#i think aknowledging this makes it easier to manage

[squidult]

not being able to feel so much, as much, all of the time, actually kinda rocks

[reddteaa]

I wonder sometimes if the way that I look at science has been influenced by the way I approach art and my enjoyment of very specific pieces of media. I'm usually really particular about the kind of shows and movies I like. There's a lot that I think are just neat and good quality but I don't get obsessed with it or I don't come up with a bunch of alternative events or plots or bother trying to flesh out characters or change them like I do with my current two obsessions Persona 5 and Batman. In my Persona 5 fanfic I have all these ideas about what is considered fair or reasonable to want. Longing for things you felt like you lost or building resentment to those who try to take advantage of you because you act demure. People who take advantage because they think you won't fight back, but those same people who would be terrified of you at the slightest indication that you could get angry at them. How it's so much easier to pin the blame for awful acts on people who have a history even if it might not reflect their true nature. A lot of thoughts go through my head for this ridiculously long fic. I don't know if I'm the best writer but I want it to exist somehow. I also have my batman thing which I might try to work out a proper visual comic for it when I can manage my time and attention better. It's been more or less put on pause when I've been on Persona. But my version of events have been kind of messed with and expanded upon. I think it's part of the reason that stuff that my friend keeps getting frustrated with me about not finishing books or being disinterested in the games he presents to me even though they are 'good' like I aknowledge that they're 'good' but I'm still more interested in the process of making particular styles of art, or ideas of justice, the development of character relationships and the themes they represent, rejecting nihilism, how different systems even ones that might seem really distantly related interconnect and effect each other, the possibilities from this one thing could mean for the greater whole, the downstream effects of removing this one peice, and the list goes on. I'm just not satisfied with 'it's good' I don't care if I am supposed to like it because it's just good. By all means I should really love Jojo's bizarre Adventure the crazy fashion the ridiculously and fabulously exaggerated character designs the hamon magic breathing and the inexplicable introduction of stands. I should absolutely adore it but I am not nuts about it. I think it's just neat but I'm not crazy about it like Persona and Batman.

[the-silentium]

Murphy day Pt. 2

Masterlist - Part 1 - Part 3 - Part 4

Pairing: Bad Batch x Reader

Words: 3161 words

Warnings: Curses.

A/N:  Yes, I put some ARK:Survival evolved creatures in this, so I do not own their concept. They are just so cute! Also I’m not as good at worldbuilding as @shadow-hyder .

Fors is an Original planet. I do not give permission to people to use it for their own fics, the planet, the animals, the Nightmares, the lore or anything related to Fors. Thank you.

"So you guys are Commandos?" You asked as Hunter moved aside the colorful plant blocking your way, his steps following yours closely. 

For the last 10 minutes, you've managed to make good progress in your quest to reach the clones' ship. So deep into the jungle, the prank traps were nonexistent, making it easier for the group to venture without a hitch although it also meant that you were out of the village's defence system. 

Wrecker had been chattering with you for the most part, explaining that they weren't regular clones when you pointed out that referring to them as 'clones' was basically going against the definition of the word as they all looked completely different from one another. 

Unbeknownst to you, a certain bad batcher started to think that you may not be as annoying as he initially thought, your comment about the fact that their mutations made them the best version of their kind was running through his mind. 

The jungle is in constant evolution! Only the bests survive and to do that, they need to mutate! It's the same with you guys. Your mutations make you even more adapted to survive and do your job. That's impressive.

"We are!" You could tell Wrecker was immensely proud of being an elite special team, his enthusiasm made his voice even louder. 

You'd hoped that Wrecker's voice mixed with Tech's repulsive odor would keep the nasty fangs away. Unfortunately, bad luck decided to show its face again.

A branch snapped behind you catching your attention, prompting you to stop dead in your tracks and turn around at the same moment Hunter did. He didn't even have to lift his hand, his troop immediately turned like one man while lifting their blasters towards the moving and cracking flora, their feet firmly planted on the ground, ready to engage whatever there was lurking around. 

The animal was clearly making its way into your direction, its form moved the plants around to form a clear path towards your group. 

The utter silence was nerve wracking. The birds had stopped chirping a while back, when Wrecker had exploded in laughter at one of your joke, the jerboas were definitely keeping themselves at bay along with every non-lethal creature around. 

Crouching very slowly, you reached for your knife, the warm wood connecting with your fingertips relaxed your stress just a little. 

A sigh of relief left your lips when a familiar bleating sound reached your ears. Releasing your knife, you pushed past the rest of the group to search the tall grass for the small herbivore. 

"It's fine." You breathed, your eyes falling on the excited baby, its cute face almost making you aww.  "'s just a Shinehorn." You crouched to carefully take the small light-brown goat in your arms, its tail wagging quickly in excitement. 

The troopers dropped their weapons, all their helmets now focussed on the wiggling animal in your arms. Slowly, you put it back down before giving him more pets under its chin. 

The Shinehorn was still very young, the top of his head reaching just below your knees and his tiny green horns flashing lowly in his excitement. You traced the two green lines marking its back with your fingers, the squeaks you received in response making you giggle. 

"What's a Shinehorn?" Tech asked, crouching next to you to be closer and scan the baby with his helmet. 

