.

Silence fell into the room as the group watched the award ceremony. Annabeth’s Yoshi rose to the highest podium, Jason’s Toad followed and Leo and Calypso’s Mario and Princess Daisy shared the third one.

“We don’t look that bad together, huh?” Leo noted while drumming his fingers in the same rhythm as the background music. At first he didn’t realize there was anything weird in his words, but the others’ chuckling and Calypso’s pink cheeks woke him up.

“Hu-huh?” she asked, flustered.

“I mean… our characters! They look pretty neat!” He yelped and folded his arms. The others had to bite back their smiles but Piper decided to be kind and change the topic.

“So, we’ve played Pokémon and Mario Kart now… what next?”

Calypso seemed relieved by her question. “I forgot to mention I prepared some presents for the top three! I made some cupcakes and I thought the winner would get three, the second one two and the third one… Don’t worry, Piper, I think I should have one extra cupcake in the fridge.”

“You wouldn’t have had to, I could have eaten Jason’s extra,” Piper said but accepted the cupcake nevertheless when Calypso started sharing them.

Leo wasn’t very willing to give up on his cupcake that he was supposed to share with Calypso.

“So you had an extra cupcake but we still have to share?”

“You already ate one last night! And I don’t have more of them with the frosting right now, the rest are in the freezer.” Calypso protested.

“Such a cold hearted woman,” Leo muttered and snatched the last cupcake from the plate. Calypso didn’t have time to stop him before he had already split the bottom part in half with a knife that had been resting next to the plate. Then he put the other half on the top of the cake and took a huge bite of it.

“Leonidas, what are you doing?!” she exclaimed and tried to reach the cupcake in his hand.

“Eating my share, of course!” he said as he stuffed more of the cake into his mouth.

Calypso was prepared for Leo to run away from her like he had the other day after the chili incident but to her surprise he stayed in one spot. Leo started laughing at her baffled expression.

“Open your mouth,” he ordered her, putting the remains of the cupcake near her face.

“What?” Calypso asked, not expecting that reaction.

“What what, do you think I won’t give you your share of the cupcake? You deserved it!” he said, his eyes gleaming mischievously.

“But you bit that already!” Calypso tried to protest.

“Are you 8? I can always cut this in half with this knife if that’s what you want.”

“Fine,” she finally said, waiting for Leo to finish the cutting before letting him feed her. They didn’t notice that Piper was whispering something to Annabeth and Jason. The group seemed to agree about something, but their whispering was interrupted when there was a knock on the front door.

“That’s probably just Percy, he must have gotten out of his practice by now.” Annabeth said and went to open the door.

“Hi, I tried to call you but I guess you didn’t hear your phone or something,” a male voice could soon be heard in the hallway. “Someone let me in downstairs while I was… you?”

Everyone was now able to see the newcomer who stopped in his tracks when he recognized Calypso. She had frosting all over her face, Leo’s hand on her shoulder when she turned to look at him. “Percy?”

#caleo #leo valdez #calypso #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #trials of apollo #my fics #caleo uni au

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uniquejennyessays · 7 years ago

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Greek Myth In Contemporary Society

For years I have been liking Rick Riordan (Rick)’s works, it seemed like I have not written a review on it yet. So, here’s one on my favorite book series of all time.

HOW AND WHEN DID I START ON THIS SERIES?

It all started during my first year of high school, when I had a fixation on Greek Mythology. I admired the humanized personality of different gods, the adventures of heroes with their tragic end, and the inconsistent romance (either a happy or a miserable end). The passion led me to discover the first series of the Chronicles, Percy Jackson and the Olympians (PJO). I think I borrowed the first two books from the school library and bought the rest from the bookstore. I pretty much spend most of my time reading these novels forth and back.

Then it came the Heroes of Olympus (HOO) series, which Rick introduced Roman Mythology. With a set of new characters and old friends, I was even more absorbed into the series throughout my high-school years. I waited anxiously whenever a new installment was published, and was really content when I got to know the continuation of their adventure (which the author is a troll for cliffhangers, just like how they do for Attack on Titan Season 2). The Blood of Olympus (BOO) was published during my fourth year, which the moment I read it I had a mixed feeling of joy and sorrow. The ending was extremely shocking, from Leo’s plotted death to his revival (He’s the Percy Jackson’s Jesus), I nearly wanted to punch the author. But then, Rick created many mysteries inside the book itself. For example, Apollo’s punishment, the prophecy Ella recited, Nico and Will’s relationship, and Leo and Calypso’s whereabouts. These unexplained mysteries just made me go ‘What the hell’ at the end of the book. There were conspiracies that Rick would make a new series, with all these hints. Yet I fulfill all my needs through fanfictions, seeing what people predicted the future ‘book’ will happened.

Good news rained down on me in my last year of high school. During his tour for Magnus Chase series in 2015, he announced his new Greek Myth series, Trials of Apollo (TOA). The Hidden Oracle (THO) came out when I was studying my A-Levels, I went to the bookstore on the day when it was published. Since shipping required an amount of time, I was informed that the book will arrived one week later. Eventually, I waited patiently, and finally I received it. The book was still amazing as ever, with a God as the narrator and the main character. The other main character, the daughter of Demeter (which I predicted accurately) who can perform badass sword-fighting at the age of 12, sometime out of the ordinary Demeter child people would imagine.

During my A-Levels period, my taste has turned to Victorian classics. Besides, I have started on anime. Thus, my need for the series had lessen. Even I bought the Dark Prophecy (TDP) months ago, I managed to finish it. However, this does not stop me from loving the author’s style of writing and sense of humor.

(Additional note: I have finished TDP on Percy’s birthday.)

(picture of the troll)

WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT?

After pouring all my love for the chronicles, so what are the series all about? Americanized Greek Mythology in the modern world. These demigods live in training camp named Camp Half-Blood (another word for demigod) during summer or for the entire year so they can prepare themselves for the dangerous outside world full of monsters. Since it has 3 different plots for each series, I need to introduce them in detail separately.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2005-2009)

The gateway to the demigod universe. It started off with the Lightning Thief (TLT), through first-point of view of our beloved hero, Percy Jackson. He discovers himself as the remaining demigod son of Poseidon, the Greek god of sea. Due to a great prophecy predicted one of the Big Three (Zeus, Poseidon and Hades) children will bring to the fall of Olympus, his presence was a threat to the Gods. He was also set to vanquish Kronos, King of Titans who is under the aid of another demigod, Luke Castellan.

The five books of the series described his journey to be a living legend, with an amount of betrayals, deaths of his trusted partners, slight romance and awesome fighting scenes. His humorous jokes and comments presented Rick’s unique style of writing, giving the readers memorable images.

The final book, The Last Olympian (TLOl), is the greatest among them all. brings up another prophecy which is the key to the next installment. No matter how much Luke is a villain, his devastating childhood stories and his anger towards the Greek Gods made the readers understand his resentment and yearning for a familiar love. Besides, it also revealed another prophecy, which is the key to the next series.

Heroes of Olympus (2010-2014)

The sequel of the previous series, narrating seven demigods on a quest to defeat an ancient deity in the ancient grounds of Greece and Rome. They meet challenges from the worst monsters, mortals and deities, sailing to stop the wrath of Gaea, the Earth goddess.

This series, is my favorite series among the three. It does not focus on a main character, or written in 1st person point of view. Instead, we got a third person omniscient from 9 different people, who are the seven main demigods (with Nico and Reyna in the last book). We do not get our beloved son of Poseidon in the first book, but we were given a new set of characters with different background. We also discover the Roman Version of Camp Half -Blood, Camp Jupiter, a rigid military-like camp full of Roman demigods and their descendants. The series narrated two parallel sides of the Greco-Roman Mythology working together against a common enemy.

Unlike the previous series, this brought up many backstories of characters even more tragic than Percy’s. The narration was still amusing, yet there’s a sense of seriousness inside. There was an obvious character development when the series goes on. For example, Piper McLean, who refuses to recognize herself as the daughter of Aphrodite, later accepts her identity and able to use her own inherited powers. Frank Zhang, an insecure demigod with a bad reputation, turned into a confident Roman praetor.

The thing I would like to complain about is the final fight scene in BOO. It was a few pages long with Piper, Jason and Leo putting Gaea back to her slumber. It was not as majestic as people expected it would be. It could be as fantastic as TLOl!

Trials of Apollo (2016-?)

The latest sequel for the previous series, which feature the sun god Apollo as a powerless mortal, finding his way to gain back immortality. Rick had converted back to the first-person point of view style, with the sun god as the narrator. His choice of narrator gives us an insight to a deity’s mind and opinions, how he sees the world compared to how mortals, having an ephemeral life, perception on their life. It’s a philosophical matter which discuss about life and death, and living an eternal life.

In THO, readers could see the improvement on Apollo’s personality. From the arrogant and narcissistic god who cannot accept on his ‘ugly’ condition, finally learns how to be humble and trying to see the world as how mortals would. We also witness the psychological abuse of Nero on Meg McCaffery. Letting her believe her abuser is another person from her adoptive father, but what she does not know Nero and the ‘Beast’ are the same person.

The second book, TDP, probably is my least favorite of the series. There was not much Leo-Calypso endearing moments that I expected it should be. The first half of the book narrating Apollo doing various pet tasks, and remembering his ex-lover, Emperor Commodus. However, I am pleased that Rick put a lesbian couple in the story, which I had no idea that even same-sex relationship is prohibited as well for the Huntress of Artemis. There are old friends from the previous books, which I am delighted to see again.

The third book, The Burning Maze (TBM) will be released next year.

Companion books

As much as the companion books are light and consisted with short stories, I explored the little things that were never mentioned in the main series. Besides fillers, there were information on the demigod world, giving readers a clearer sight of the Greek Mythology and Percy’s world.

The Demigod Files (TDF), narrates how Percy assisted Clarisse on her Ares rite of passage; the discover of the bronze dragon (which later Leo named him Festus); and the children of the Big Three Gods finding the newly forged weapon of Hades (Gods do like causing unnecessary trouble and giving quests to their half-blood offspring).

The Demigod Diaries (TDD), explains the adventure of Luke and Thalia in a trapped mansion, finding Annabeth on their way; the task given by Hermes during Percy-Annabeth’s one-month anniversary date; Leo and his friends’ encounter with the drunken followers of Dionysus; and an extra story written by Rick’s son, with impressive writing style for someone diagnosed with dyslexic and ADHD.

Camp Half-Blood confidential (CHBC) is a collaborated guide ‘made’ by the campers, due to the horrible orientation film directed by Apollo. Poor Nico is the only one who suffered from the film and accidentally humiliates himself in public.

Percy Jackson’s guide to Greek Gods and Greek Heroes are separate two books as a guide introducing to Greek Gods and Heroes. People could actually score Greek Mythology with these two non-boring lecture books.

Rick also made a crossover on Percy and his Egyptian Mythology counterpart, Carter Kane. They work together to defeat Setne, an Egyptian magician who thirst for divine powers. It was like an official crossover fanfiction.

Diverse Demigods with Dazzling Characteristics

I love the characters in the series, they were just full of animation and so on. I’ll state my top 10 favorites and that one character I truly despise.

First come with my favorite characters of the series:

(art by viria, she makes the old official arts belongs to the pit of Tartarus)

10. Frank Zhang

One of the cinnamon roll of the series, and the tamest among Mars/Ares children. I’m glad that Rick put a Chinese demigod in it. His Chinese name, Fai Zhang, probably based on Zhang Fei from the Romance of Three Kingdom. He is the only demigod who can read and write normally. He has shape-shifting abilities, inherited from his ancestors, is adapted from the Monkey King from Journey to the West. Like the Greek hero Meleager, his life is depended on a wooden stick, showing his pyrophobia.

Frank started off as shy with low self-esteem. He was raised by his military mother and his strict grandmother who told him various tales of their ancestors. His mother died in a war, giving him a start to train himself as a Roman demigod. In the Son of Neptune (SON), we first see him doing tasks that are undesired by the other campers. He is officially welcomed into the centurion of the fifth cohort, after he was claimed as the son of Mars. His first quest to Alaska causes him slowly gathers courage and discovers his family power. The funniest makeover he has was in the House of Hades (HOH), when Triptomelus rewards him with a buffer and taller figure, saying goodbye to his chubby self. Finally, he is upgraded to praetor.

The dynamic between Leo and Frank plays a vital role. Frank, who is initially afraid of Leo because of his fire power while the latter keeps making fun of him. We can see in the Mark of Athena (MOA), his act of jealousy towards Leo due to his similarities with ‘Sammy Valdez’, Hazel’s first love. As the series continues, Leo gives him a fireproof cloth for him to keep the wood, as a baby step for Frank to give him trust.

I heard that he will be in the subsequent book, as the Dark Prophecy stated him as the ‘changeling lord’. I might see him as a mature praetor on duty alongside with Reyna.