"They are small herbivorous animal. Their horns can glow in the dark! Very useful when we have to do night hunts or anything in the dark." You grabbed some berries from a bush nearby, feeding them to him. "They're also very docile." 

With a last pet between its green horns, you got up and let your place to Wrecker who clearly wanted to gush over the newfound ball of cuteness. 

Out of the corner of your eyes, you noticed Crosshair, his hand still firmly wrapped around his rifle like the little goat would pound on him or something. 

“Oh! I just thought about that, I know you’re probably very experienced with your blasters seeing as you're all the cream of the clones, but could you not have them in your hands?” You lifted your hands in the air in surrender at Crosshair’s constipated expression. “Just sayin’! Been there, done that, ya know!”

"You accidently shot someone?" Hunter turned his attention from the intriguing creature to you. 

"Not me. But before the laws strictly prohibed people to go out on Murphy day, it was common occurrence." 

All you received was a grunt of aknowledgement, before Hunter called his team back and started walking again. 

To your amusement, the little Shinehorn followed your steps, happily jumping around but never getting in anyones' way. From time to time, you'd grab nearby berries from tall trees to feed him in hope that he'd take a permanent liking to you so you could maybe take him with you on your way back home. 

For the seventh time that morning, Tech tripped on his feet, muttering words in a foreign language that you were sure were curses. It was almost normal now. The small clone would fall on the ground, curse, get up and continue for the cycle to restart a couple of minutes later. You didn't think any of it, having stopped turning around in concern at the 4th time. He had his armor to protect him after all. 

Although, this time you should have turned around. You would have seen that in his fall, Tech tripped Wrecker who was now losing his balance.

A clash of armor hitting armor mixed with the very sudden movement right beside you made you yelp in surprise. Hunter grunted, out of breath and confused, under Wrecker's imposing form. 

Chuckles flew off your mouth, too quickly for you to keep them in, as the bigger clone moved off its C.O. 

"Maybe we could take a break." You proposed, hand digging into your pocket to retrieve your tap. 

"Wouldn't hurt." 

At Hunter's approval you swiftly grabbed your knife, found the nearest bigger tree and tapped it to access the sugary water within the core of the tree. As the water started to drop down the tap, you moved yourself in front of the flow and opened your mouth to drink, calming down your thirsty driven mind. 

Once you were satisfied, you moved aside to let the others access the water. 

"Help yourselves." You motioned toward the dripping tap before sitting next to Crosshair who was picking fruits in a small tree, his helmet on the jungle floor. 

Wrecker was the first to taste the water, his face enlightening the whole jungle with his delighted smile. 

"It's sweet!" He stated to your amusement. He seemed more and more like a child. 

"Yeah. All the drinkable water here is sweet. If it doesn't have a taste, you should spit it out, 'cause it means that it's full of bacterias." 

You stretched your legs to be more comfortable, your hands behind you supporting your body. You petted absentmindedly the young Shinehorn, enjoying the humid wind caressing your face. 

Everyone had their chance to drink, the last one being Crosshair who removed the tap from the tree before throwing the object back at you at your demand. 

The goat approached Crosshair's pile of fruit, clearly interested into eating them, when he was gently denied access by a hand. 

"Not for you Shiny." The sniper muttered, protecting his precious. 

Nice name.

"Pass me some, Crosshair?" Tech asked his brother from his spot before you, helmet now at his side. 

Without a word, you saw a fruit being thrown into Tech's hands. The precision of the shot was flawless and it would have impressed you to no end if your eyes hadn't caught the color of the fruit that Tech was bringing to his mouth. 

"Don't eat that!" You yelled, pushing you forward to slap the pink fruit out of the clone's hand. "Those are the bad ones." You said, ignoring his yelp of pain at your slap.

"But they smell sweet like the water in the tree." 

"Yeah because the tree wants you to eat them instead of the good stuff. It's a defence system." You picked the fruit and threw it away. 

"The ones that smell not so good," You said, picking up a grey similar fruit. "are the good ones. Taste sweet and won't make you puke your guts for hours. There ya go." You passed the fruit to Tech whose gaze was fixed onto something behind you. 

You turned, confused about Tech's worried expression. Realisation hit you like a train, Crosshair didn't have to tell you that he fucked up, his white face along with the almost completely eaten pink fruit in his hand were telling you enough. 

"Kriff. Are you feeling nauseous yet?" You genuinely asked, no sarcasm or malice in your voice. You knew what pain he'd be in, having learned your lesson the hard way, just like him. 

You'd passed a whole day puking like there was no end, bruising your abdominal muscles in the constant effort they had to muster so you could evacuate the content of your stomach, hurting from the biliary acid burning your throat, fighting against the fatigue, dehydration and starvation. 

"Yes." You heard his breathing accelerating and knew what was coming. 

A shiver ran up your spine when he quickly turned around to empty his stomach on the jungle floor. You wanted to help him but knew he'd probably take it badly, so you let his brothers do their thing while you walked a bit away, searching for a specific plant. 

At the moment, you quickly forgot that at the beginning of the trip he had told you to shut up, that he had it coming. You were too empathetic for your good. Once again. 

"I'll be back." You told Hunter before venturing away with Shiny. 