9. Hazel Levesque

Another cinnamon roll in the series. Despite being a daughter of Pluto/Hades, she is the less miserable version of Nico. Originally, she is known to have the abilities of controlling metal and valuables. Her magical abilities in controlling the mist is known in HOH, becoming another useful weapon. Like any child of Hades/Pluto children in the series, Hazel was from the pre-20th century. Her mother, Marie was hungry for wealth, causing her daughter having a cursed ability of attracting metals. Despite Hazel resented her greedy mother, she saved her from raising Gaea. Her heroic deed gave her a token to Elysium, yet she gave up her position to refrain her mother suffer from eternal punishment. As the child of death, she wandered around Asphodel for decades. Until her Greek half-brother discovered her and brought her back to life, giving her another chance to live again, in the 21th century.

In SON, it is revealed that Hazel’s half-brother is Nico. Originally, he wanted to bring his biological sister, Bianca back to life, seeing that the Doors of Death was opened. It was hinted Bianca had chosen a new reincarnated life than staying in the Underworld. Eventually, he learnt about Hazel’s presence and decided to take her back instead. Initially, we thought Hazel as a replacement for Bianca, judging Nico as a selfish person. Slowly, he shows brotherly affection for her in HOH by kissing her forehead, something he would not simply do. In BOO, he accepts Hazel’s relationship with Frank and teases them. He even comforts Hazel when she cries for Leo. It’s a coincidence that their mother almost shared the same name.

As she lived in an era where colored-race were low-key discriminated, with her unusual ability, she was a target of bullying. Her only comfort among these mishaps was Sammy Valdez, who sees her as a diamond. As Leo shares the same looks and last name as Sammy, believing as his reincarnation, she has slight romantic fondness for him. Later, they discover Sammy is Leo’s Great Grandfather. She finally settles down with Frank, treating Leo as her friend.

Her curse, which will be washed away by a descendent of Poseidon/Neptune, which readers are not sure if it is Percy or Frank. Besides, she probably learns some interesting 21th century stuff she had never seen before. Hopefully she does not craze for fidget spinners (those things are just all over the place!).

8. Annabeth Chase

The Brainiac of the group. Our favorite Wise Girl who is Percy’s love interest and strategist. The architect of Olympus. Someone you would choose as your girlfriend. After meeting her, you will change your views on blonde hair people.

No matter how beautiful and smart she is, she has her own fears and flaws. She has Arachnophobia, based on the feud her mother and Arachne had. In MOA, she faces her greatest fear, mother of spiders Arachne. With her clever trick, she easily defeats Arachne, possibly the first Athena demigod to do so. In SOM, she reveals her fatal flaw is hubris, believing her intelligence and power are beyond the Gods.

She ran away from home at 7, believing that her father and stepmother had disliked her part god status. On her way, she met Luke and Thalia, who presented her one of her signature weapon, the Celestial Bronze dagger. They were like a parental figure to her, and the first demigods she encountered. In the beginning of TLT, Percy figures Annabeth develops a crush on Luke, who turns out to be a backstabbing traitor and a threat to Camp Half-Blood and Olympus. Her feelings towards Luke varies in the PJO series, we see compassion, sympathy, love, respect, hatred, and regrets. In TLOl, she settles with having a sibling love towards Luke, choosing Percy over him.

The Percy-Annabeth relationship is one of my favorite hetero fictional couple. They treat each other as equal, rather than having Annabeth as his personal sidekick. With her, as the intelligent girlfriend; and him, as the brave puppy-dog boyfriend. We surely remember the first thing she tells Percy in TLT is ‘You drool when you sleep’. Even the rivalry between their parents, Annabeth still treats him as a friend, with one or two disagreements. Of course, I shipped them before they are officially together. In the Titan’s Curse (TTC), we get hints on Percy starting to fancy Annabeth, with Aphrodite’s appearance and her teasing. Next, there was the infamous kiss scene in The Battle of Labyrinth (TBOL), confirming the start of Percy’s romance journey, which becomes true in TLOl (that underwater kiss is so romantic!). After dating for months, Percy is swapped place by Hera/Juno, without any previous memories except for Annabeth. In MOA, she gives him a judo-flip (I laughed at that scene for hours) and spend a night with him in the Argo II stables (Frank does not deserve to see this ‘intimate’ moment).

Besides, do you know that she has a Norse Demigod cousin? Check out Rick’s Norse Myth series to find out.

7. Luke Castellan

You would probably ask why I place him as Number 7, for someone like him as a traitor who almost destroy Olympus and the host for Kronos. He is the anti-hero in the first series, but I like the fact that Rick created someone like him.

Luke is not an entirely a bad person. Normally, he can pass as a protective older brother, a swordsman mentor, or that mischievous and charming friend you want to hang out with. His ambitions to destroy Olympus and feeling of resentment the gods, due to the injustice of the Olympians to their demigod offspring, makes him an antagonist in PJO. He is one of the demigods who can see the flaw of the lawful system, the one who questions the authorities.

Luke constantly seeks for familiar love which his parents failed to give him, with him living with an insane mother and an absent godly father. After he ran away, he was paired with Thalia and Annabeth, giving him a new meaning of family. However, Thalia’s death added as a fuel of his bitterness. His became the head of the Hermes Cabin, leading his half-siblings, but his anger had not fully stopped, with Kronos’s constant impure motivation. He also feels compassion towards minor godly children who have no place in Camp Half-Blood, which most of them serves him during the Titan War.

For most horrible deeds he has made in the PJO series, he finally died as a hero, oppressing Kronos who possessed him. Inspired from his wish, Percy refuses his eternal life by demanding fair treatment for every demigod child.

I ship him with Thalia, which they share a few romantic tensions in a short story in TDD. He is the reason why Thalia declined her offer as a hunter in the first place, and also the reason why Thalia settles down as the lieutenant of Artemis in TTC.

6. The Grace siblings (Thalia and Jason Grace)

It’s a tie. Yes. I could not separate them like how Juno/Hera does. The Grace siblings are the improvised version of their father. We see their father as a womanizing, dramatic and disloyal King of Gods. They showed his best qualities, like leadership. The siblings are very loyal to their partners and masters, like Thalia to Luke and Annabeth in the beginning and Artemis in TTC. Jason, a loyal and supportive friend to his Argo mates and his girlfriend (He did admire Reyna before, but thanks to certain goddess).

Thalia Grace is that cool-looking sister in punk. Her name is from Thalia, one of the Muses. The irony is that she has a great fear of heights, but she can control lightning. Like Percy, Thalia was destined to be the child in the prophecy. She fought the monsters sent by Hades to her death, protecting Luke and Annabeth. Then, she is reborn in the Sea of Monsters. Luckily in TTC, she joined the Huntress. She also been through a rough childhood, with taking care of her baby brother and her irresponsible mother, then with the disappearance of Jason. She had to take the role that her parents failed to perform, yet the Gods accused of her existence before Percy showed up. It’s pretty much Zeus/Jupiter’s fault for not stick with the oath. Not once, but twice! Worst of all, he named his son Jason, like the mortal hero, so he can make his wife happy! Best Dad award for him!