"Please be close, please be close, please-" Searching around, you moved the grass around, peaking at the flowers for yellow petals with purple edges. Shiny whined at your side, nudging you a bit to get your attention, but you chose to ignore the needy baby to continue your flower hunt. 

A bit farther away, yellow petals caught your attention, your legs moving forward to get to them in seconds. With a victory hum, you crouched to pull the base of the flower, exposing its tortuous roots. 

You got up at the same time a low growl reached your ears, freezing you on the spot. Eyes scanned your right frantically for the source of the sound, a pair of sparkling dark hues staring back at you with hunger. Your blood ran cold into your veins, the imposing Dire bear was a good feet taller than you, surely reaching Wrecker's height. 

You clutched the root into your left hand, your right hitching to grab your knife at your ankle. In a very slow movement, you lifted your foot to allow your hand to grab the wooden handle. You almost succeeded when Hunter chose this moment to come looking for you, yelling your name into the trees. 

The Dire bear got scared and ran for you in a roar and you knew you were dead. You couldn't possibly outrun it and had no way to fight it. But you had to try, right? Run, I mean. 

So you ran, the most primal part of your brain taking control and ordered your legs to move as fast as possible towards the armed clones. 

You hadn't ventured too far and Hunter had followed your trail, so your wide terrified eyes met his, the Dire bear almost on you to bite on your neck. In last resort, you put all your faith in the sergeant's quick thinking, diving to the ground, screaming at him to shoot. 

You crashed unceremoniously on your chest, missing the sound of blasters opening fire. An incredibly heavy weight fell on you, pressing your whole body into the dirt, trapping your joined hands under your abdomen. The shock emptied your lungs of air, your mouth and nose were full of furr and dirt, making you panic. 

You desperately tried to push the weight away, take a deep breath of air and scream, but you couldn't do anything. You were trapped. You'd asphyxiate and die. All this because you couldn't control your stupid curiosity. Curiosity killed the tooka. 

You felt tears form in your eyes at the thought, for you were not ready to die. There was so much you still wanted to do. 

Suddenly, the weight disappeared from your back and you were harshly pulled away and rolled onto your back. Your crying wide eyes met the sergeant's, your lungs taking in the biggest inhalations they ever let in, before a wobbly smile stretched your lips. 

"F-found t-the cu-re." You managed to get out in broken words. Your hands opened slowly, showing the brown roots hidden between your fingers. 

Hunter sighed, relieved that you were alright despite crossing path with death. You were lucky he decided to follow the Shinehorn when it started acting up.  

"Are you okay Y/N?" Wrecker's head appeared beside Hunter's, searching your body for wounds. "You're crying." 

Arms slipped under your back and knees, lifting you without a problem. Your hands immediately closed around the root, gripping them tightly like they were life itself. 

" 'm not dead so I'm good." Your head fell onto Hunter's shoulder, you found comfort into the hard uncomfortable piece of armor. You were alive to feel it. "Thank you." 

He looked at you for a couple of seconds and you tried to control the heat assaulting your cheeks by taking deep breaths in. You definitely weren't admiring his tattoo from up close. 

"Didn't do it for you. I had to save the plant." He answered, sarcasm lacing his words. 

You chuckled, closing your eyes for a second. You felt all your energy leaving your body, the adrenalin that powered you moments ago dissipated and let exhaustion consume you. 

"Is she alright?" Tech asked, as another retching sound echoed around. 

"You tell me. Scan her." 

It took a couple of seconds, but you managed to open your eyes to see Tech with his helmet on, the thin screen that was previously up was now right before his eyes. He had a tool in hand, blue rays emanating from its extremity to scan your body. 

"No broken bones or internal injury. She's fine." He lifted the screen back up to get a better view of your state. 

"Can you stand?" Hunter asked.

"Almost sure I can." 

So Hunter lowered your feet to the ground, his hand lifting near your shoulder in case you fell. Your legs were still a bit wobbly, but you stood up, trying to ground yourself at the best of your ability. 

You opened your numb fingers, giving the root to Tech who looked at it with a frown on his face. 

"Break a small piece, remove the skin and give it to Crosshair. It'll help with the nausea and muscle pain." You told him, proud that your voice didn't break. 

"A piece like this?" He broke a piece and showed it to you, not wanting to give too much. They had learned that they should ask you first before eating something. 

"Yeah. Keep the rest for later." 

Nodding, Tech took the vibroknife in Hunter's hand to peel the root, placed the rest of it in his bag, before walking to his grey-haired brother. He tripped once, but managed to stay on his feet. 

You sit on the ground to relieve your legs for a bit, at least until Crosshair was able to walk without puking every 30 seconds. You were sure he'd be as wobbly on his feet as you for a totally different reason. Definitely not ideal for a field trip in the wild jungle. 

It took a good 10 minutes for Crosshair's stomach to settle, his retching stopped, letting him to deal with a slight nausea. With your tap, Hunter managed to get water to Crosshair and yourself before everyone packed up and prepared to go again. Shiny had returned after some time, the poor baby stopped running around and stayed closer to the group. 

"We're almost there." Tech announced at some point and you were grateful. Your legs were ready to abandon you for a while now, although you pushed through to not burden anyone with your adrenalin-less exhaustion. 

"The ship is just after these trees." 