Her brother, Jason, with blonde hair and blue eyes, the typical American boy. The ‘perfect’ boy with duties and leadership, he could live a perfect Roman demigod life in Camp Jupiter. Then, Hera/Juno interfere again. From the Lost Hero (TLH) to BOO, we can see a few changes of him. The rule-following golden boy to a slightly laid-back person with nerd glasses. Most fans expected Percy and Jason had a death-match against each other in MOA, with Percy replaces his position as the praetor in SON and Jason, the legendary son of Jupiter. Unexpectedly, they become best buddies on first sight and gang up against Octavian (We also got that one scene with them fighting while being possessed by eidolons). He also has the most passed out scene in MOA (hence the birth of Brick x Jason). His sympathetic character cares for Nico when he is forced spit out his crush on Percy (who does not have a crush on him, I mean, it’s obvious to fall in love with the greatest hero). He does not question or having a prejudice on the boy’s sexuality. At the end of BOO, him and Piper sit on the roof, remembering his ‘dead’ friend Leo.

These polar-opposite blood-siblings are a unique element of the series. I would like to see more of their interactions, or Thalia spilling out more embarrassing stories of Jason.

5. Leonidas ‘Leo’ Valdez

I called him the second Percy Jackson, with that same level of humor and that friendly attitude. He has a pair of magical hands that can create things and repair broken stuff. In TLH, he modified a simple paper into a small flying helicopter. Leo was partly raised by Hera/Juno, who makes him do dangerous tasks in his childhood (This woman is nuts!). When he was eight years old, Gaea made him believe he caused a fire that kills his mother in her workshop, leaving a scar in his heart.

Leo probably knows himself as the third-wheel, constantly the one being left out. There was a period of time he is jealous of Jason’s charisma and excellent leading abilities, while he is a low-profile mechanic, with no one cares about him. Otherwise, he is a good friend to people who are nice to him. In BOO, Nike/Victoria predicts either Frank, Hazel, Percy or Leo will die in the war. Leo, helping the idea of getting the Physician’s Cure while secretly plotting his own death and his chance of survival.

This guy has a tough time catching the girls’ attention, he keeps falling for the wrong person. In the beginning, he has the hots for Khione, the cold snow goddess who side with the Titans. Next, he falls for Jason’s sister Thalia, who tries her best ignoring him. He has a small chemistry with Echo, a camouflaging nymph who is cursed to repeat people’s sentences (I feel hurtful when Echo disappears). Hazel mistakes him as her first crush Sammy, who happens to be his great-grandfather. Finally in HOH, the Titaness Calypso despise his sudden appearance on her island, later they find themselves being attracted to each other. He is also the first hero who can return to Ogygia and claim Calypso as his girlfriend, and the first demigod known dating an ancient being.

I need more interaction of Percy and Leo, which was rare in HOO. I expected them to be joking buddies, but in MOA Percy yells at Leo for setting New Rome on fire, not a good start for best friends. Leo also dislike Percy for abandoning Calypso behind, which turned out to be a misunderstanding. I finally get a scene of them making Nike and Adidas joke they made in BOO.

By the way, Team Leo for the win.

4. Piper McLean

I do not get why people would dislike someone like her. There are several fans disliking her characteristics, including an ex-classmate of mine. They think her as the most useless and bland character. I love Rick’s arrangement of her characteristics! What is the point of making her the main character if she does not contribute anything? I mean, she singlehandedly defeats Khione and the Boreads in HOH. When Khione degrades her, she confidently argues with her, proving her strengths.

People stereotyped daughter of Aphrodite as living Barbie dolls, who do nothing but looking into their reflections and gossiping. Sometimes, they either pair people up or break others’ hearts. She breaks that idealistic view as a tomboyish girl who cares less of her look or fashion. She is one of the boldest Aphrodite child who fights for people she loves (the other one is Silena). She is very down-to-Earth about her father’s job as a Hollywood actor, until she is cornered by others. She is also the first person who dauntlessly challenges the cabin leader and oppose the Aphrodite’s rite of passage of breaking other’s heart. Piper is not a dumb-beauty, she already has an abundance of knowledge on Greek Myth and Cheeroke legends which play extremely useful information to other.

That ex-classmate told me Piper is possessive towards Jason. For me, it is very normal for her to be possessive to her ‘boyfriend’, or someone whom she loves, as long as it’s not Yuno Gasai level (see Future Diary for references). Besides, Jason is not the only one she cares about. There is Leo, and her father who is captured by the Giants. There are people dislike her because in MOA, she thinks Percy as cute, but average. Everyone has their own opinion, not everyone fancies the greatest hero on Earth. I really adore her and Percy as best friends, rather than her being another Percy’s admirer.

I would say she has the second-best character development. In TLO, she has the image of an insecure girl. Her adventure as a demigod makes her grow, mending her weaknesses. I love her chemistry with Annabeth in BOO, when fear and phobia prevent Annabeth’s logical reasoning from functioning properly, her feelings guide her to overpower them.

3. Reyna Ramiez-Arellano

Most of the major female characters are taken (except Thalia, the huntress and Rachel, the oracle), she’s the only major female demigod character in the series without a romantic partner. She made a minor appearance in the Sea of Monsters (SOM) as Circe’s apprentice, but soon

Her first appearance in SON gives a dignified and mysterious aura, we barely know her last name and such. She is fearless in battle and a wise leader. In fact, the last book reveals her fear towards ghosts, leading to her haunted childhood of physical abuse. She has moved from home to home, and settles as a praetor in New Rome. Her former sin for patricide might lose her power and trust in New Rome, thus she never speaks of it to anyone except for Nico.

I am really entertained with the fight between Orion and Reyna. Orion, being the male chauvinist, comments the greatness of male dominance. Reyna proves herself that she can perform as well as a man could do, defeats him by herself while avenging the fallen huntresses and Amazon warriors. ‘You will die at the hands of a girl’, that sentence literally gives me the chills.

She has a successful career, blessed by two divine beings, and having an excellent characteristic. One thing that she does not own is romance, just like Aphrodite/Venus tells her that she will never find romance in half-blood. There might be a chance for her having a mortal lover, or catching the eye of an immortal being.

2. Perseus ‘Percy’ Jackson

He is the key character for us to fall in love with the demigod world with Greek Gods and monsters. He was not only charming, but having a great sense of humor. The dark hair and green eyes of his makes him fall into the category of the stereotypical hot-blooded protagonist with a tragic backstory and secret powers, like Eren Jaeger from Attack On Titan, or Hyakuya Yuuichirou from Seraph of the End. The character is based on Rick’s own son, Hayley Riordan, who suffers from ADHD and dyslexic. Rick used to tell him Greek Mythology as his bedtime stories, until the child gave him the inspiration to create his world with Greek Myth as the base.

In TLT, he is shown as a troublesome child who gets kicked out of school frequently. He has an abusive stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, a nasty gambler. He does not have any friends except for Grover, who has difficulty in walking, and stands up for him. He nearly loses his mother from a Minotaur. His unfortunate past changes when he knows of his identity as a demigod. From SOM to TLO, we can see improvements in his mortal life, such as gaining a new stepfather, Paul Blofis, able to attend high school, and getting loyal friends. In TOA, it is known that he will have a baby sister.

Besides his heroic acts and his brave deeds that we all know, he is pretty goofy and sarcastic. We all know of his personality through that first-person point of view about his views on others and the description of his adventures. He is moderately smart and observant, but he can be oblivious in simple stuff around him, like his own romantic encounters. He needs years to realize he is in love with Annabeth, which most of the readers get the clue before him. Reyna confesses her feelings to him in SON, which Percy needs minutes to figure it out. In BOO, when Nico opens up to Percy, Annabeth already gets the point right ahead, leaving him still in a daze.

Percy, despite being the best demigod alive, he acts quite modest and selfless. Most Greek Heroes we all know are portrayed as prideful, arrogant, womanizer or ungrateful. Him, as the son of Poseidon who technically saves the world, he never looks down on anyone. He barely sells himself, except when it’s needed, or in a very sarcastic way. He makes friends with everyone, including non-humans. In SOM, he is a little ashamed that his half-brother is a Cyclops, in the end he accepts him as his brother. The most significant moment is in TLOl, when Zeus offers him immortality. He considers at first, but then realizes the price of it, and turning it down. Instead, he asks for minor deities’ equal rights to claim their demigod children, including Hades, who is not welcomed in Olympus. If I were him I would probably do the same thing, except I might face the wrath of the King of Gods.

**Before revealing my top favorite character, here’s some honorable mentions:

Zoe Nightshade, Bianca di Angelo, Will Solace, Charles Beckendorf, Rachel Dare, the Stolls brother, Ethan Nakamura, Grover Underwood, Tyson, Blackjack, Chiron, Silena Beauregard, Gleeson Hedge, Clarisse La Rue, Calypso

Now here comes my favorite character:

1.Nico di Angelo

I am so sorry, I must put him at number 1 because of my personal bias.

This character has the most noticeable character change and development. He is debuted in TTC, which he is portrayed as carefree 10 years old boy who loves Mythomagic and very curious about everything. The death of his sister, his only known blood relative, caused him fall into despair. Soon, he learnt about his parentage, separating himself from the other demigods.

Despite him as the serious, angry son of Hades with depressing background, he gets a few hilarious moments. He is turned into two types of plants; the Spiderman referenced quote ‘With great power…comes great need to take a nap’; his imagination of Percy joking about farturas; and his confession to Percy.

His personality is mostly seen from other demigods’ views. In TTC, Percy sees him as an annoying little brother and full of curiosity of the demigod world. He seems excited with everything he is involved in, and very eager in participation. He also shows concern for his sister Bianca, asking Percy to protect her. His twist of personality comes in when Percy brings the news of Bianca’s accidental death. In BOTL, he becomes the gloomy, antisocial, and angry child who seeks for revenge and performing necromancy. He also crowns himself as the Ghost King, which the name sounds very Chuunibyou-ish (Chuunibyou is a Japanese term for people who acts like a know-it-all adult and look down on real ones, or believe they have special powers unlike others, see the anime Love, Chuunibyou and other Delusions for more info). In TLOl, he tricks Percy into his father’s lair, which makes Percy angry. He is one of the important ally who aids Percy gaining his Styx River immortality and convincing Hades to fight the Titan army.

There are more demigods involved with his description of personality and people’s opinion of him in HOO. Hazel, seeing him as her savior and brother, showing an amount of respect and admiration. Annabeth, doubting him having a crush on her (which he does not), only sees him as a younger brother. Leo is scared of his necromantic skills, trying to avoid him as best as he could. Frank shows respect and fear to his ‘brother-in-law’, but unexpectedly sharing the same interest in Mythomagic. Jason, originally suggests abandoning him to the Titans while proceeding their main task in MOA, receiving many objections from the other crew members. In HOH, Jason has a sense of sympathy to Nico when Cupid forcefully make him spill out his feelings. He approached the younger boy to befriend him. We also have Reyna, who forms a big sister instinct towards him, and also feels his pain.

We get Nico’s own point of view in BOO. We could not help but to sympathize with his old memories and feelings. We can see his unrequited feelings towards Percy, his moments with Bianca, his hatred towards the Hunters, his intense feelings with his father and the most importantly, his concern towards other demigods. He is not entirely a cold-hearted, unemphatic person like others believed him to be. The way he describes Will, it definitely sounds like a typical boy meets boy fanfiction. Using comparison to other demigods like Jason and Octavian, he has a sense of fondness to the child of Apollo. The Percy-Nico-Will mirrors the Luke-Annabeth-Percy relationship. Both Luke and Percy are the heroic figure to Annabeth and Nico, they are years older than them (technically Nico is older), and they the first demigod they encounter. Annabeth had a love-hate relationship with Luke due to his betrayal; while Nico hates him for breaking their promise and admires him at the same time. Annabeth bickers with Percy like how Nico argues with Will, and they are opposite attractions. In the end of the series, Annabeth tells Luke she sees him as a brother and starts to date Percy in PJO; Nico confesses his past crush towards Percy and sets his eyes on Will, which they end up dating.

I am glad that Riordan arranged Will as his boyfriend. There is a slight change of his personality after they are dating. For example, in CHBC, him and Percy team up and tease Annabeth. In THO, he becomes more participating in camp activities, and willing to socialize with other campers. Plus, he gives an excuse for himself to sit with his boyfriend in the Apollo table. Nice job kid! The loophole of two demigods of the opposite sex cannot stay alone in a cabin gives them a nice chance to spend nights in Hades Cabin, doing stuff.

The character I despised the most, is none than other:

Octavian

He is purely whiny and annoying, like a fly. I knew he was up to no good when I first know this person. I do not care if he is the descendant of my favorite god (Apollo), this puny auger is terrible. In SON, he reminds Percy as Luke Castellan. In BOO, Nico describes him as a watered-down, unhealthy version of Will Solace. Leo also states he has a girly screaming voice. These descriptions give reader an image of an undesired person, also adding humor in the series.