One feet before the other. You repeated to yourself. At this point, all of your concentration was on your feet, you let the environment to Hunter and his apparently enhanced senses. Right, left, right, lef- 

You bumped into Crosshair who had gained energy during the walk while you had the opposed effect. You waited for the harsh comment to come, but it never did. 

"Where's the ship Tech?" Wrecker asked, confused. 

"That's not possible! This isn't the same place! The coordinates are wrong!" He started to panic.

You dropped on your knees beside Crosshair, the open clearing without a ship was the last tol. 

"Describe it to me. " You muttered. 

"What?" The sniper asked, his glare finding your exhausted face. 

"Describe it to me. The place where you left your ship." You concentrated yourself on your breathing, noticing how you started to inhale too quickly. 

"There was a field of glowing purple flowers and a stream with a big rock on one side. There was a gigantic tree too. Way bigger than the rest." He remembered. 

You sighed, tried to get back up with your shaky hands only to be helped by the sniper who pulled you by the pit of your arm. You smiled at him in thanks.

"That's the Waytree." You pointed on your left. "20 minutes of walk in this direction." 

"But that's such a great gap between my coordinates and-" Tech stopped as soon as he met your tired eyes, reading perfectly what you were telling yourself. "It's today." 

"Exactly." You huffed, forcing your legs to start walking again. 

Hunter watched you intensely but you pushed forward, forcing your body to obey you and not fail. All it took was one word from Hunter and a movement of his head toward you. 

"Wrecker." 

Suddenly, you found yourself bridal style in his arms and were carried for the rest of the trip despite you affirming that you were fine and that you were perfectly able to walk by yourself. 

From your position, you had a perfect view of the sky, worrying you to no end.

"No pressure but I'm sure it'll soon start to ra-" A drop of water hit Wrecker's helmet right before your eyes. "Awesome." You sighed. 

[lifeofroos]

Part 60. I hate Minos, me my homies all HATE Minos.

In short: Nico gets therapy from Dionysus. In this chapter, he has decided he wants to talk to King Minos. Dionysus quietly agrees, but only so long as someone comes along. The story is also on AO3 and FanFiction.net! And in Tumblr tags like Dionysus, Nico di Angelo, percy jackson fanfic etc.  This Might Be Crazy: Chapter 60: Pomegranate Iced tea 

‘Did you bless the Jacksons’ house when I was there last time?’

Dionysus looked up. ‘I did. Sally Jackson runs a sanctuary. We can’t have monsters coming in.’

‘Very good.’

‘Now tell me the real reason why you came here. You can’t be here just to ask something you already knew.’

‘I mean, no.’

‘Spill.’

‘Don’t you trust...’

‘Nico!’

‘I want to go talk to king Minos. I want to know why he chose me.’

Dionysus took a moment to think about that. ‘Isn’t it clear why Minos chose you?’

I shrugged. ‘It might be. Because, you know, I was going around raising the dead and opposing Percy, which was very convenient for him. Still, I…’ I shrugged. ‘I want to talk to him. I want to know how he thinks.’ 

Dionysus thought for a second. ‘Minos is dangerous.’

‘So I can’t go?’

He thought for a second. ‘I can’t control you. You’ll go anyway, no matter what I say. Yet, I have a requirement.’

‘Being?’

‘Someone must be there with you. I am not letting you talk to a psychopath like Minos on your own.’

I sighed. ‘Who must it be?’ 

‘I’ll ask Persephone and Hades first. You’ll hear the answer tomorrow.’

‘Alright.’

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

The next morning, early as all hell, I heard a knock on my door. ‘Nico. Come.’ 

I scrambeld out of bed. ‘Eh, I will.’ Whoever you are. ‘Can I put on some actual clothes instead of my pajamas first?’

‘Five minutes.’

‘Okay, okay!’

Within five minutes, I was done and I stepped out of my cabin. I raised my eyebrows. ‘Ariadne?’

‘The very one. Persephone will come too. She’s waiting for us near Elysium.’

‘I mean... cool.’ I tried to shrug, but half-way through we were already teleporting into the underworld. My shoulders hurt when I got there. 

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

I disliked standing in front of the gates of Elysium again. It was soul-crushing to see all of the spirits, some of them hopeful, some of them sure they wouldn’t get in. 

I noticed Persephone standing near the judges. She was looking up at them, with her hands on her hips. She looked around when Ariadne called her name. ‘Still okay?’ She asked to the other goddess. 

‘As okay as it can get.’

‘Good.’ Persephone straightened her back. ‘We’ll let him do the talking.’ She pointed at me. 

‘And we’ll keep an eye on everything.’ Ariadne confirmed. 

Persephone nodded. ‘Come,’ she told (mostly) me. I nodded. We walked past the lines, to the three judges. The spirits didn’t seem to mind. 

Ariadne held up her hand. ‘Minos.’ All three of kings turned around. Minos mouth fell open. ‘Go on,’ Persephone commanded the judges. ‘Except for Minos. He comes with us.’

Minos got up, with a suspicious look in his eyes. 

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

‘What is it, my queen?’ he asked Persephone as soon as we were away from the line. His eyes ran past Ariadne without adressing her. His eyebrows raised when he saw me. ‘You brought me your own stepson? Unbelievable! Now why would that be?’

‘He has questions for you. We would like to see you answer them.’

‘And that’s all?’

‘That’s all.’ She gently laid her hand on my shoulder for a second.

‘Terrible to see you again,’ I began. 

‘You are the one bothering me.’

‘Still.’ I tilted my head. ‘I have my suspicions, but I wanted to know why you chose me. Why you had to haunt me instead of somebody else.’

‘You’re the son of Hades.’

‘I am.’

‘Doesn’t that seem like reason enough?’

‘Maybe. Yet, it would have been way easier for you to get a random scared kid to raise the dead for you. All the things you taught me are things you could have taught most other people. Raising the dead with Happy meals? You don’t need me for that. Don’t get at me with wanting to help Luke. You are way too selfish for that.’

Persephone and Ariadne gave each other a look when they heard me mention raising the dead with happy meals. Minos went on: ‘My goal might not have been to aid him, but perhaps what he had in mind spoke to me.’ Persephone crossed her arms. Minos smiled sinisterly. ‘My queen, don’t act like you didn’t know, even if I would never confess it.’

I pointed at him. ‘Didn’t you just…’

‘Let it go, Nico.’ I looked up at Ariadne, who nodded towards Minos. He still had not aknowledged she was there.  

‘I was easy to manipulate, but still on no-one’s side,’ I continued. ‘Any other demigod might have gotten dependent on you. They would have been your string puppet.’

‘But they would have had less power. Why have a string puppet when they aren’t useful for all sorts of things? Also, di Angelo, you can’t act like you weren’t dependent on me. You were so wrapped up in your silly hate and grief you didn’t see what was going on.’

‘Perhaps.’ Ariadne and Persephone tensed up. Maybe I had been more of a string puppet to Minos than I liked to think I was. Still… ‘Still, I did manage to break out. I listened to Percy after he showed me the truth. An agent of Luke wouldn’t have done that. They would have turned a blind eye and kept following you.’

‘The Jackson kid cared for you.’

‘He would have cared for any other demigod as well. You could have told them to play apologetic and then you would’ve had a spy. It would have been easier, it would have lead you to bigger things...’

‘What is it that you want? I picked you because you were powerful. That’s it. Every strategy has holes in it. It was a gamble to pick you over some nobody and…’ Minos bit his lip and did not say more.

‘And you gambled wrong,’ Persephone finished the sentence. 

Minos shrugged. ‘You win some, you lose some, my queen.’ 

Ariadne gave him a disgusted look. ‘Perhaps.’

‘You were a powermaniac,’ I concluded. ‘It would have been safer, be it a little harder, to use a minion from Luke’s army. Yet, I had power, and you fell for it.’

Minos shot me a disintegrating look. ‘Watch your words, demonspawn.’

‘Sounds like a weakness to me.’

‘Nico.’ Persephone slowly shook her head. 

‘I think I have what I wanted,’ I told Minos. 

‘Leave, then. I’ve got a job to do.’

‘Playing judge, jury and executioner even in death,’ Ariadne stated.

‘It comes naturally.’ It was the first time he acknowledged her existence. ‘I’d watch your mouth if I were you. Some of us might be power hungry, but we aren’t reckless traitors. Each their own.’ He grinned, before looking at Persephone. ‘If you don’t mind, I’ll get back now, my queen.’

‘I wish you wouldn’t.’ 

He curtsied, before turning around and walking away. I had to bite my tongue to not yell after him that he was a terrible person, a terrible king, a terrible father, a terrible husband and a terrible judge.

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

‘He is terrible.’

‘He is manipulative,’ Ariadne stated. ‘The gamble analogy is apt. He gambled he could take control of the kingdom by banning his brothers. He gambled that he could contain the Minotaur and make Athens pay for it, and he won that bet twice, until…’ she sighed, ‘Until someone messed with his stack of cards. Every gambler misses now and then, and so did he. Terribly, a few times…’ 

Persephone clenched her fists. ‘And then he still didn’t, because my father had to give him the power he desired in death as well.’

I slowly nodded. Persephone sighed and pushed something into my hand. It was a can of Pomegranate sweet tea. I left it in the underworld a little while ago. 

‘Did you learn anything?’ Ariadne asked. It sounded as if she was somewhere else with her thoughts.  

‘What I thought about king Minos was proven. And I once again realised that maybe I should not always go through with my strange ideas.’

‘At least someone was here this time. I can’t tell what that man would have done we hadn’t been there,’ Persephone mused. A little smile appeared on her face. ‘I wanted to come too. Honestly, I wanted to see if it would be better to kick him out. And well, that is more than proven. As soon as I can get rid of him, I will.’

Ariadne looked just as surprised as I felt. ‘They needed to be sons of Zeus, right? The judges?’ I asked. 

‘Yes. But that friend of yours is here now, too.’

‘Jason.’

‘The very one. I think we might have a job for him.’

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

‘Coming with you was my own idea,’ Ariadne told me when we were back in Camp half-blood. 

‘Ah,’ I said, while I nodded. 

‘I mean Dio didn’t ask me to come. I wanted it. I wanted to see how Minos would react to you, to see if he was really still like that.’

I nodded. ‘Well, so did I. Thanks for coming anyway.’

She nodded, although she didn’t smile. ‘I think it will be lunch soon.’

‘Eh... yeah. I think Dionysus is in the big house.’