Octavian is extremely xenophobic. He immediately dislikes Percy, insulting him as graecus scum. He does not show any sign of welcoming to the arrival of the representatives of the Greek camp. Ironically, he fears for Nico, who is a powerful Greek demigod. He discriminates Rachel Dare, Apollo’s chosen oracle, believing she is a fraud who practice sorcery.

His sadistic and prideful side is portrayed in many scenes. For example, he rips off stuffed animals as an offering to the gods. He hopes Percy feel the pain of getting his new SPQR tattoo. When he is in charge as Pontifex, he picks people who are brutal like Bryce Lawrence and strong like Mike Kahle. He casually tells people that his family is wealthy in New Rome and he is a descendent of Augustus.

In the end, his own pride and lust for fame and power blinds him, giving him a death sentence. His death is graphic and funny. He might receive eternal punishment in the Underworld. My favorite scene of him is when Piper, Jason and Percy tells him to shut his mouth in MOA.

(I almost forgot Gabe Ugliano, who happens to be the worst parent and husband in the fictional world. This man is gone for good!)

Groovy Gods of Olympus

The Greek Gods in Percy Jackson’s world rules the world, which all of them have humanistic personalities. Greek Gods mirrors human’s behavior with their vice and virtues, like Hera’s jealousy, Hephaestus’ diligence, Zeus and Aphrodite’s lust, Hestia and Artemis’s chastity, Zeus and Ares’s wrath, Hestia’s kindness and Dionysus’s sloth. They moved their base from empires to empires, until they found their spot in United States, the world’s superpower nation. Olympus is based on the top floor of the Empire state building, while the entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles. These settings probably make us never see those things the same way again. The gods, adapted to the 21st century lifestyle, with their area of power matches the modern professions.

Rick still sticks to the original description of the gods, with Athena’s greyish eyes of wisdom, Aphrodite’s changing beauty (depends on different people), Ares’ ruthless behavior, Apollo’s flashy and handsome looks and Hephaestus’s unappealing image. Not all the gods are divine as they should look. Dionysus/Mr. D in PJO series acts as a sluggish camp director. He is banished to Camp Half-Blood due to his flirtatious manners on an off-limit nymph. He does not contribute much to the camp, except for having naps or playing poker with Chiron and a few satyrs. Apollo, the prideful and narcissistic sun god, turns into a mortal by his father in TOA series. He has lost his former glory and powers, leaving him a mortal identity and body to live on Earth. Hestia, the former Olympian in the appearance of a young girl, is easily neglected due to her status.

I would admit that Greek Gods does not make excellent parents. Zeus forbids the gods from visiting their mortal children, except in a few occasions (he is also the douche who broke the oath twice and have 2 demigod children, and he passes most of the blame to Poseidon). Hera, expecting an ideal family, abandons her child Hephaestus because of his ugly appearance. In TLOl, Hades openly declares he prefers Bianca over Nico. However, some gods do care of their children. Poseidon in the series acts as a caring father to Percy (we barely see his angry side like in the myth). Hermes, who has multiple jobs, and countless children, he cares deeply for them. He even kisses Luke on the forehead before the Fates carry his body away. In BOO, it is revealed that Hades has a deep affection for his children, which most of them do not have a happy life. The antisocial and awkward god has difficulties in showing fondness, thus he provides his children gifts (Pluto gave Hazel colored pencils on her 13th birthday while Nico gets a French zombie chauffer).

Usually, gods conceive children like normal human beings. In BOTL, children of Athena are born in a unique way. I was curious at Annabeth and the other Athena’s children birth since their mother is a virgin goddess. There was a story in Greek Myth which she and Hephaestus had a child sprang from her handkerchief (of course they do not have any intimacy). It is told that children of Athena are born from the mind and pure love, not through intimate love and pregnancy. In THO, the daughter of Apollo Kayla Knowles has two fathers. I had to stop and reread that part, and it is true. I still do not get how demigod children are born from same-sex parents. Subjugate mothers? Or maybe like Athena children, sprang out from something. (I need to stop thinking about this or else the complexity will burn my brain cells).

Controversies

There’s a few controversies I have heard around.

Similarities of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter

This one was all over the place. People keep comparing Percy Jackson to Harry Potter. Some complaint that Rick copied the characters Rowling owned. These are the examples people brought up.

1.Percy has green eyes and black hair, living with an abusive parent. He does not know of his parentage. Harry, who has green eyes and black hair, living with abusive relatives.

2.Annabeth plays the smart one in the first trio. She is constantly compared to Hermione, the brightest witch in the Wizarding World.

3.Grover is the timid person of the trio, and the first supporter and companion to the main character. Another character in Harry Potter with the similar personality, Ron Weasley.

4.Chiron, the knowledgeable and caring mentor in the series, like Dumbledore in Harry Potter.

5. Luke, blond hair, the anti-hero. Draco, the anti-hero to Harry.

6. The mischievous Stolls brother, who keeps pranking on people. The Weasley twins, pranksters duo of Hogwarts.

7. Camp Half-Blood that is invisible to mortal’s eye, a haven for Greek demigods to learn defensive skills. Hogwarts, unknown to muggles and where young witches and wizards lean magic.

Maybe the author was not stable with the characterization in the first place, he might get references from the series itself. However, Rick has not confirmed that his characters are based on the Harry Potter series. The characterization became better later.

To be frank, I prefer Percy Jackson than Harry Potter. I love the diversity shown in the book, with good humor in it. Otherwise, Harry Potter gets the best language form.

The Percy Jackson movies

Movie adaptations are barely good, this is one of the examples. Even Rick himself acknowledge that the movie is horrible. I watched both movies, the plotline itself is good, but it cannot satisfy us fans.

The producers casted young adult actors for the roles than 12 years old. They could actually make the actors grow up with the movie, just how they did for Harry Potter. I’m alright with the Percy Jackson actor, I have no prejudice over Movie Grover’s race, Luke’s actor is fine (where’s the scar). I just have problems with the casting on female characters. Firstly, Annabeth Chase. In the first movie, she’s a brunette with blue eyes. I legit thought that’s a random daughter of Aphrodite. Where is the blonde hair and blue eyes? It does not mean I dislike the actress herself, it just her signature curly blonde hair with grey eyes are gone! This mistake was soon corrected in the 2nd movie. In the SOM movie, the Clarisse’s actor looked like a Victoria Secret Super Model, rather than the buff, mean-looking leader of the Ares Cabin.