‘Then I’ll go there.’

It was clear we were both too busy with our own thoughts. I said goodbye and went to the dining pavilion. Will would want to hear my story. I assumed Dionysus would already have heard it next time I saw him, which was, if I can be honest, a relief. 

A/N: I was originally going to do this with just one of the ladies but then I thought of this and it was good. 

Finals are over today which is good now on to results haha help

[nordleuchten]

The encoded letters of La Fayette and Washington

War is and was a business that is won with informations and secrets as well as with soldiers. In order to keep their correspondences private, the Marquis de La Fayette and George Washington employed a system of codes. Here is an example of one of their coded letters – it is the second page of a rather long letter.

This letter was written by La Fayette to Washington on March 30, 1782. Washington noted the right words above the numbers. Here is the full transcript of the letter, the coded words are written in bold letters:

Antony March the 30th 1782 My dear General

The sailing of the Alliance Has Been So Unexpected that Mr Franklin and Myself Have not Been Able to Send the dispatches we intended to forward By that Opportunity. There is now a French cutter that is pretty Suddenly Sent of to America—I expected to write By a frigat Which is to Sail in a Short time, But Cannot let this Opportunity slip a way, Before I have the pleasure to Remember me to you, and let you Hear of my Wellfare. The taking of Mahon Has taken place Sooner than was generally expected. Genl Murray and Genl Draper are about quarrelling, as generally Happens after a Misfortune Betwen British Commanders. The Siege of Gibraltar is going on—the Capture of St Kitts Has Been the Better felt in England As upon a letter from Sir Samuel Hood the Sanguine part of the Nation Had Conceived Hopes to preserve this island. Many provinces in Holland are About Aknowledging American Independance. There is a great Confusion Among the Parliamentary Part of the British Nation. Some are of opinion this is a finesse of Lord North, who wishes to throw upon Parliament the Blame of Having given up their Colonies—it Has Been long said He would Retire—But e Has Hitherto kept His place, and the Opposition Members do Not Well Agree together. However we Have just got intelligence that a change of ministers was going to take place. I Have wrote to Mr Lewingston Robert R. Livingston about negociations of peace, about F. money and about Spain and Have Requestd He would Communicate My letter to Your Excellency. We must not Hope for Spanish money nor Notwithstanding their Compliments for Dutch money. As to the ideas you gave me in writing, I Have Represented them in the Strongest light imaginable. I Had with King of France a long Conversation About it. I Had Many with French ministers. They Have plans about West Indies—they also are Stopped By Spain and without Spanish ships—I am affraid Brith Fleet there will Somewhat exceed French Ships, or at least be upon a parr—Dutch ships are not to Be Retaned—to get Sph ships in America is the great affair. Without it maritime superiority is very difficult, the More So, as they are not Stranger to Some ideas About Great Britain which However Appears to me far from Being Settled. Tho’ Nothing is fixed upon the Afore Mentionned points, I am inclined to Believe in Chs Town more than in N. York. For my part I much prefer the former—but am affraid Spain will offer obstacles, they alwais are for W. Indies. Had I only to manage French Ministers it would be a much easier work. I think we may Hope for operating in Septembr. Many people are of opinion the ennemy Mean to evacuate Newyork and Charlestown—for my part I am not So Sanguine, and think it would Be a great Mistake for us to Calculate upon this Supposition either in France or in America. Under the present Circumstances, My dear General, those of foreseen negociations, or at least possible, and the Unfixed Situation of those I Have just now Mentioned I think it Consistent with your instructions, and perhaps useful to America that I Should Remain some time in Europe, that I May Avail Myself of Circumstances and Opportunities. I Hope, My dear General, you will approuve of My Conduct. May I flatter Myself that an expectation of Being Useful, Having Some what detained My departure, I will Nevertheless Be Considered as a Candidate for the Command of the Light Infantry—a Command Which is the utmost of My Ambition, which will not displease that Corps—and as on the Moment I Cease to be Useful, the Moment a determination is taken, I hope Sailing for America, I flatter Myself the Infantry will not be drawn out Before I can present Myself Among the Candidates. There will Be a decision Before May and one Fh ships May Carry it immediately for W. Indies and an other do same for America—I will Have no time lost. In the present Situation of Affairs, we must, I think, prepare Vigourously, and I Hope to fulfill your Wishes, at least so far as Respects Chs Town. I so perfectly know the Sentiments of Congress, and those of the Nation that I am sure not only their desicions upon political points, But also the expression of them will add a new lustre to the idea they Have given of their liberality and Noble Spirit. I am sure, my dear General, that every thing Considered, you will find I am much in the Right to waït a few weeks, and See what turn affairs are taking. To Serve our Noble Cause is the Utmost of My Ambition, and I will embrace every Measure that May Be productive of that end. I will also add, my dear General, that every thing I write in this letter Being the Result of the Confidence that Has Been placed in Me, I must write for you Alone, and this is as Confidential as the most secret parts of our Correspondance. Since I left America, I Had one letter from you By the Hermione. I am very Happy to Hear that a Spirit of Oeconomy and Arrangement is diffused through out every departement, and for Many Reasons I Hope we May Have a Numerous Army for the operations of the Campaign. I Have Been for a few days at this Country Seat with Marquis de Castries who during the Holy days Comes to take some Respite of Ministerial Cares. We are United by an intimate friendship, and am Happy to find that Since He is at the Head of the Navy we Have had a Serie of Successes. Had it not Been for the storm that Mr de Guichen met with on his leaving Brest, we should not, independant of the Spaniards, Have lost an instant of Maritime Superiority in the West Indias. Now, My dear General, I will speack to you of My private Concerns. Independant of My Situation at Court, and Among My Societies, the Marks of affection I every day Receive from the people at large, Render me as Happy as I can possibly Be—Such influence as I May Have will Be truly precious to me whenever it Can do some little good to our Adorable Cause. I am perfectly Satisfied with the dispositions of this governement. Both Nations will for ever Be attached to each other—and I see Both are so much the object of British envy and treachery that it will Ciment Among them an eternal Amity and Alliance. Mde de Lafayette Requests I will present to you Her most Affectionate and Respectfull Compliments and Also to Mrs Washington whom she most fervently prays to make after the war a Voyage to France, and spend some time in our family where we would be so very happy to Receive you. Be pleased, my dear General, to Remember me most Affectionately to the family, and to present my Best Respects to Mrs Washington. My Compliments wait upon George—I Had a letter from Him and wish I Had Received one from my friend Tilmangh—Be so kind my dear General, to pay my most affectionate Compliments to Genl Green Genl Knox, and all my friends in the Army. I am so hurried this time, that I Cannot write to them. When Tilmangh writes to McHenry and Hamilton I beg He will Remember me to them. Adieu, my dear General, most Respectfully and affectionately, I have the Honor to be, Your tender and for ever your Best friend Lafayette

Vicount de Noailles, Count de Charlus, Duke de Lauzun and all the officers of your Army request their best respects to be presented to Your Excellency. The officers are about returning to join their respective Corps.

[newpersonnality]

I’ve been thinking about this season a lot. Even though i hate that they included love triangle and cheating (took too much place in the season, unnecessary, fucking tiring,...), I also have to admit they depicted it well.

Let me elaborate:

- the emotional cheating: from ep3 (i think), it’s clear that Arthur is intrigued by Noée. The more they see one another, the deeper he connects with her and for me the first instance of “cheating” was during the sign dance. What’s interesting about it is even at this point Arthur doesnt realize.

- the denial. It was what allowed him to keep saying to Alexia he loved her without being ashamed, because he refused to aknowledge the new feelings he was having and the place Noée took in his heart. I also think this is why we were so mad at Arthur and at this season, because for us it was clear even before the kiss that he was leading both girls on.

- the denial after the kiss. This conversation with Le Gang about how Noée doesnt mean anything to him. The conversation with Noée before the car accident. At this point, he suspects something is not right but he tried to salvage whatever he can and latch himself to Alexia to prove to himself that she’s the only one he has feelings for.

- the realization. He was confused, he fell in love, and in the process he acknowledges that he managed to hurt both of the girls by his actions and mixed signals.

Two things they did great was making Arthur not ending up with either Alexia or Noée and at no point they tried to shift the blame to one of them. It was clear all along that Arthur was the one in the wrong, not the girls. And they could have made things easier for them (the prod i mean) if they decided to show Alexia being controling/abusive/... as a girlfriend. It would have been the perfect opportunity to make everyone root for Arthur/Noée and forgive more easily the cheating. They didnt, they showed how differently every one of his friends reacted to it, and that was a good decision in this mess of a situation.

Basically my feelings about the love triangle point hasnt changed. I’m disappointed it took precedent on the other storylines: the abusive father especially, they could have taken more time to develop further the relationship (like Skam Es apparently did great during their season) and they could have focused more on the friendships, especially after the gang fucking up...

That being said, they didnt go halfway with this storyline and as much as it pains me to say it, it was well done.

[elliemarchetti]

Why do you think Anabel never care about Maven? In war storm it seems she didn't at all care about him and Maven states she never loved him. (Anabel's a bitch by the way and so is Elara) Is it just because he's Elara's son or did she like Tiberias weren't really interested in him because Cal was their 'golden boy'? Do you think she always hated him even when he was younger? And what do you think would have happened if Tiberias payed more attention to Maven and noticed what Elara was doing?

Anon, if you're the same person who asked me the previous questions, know that I love them: they are never trivial nor something that I have ever had the opportunity to discuss with other people in the fandom and if you ever feel comfortable to dm me I will be super happy but don't worry, anon asks are fine too if you're shy. Jumping to the answer, I think there has been a very long period in which Anabel has loved Maven, obviously not like she did with Cal and not because she's a bad grandmother but because Elara prevented her from loving her son in any way she could, since something like that would've ruined her plan, and at the same time convinced Maven, as she has done with his father and brother, that the woman never loved him and always put Cal first, something that leads me to belive that, in the long run, made Maven want the throne so much because it was implicitly imparted to him from a young age that he could be loved only if he was the king, a RQ version of the tremendous educational line "if you are the best we/people will love you more" cataloged by anyone as psychological child abuse. Making Tiberias perpetually bring out the worst of himself with Maven was anither part of Elara's twisted plan and it's much easier to make someone ignore their child rather than make them become violent towards them (distracting parents long enough to kidnap children was a very popular tactic when I was a kid and Elara's mental manipulation with her husband isn't very different) therefore I imagine that every flaw that can be seen in the entire saga in Tiberias VI Calore is exacerbated by Elara's presence and work, so I don't feel like blaming him for what happened to Maven, as it wasn't Cal, Anabel or anyone else's fault: the real villain in this story is Elara and everyone in this fandom should see and aknowledge it. If we want to fantasize and imagine that Tiberias had managed to get rid of his wife's whisperings long enough to speak with Julian, the only one who hated Elara openly at court, he could certainly have had her executed, or exiled, but knowing Elara the thing wouldn't have stopped her, before Maven was hopelessly corrupt even if, in this way, the saga that we all loved wouldn't have existed as we know it.