There is a stark difference from the movie settings and the book settings. Instead of having cabins based on their godly parentage, each member has their own cabin. What is this? Luxury camp for the godly children? There is also no rule on camp clothing, where’s the orange camp shirt? The worst of all, why do they have advanced technologies? It is said that technologies attract monsters, which is unusable for demigods.

All of these flaws made me prefer a sophisticated anime adaptation than a real-life movie or TV-show.

LGBT+ characters

(whoever made this edit deserves a thumbs up)

This is a recent controversy after the publicize of THO. Mostly from parent readers, they complained on the god’s sexuality and Nico and Will dating. I understand that some parents don’t want their children to knowing much about human sexuality at an early age. What makes me feel mad about the people who complained about having same-sex couple or characters in the LGBT+ spectrum does not realize that homosexuality is accepted in the ancient times.

It is true that Apollo is bisexual, who has countless affairs with women and men. Other gods are not 100% straight, even Zeus fancied Ganymede. (I know, Greek Myth is one hell of a messed-up pit!)

Besides, I have nothing against Nico and Will dating (Solangelo shipper here!). Rick does not use words like ‘gay’, ‘queer’, ‘homosexual’ to identify their sexualities, which he does not want to label them as a specific identity. In Ancient Greco-Roman, same-sex relationship is highly encouraged in the army to strength the bonds between teammates. Also, as someone in the LGBT+ spectrum, I appreciate Rick’s decision to take the risk and promoting diversity. One thing I am mad about him is the vagueness of Nico and Will relationship. There are so many gaps in between BOO and THO which there’s no description on when they started dating, who confessed first and how do they get together! I need to know more about their relationship! I will be glad if there’s a side story of them. Also, Kayla’s mysterious birth from same-sex parents.

I love the fact that Rick does not give a dam (I simply just put a pun here) about the people who complained. He straight on inserted a kick-ass elderly lesbian couple in TDP.

How the series made an impact on me? My hopes on the franchise.

It is one of the reason why I took the path of writing. The story, and the writing-style had inspired me to be a writer myself. Looking at the vivid image of modernized Greek Gods brought some magic into my dull high-school life. I would also like to cosplay those female demigods in the future. As an anime fan, I hope this series can be created into an anime series, just like how they did for the Powerpuff Girls back then. I also hope I can meet more PJO/HOO fans in my country.

Jenny (14-21 Aug 2017)

Author’s Note: My first essay describing on a fictional work I like. I tried to avoid any grammatical mistakes and add as much vocabulary as I can in it. The one week of writing this essay gives me neck pain (from looking too much on my laptop), and a better insight to the character and the story. I took a hiatus in the PJO/HOO fandom since I started on Hetalia and other anime. The day I decided to write this fic, I realized there are so many details I have forgotten, thus I need to check the Wikia and the books for references. This is a pleasant experience for me to start on writing reviews and simple creative writing. I might write more reviews or analytical essays for other book series and anime.

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pluckyredhead · 8 years ago

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Daredevil 101: Fall from Grace

And we’re back! It’s time for the death of Matt Murdock (again). Also, a lot of 90s-style grimacing. Most importantly, ELEKTRA RETURNS!

Content Warning: Some extremely racist (specifically, anti-black) imagery behind the cut.

When we last left our hero, he had returned to New York, regained his memory, and patched things up with Foggy. And aw, they’re being so cute:

YOU GUYS FOGGY MADE A MODEL OF THE OFFICE SO THAT MATT COULD FEEL WHERE EVERYTHING WOULD GO. AND JUST LOOK AT THEM CUDDLING OVER THAT SIGN. I’M CAN’T.

Now up there I mentioned 90s-style grimacing, and I just...I feel like if you’re not familiar with the aesthetic of comics in the 90s nothing can really prepare you, but basically, picture a lot of veins and teeth, flowing hair, everyone wearing armor and wielding two swords and six guns, POUCHES, and very questionable anatomy. This cover is a pretty good example:

No, I cannot explain anything that’s happening here. Just accept that the next few posts are gonna look like this until we round the horn into the late 90s. We’ll get through this. It’ll be okay.

(That art, by the way, is by Scott McDaniel, who is responsible for most of this post. The writer is still D. G. Chichester.)

Despite that cover there’s not a lot of Frank in here, but I do have something behind the cut for the Fratt fans:

That’s real gay, Frank.

In between fellatio metaphors with Frank, reestablishing Nelson and Murdock, and trying to patch things up with Karen, Matt also tries to protect a Haitian immigrant from a convoluted protection racket and winds up tangling with a “voodoo priestess” villainess named Calypso. Here’s where that content warning comes in:

Like honestly what the actual fuck. I don’t even have words for this bullshit.

Anyway, that’s obviously Calypso on the bottom. At the top is Hellspawn, a doppelganger of Matt created during Infinity War? I literally just had to look this up because large parts of Chichester’s run are incomprehensible and I honestly had no idea where he came from - I thought Calypso created him, but apparently not. Anyway, it’s during this plotline that Hellspawn encounters and becomes obsessed with Matt.

I’m skipping a lot here but I want to get into the meatier plot as opposed to the more episodic storylines, so we’re going to scoot ahead to “Fall from Grace,” which is what I used for the name of this post because it’s the most major event here. Again, this story falls under the category of “unnecessarily complicated Chichester nonsense riddled with cameos, crossovers, and incomprehensible McDaniel-scribbled fight scenes” and I’m not going to get into the details of it because...like. It’s such nonsense. Even the simplified version I’m about to share with you is going to make no sense. (I don’t hate Chichester, who I think writes a really interesting Karen, but his character stuff is much better than his confusing plots.)

SO. The plot revolves around a defunct, shady government program wherein they created a chemical called About Face that altered people’s appearances, put it in glass balls, and sent telepaths out to secretly drop the balls in heavily populated areas, where they would break and...change people’s faces??? It makes NO SENSE. One of the balls never broke, and the guy who broke it - a telepath named Eddie - ran away, horribly traumatized by his experience with the government, and has hidden as a street person for the past few decades.

Now it’s become clear to multiple interested parties that there’s one remaining ball of About Face somewhere in the subway system, and they’re all after Eddie to find out where it is. Matt discovers this and steps in to protect him:

What’s Eddie running from? Oh, just Hellspawn, and also maybe how veiny Matt’s chest is:

I’m concerned about your neck, Matthew.

While all this is going on, the Bugle is temporarily shut down because of *handwave* plot stuff, idk, but Ben freaks out because all of his in-progress articles are on the Bugle computers, which he now can’t access. He asks a Bugle intern named Sara to help him out:

omg those references

Unfortunately for Ben - and Matt - when Ben’s not looking, Sara stumbles across an unpublished article that Ben has idiotically saved to the Bugle server: the one he wrote about Matt being Daredevil, before he decided not to publish it. Oops!

Meanwhile, as we saw above, Matt’s classic suit has taken quite a beating, so he decides that he needs a tougher look:

Parts of it or armored, or the whole thing is, or something? Armor was very on-trend in the 90s. Anyway this is not a good sign, any time Matt is in black and it’s not Charlie Cox in skintight army surplus you know the story is going downhill.

Matt is so busy with Eddie and the virus and his new threads that he’s neglecting his day job, and Foggy has gotten tired of the same old patterns:

I find this page fascinating, because this arc is the only time it’s implied that Foggy knows Matt is Daredevil before, uh, Foggy officially finds out Matt is Daredevil. (And it’s made clear when that happens that he had no suspicion beforehand, so this aspect is dropped.) But also, Matt is being SUCH a dick here! “I’m responsible for more important things that you don’t know about”? If Foggy didn’t do your paperwork you wouldn’t be able to pay for that fancy armor, bucko. And you can’t lie to Foggy and then blame him for not knowing the truth.

Anyway I just love Foggy’s “Don’t forget your CANE” and Matt storming out and knocking a wastebasket over with his cane all “HOW DARE YOU I AM SUPER BLIND,” even if it never went anywhere. (Though Foggy does go talk to Karen after this and ask her to talk to Matt about...the other aspects of his life that he and Matt don’t talk about. So Karen gets involved in this dancing around the subject too.)

Meanwhile...*sigh* So. Okay. Remember how I said there were a bunch of people after the About Face virus? Well, they include government agents, bounty hunters, Hellspawn, A VAMPIRE, and the Hand. (The Chaste is bopping around here too, trying to stop the Hand.) The Hand sends an elite sect called the Snakeroot after About Face, plus these two:

This is sleazebag former SHIELD agent John Garrett, and Elektra’s “dark essence” Erynys. Garrett kind of explains their deal up there, but the short version is: after killing Elektra off in Daredevil, Miller still wanted to write her, so he did a miniseries called Elektra: Assassin. I’m not a fan of it, despite stunning art from Bill Sienkiewicz. We’ll see this next time, when I cover the Man Without Fear miniseries, but basically the more Miller wrote Elektra, the more he wrote her as sort of this fascinating, dangerous fetish object instead of as a person. Even though she’s ostensibly the star, Assassin is narrated by Garrett and is told through the lens of his fixation on her. It’s pretty gross.

Anyway, Elektra’s trying to stop a demon called the Beast from installing one of its pawns as president of the US (insert political commentary here), so she uses the psychic powers she occasionally has to get Garrett to help her. The story ends with her victorious and Garrett mostly cyborg parts, but now, during the Fall from Grace arc, the Hand is able to use the traces of Elektra left in Garrett’s mind from her possession of him to create Erynys, a separate being who embodies all that is dark and evil in Elektra. She wants About Face, which will enable her to be a full human being and not just an offshoot of Elektra.

Understandably, she’s a pretty upsetting figure for Matt to run across, especially since he thinks the REAL Elektra is still dead. (She’s not, as the reader knows.)

And that’s not the only bad news for Matt, because Bugle intern Sara has taken the story that Matt is Daredevil and gone to the tabloids:

Matt’s teeth are so dismayed!

Obviously Matt’s friends all see this story too, and Karen for one is not about to let it stand:

I LOVE NINETIES KAREN!!! She is so tired of men and their ridiculousness, she has shit to do and papers to throw! And again, Foggy’s still carefully talking around the whole thing, which I still find fascinating - but in the clinch, he’ll always be here to save Matt from himself.

Matt, meanwhile, has another shock waiting for him:

It’s Elektra! Bald Elektra! How very Sinead O’Connor.

(If you’ve forgotten, the Hand attempted to resurrect Elektra after she was killed by Bullseye and Matt was able to purify her soul with the power of his love (hence her white costumer), but thought the resurrection itself failed. She’s basically been meditating on a mountain ever since.)

While Elektra fills Matt in on where she’s been, Ben and Foggy team up to save Matt’s secret:

Sara basically ignores Foggy and his restraining order and barges past him and Ben with a camera crew to find...an ordinary apartment, filled with the kind of accommodations a blind man might need, like foam bumpers on the sharp edges of furniture and a Braille subway map. Humiliated, she departs.

Meanwhile, Matt and Elektra are still catching up as they try to keep anyone else from getting to About Face before they do:

If you can look away from Elektra’s weird seamless naked plank-butt there, basically she’s upset because she was finally at peace meditating up on that mountain (and also when she was dead) and now she has to, like, be alive and deal with the forces of evil and confront her own evil nature and UGH. Matt is not threatening to punch her there but reminding her of how much she loves punching??? Sure.

Despite all this embracing, Matt goes straight to Karen and tells her that Elektra’s back, but he knows who he really wants to be with:

WHEEZE! WHEEZE AGAINST EACH OTHER’S CHINS!!! No, seriously, despite the crappy art and the tiresome love triangle and the hilarious childishness of that crayon heart drawing, this is close to the healthiest Matt and Karen have ever been and I’m happy for them. I love their late 90s dynamic.

With Karen thoroughly kissed, Matt suits up again and heads back into the fray. (It’s important to note here that Karen doesn’t know a) about Matt’s new costume or b) about Ben and Foggy’s successful dismantling of the “Matt is Daredevil” story.) They finally find the About Face virus, and Hellspawn tries to take it to make himself...a real boy, I guess? A real demon boy? Idk.

Hellspawn uses the About Face, but Erynys kills him before he can do anything with it - and then Elektra kills her before she can use the About Face, thus reabsorbing Erynys’s evil into herself. Or something. THIS COMIC IS A MESS.

The weirdest aspect, though, is that in death, Hellspawn’s About Faced corpse turns to...Matt Murdock. He is an absolute spitting image of a dead Matt, which gives Matt an idea. Remember, Matt doesn’t know that his secret identity is a secret again, and as long as it’s out there, the people he cares about are in danger. Plus, like, Matt Murdock’s life is really hard and stuff?

So he bundles up the Mattcorpse and dumps it off at a police station or something, and Matt Murdock is declared 100% Dead and Probably Not Daredevil. Giving this story something of a downer ending:

If I’m not mistaken, this is the third time Matt has faked his death, counting Mike Murdock and that time he crashed a plane with a Matt dummy in it. MATT. WHY IS THIS A THING FOR YOU.

Anyway, tune in next time for a detour into the Frank Miller/John Romita, Jr. miniseries Daredevil: Man Without Fear, followed by Black Armor Matt making more bad decisions!

#daredevil #daredevil 101

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