[thefloatingstone]

A weeked at a hotel is quiet and alone.

A long walk or a going to a movie that starts after dark helps.

A four hour or longer bath where you sit in the water helps. Even if it doesnt helps it helps. And you smell good at the end of it which is nice even when you lack appreciation for nice things currently.

Do new things - feeling trapped or in a rut or the need to escape can be alleviated by feeling like youre making some sort of progress or have control over something in your life.

Sleeping more doesn’t help. Sleeping less doesnt help. Both are enough of a change/ strain on your body that they make you think they are but really they just increase problems and make the days pass quicker or slower.

Make goals. Meet goals. Cant get to goals make smaller goals to get there.

Focus on the things you can do and help and control and if you can’t do anything about it aknowledge it and let it go.

Hydrate. Youre not doing it enough, no one is.

Eat regularly, just like you should sleep regularly and for 9 hours - your body and therefore your mind functions better on a schedual.

It may not help but i can garrentee you not doing these things makes it harder than it needs to be.

Can also play games or read or watch shows until it passes, if it passes but thats just a… Temporary solution not an actual fix action.

But sometimes you don’t need a fix action you need a distraction to be immersed in and thats okay.

Get someone to talk to. Professionally.

Friends and family can help but we’re all not really great at healthy coping - and we know what works for us or what we’ve learned but we can’t always give you personalized tips that will help YOU get through your dips.

Clean/ reorganize your room - this just makes you feels self satisfied if youre lucky and if you arent well theres a little less mess and your mind feels less cluttered if you make even a little progress. Your environment can add to the strain.

Open a window idk why fresh air helps.

Candle with a scent you like - light it. Pet fire keeps you company.

Bake. Idk why but it helps, doesnt matter what youre making but if it makes a mess for you to clean up while you wait for it to be done its a win.

Plus baked goods are nice to have and eat or give away which makes you happy… Especially since half the time you dont feel the need to eat whatever youve baked.

Blast music. Loudly. Especially dark depressing shit or especially lively rebelling shit.

Or just play classical piano in the background because it helps…. Filter. Which is nice.

It gets better. Even if it turns out to be something youll struggle with it gets better because youll learn to manage it and it can’t take away the good even if it tells you it can.

Youve survived every horrible thing thats happened to you. Youll get through this too keep that in mind.

Also watch what youre telling yourself. Something as simple as telling yourself not “i can’t deal with this -emotional pain/situation - ” but “i dont want to deal with this” can in time make it easier to get past it because youre not bogged down in trying to… Reject how you feel.

Youre allowed to feel this way. Like. You may not want to but. You do so youve got to accept it on some level in order to beable to get past rejecting reality and figure out how best to approach it.

Emotions arent unreasonable. Like. Logically you’ll say they are but youre not depressed or whatever for no reason. Either theres something effecting you or your brain chemistry is off either way there is no “i shouldnt feel this way”

So like. Really dont talk down to yourself. Or if you do at least try to tack on something like “alright try again” or idk something positive or at least foward thinking.

And remeber you’re not alone.

Reach out. Message people. Sit on silent calls and share dead air with others. You may ache like a raw nerve or feel left out or ignored or a hundred other things but just. Attempting to be apart of your friends life or just hearing another person can do a world of difference. If not… In the moment than later it def gives you something to build on.

And youre not… A bother. Youre not… Responsible for making decisions about other peoples emotional wellbeing. Theyve got to tell you ‘hey i dont/ cant talk about this right now lets just bs about whatever instead". You need help or a distraction or anything ask the people you care about.

Youre not alone and isolating… Usually makes things worse.

Like alone time can help but isolatings a different ballgame entirely and youll know which youre doing.

Hell just posting on here and asking for tips is great and Im proud of you.

Sorry if that or any of this sounds condescending - im just. Summarizing shit ive learned and tried and had to talk myself into because i really thought my mental health was bullshit and i shouldnt need help with basic things.

But people do. Like. We’re not made to fuction the way we do and we’re not taught a lot of really simple things and how they effect us or the difference between coping healthly and not.

… Fuctioning can only get you so far so long, you’ve got to actually take care of yourself you know? I mean dont beat yourself up because taking care of yourself doesn’t line up with what you think that should mean is all.

Sorry to bug and do hope you get to feeling better soon.

This is an incredibly in-depth and helpful message. Thank you so very very much for taking the time to write it out for me. I’m posting this to prevent it from getting buried

Also, again, I want to thank everyone for sending me responses and messages about this. I’m sorry I’m not replying to all of them individually, but I am reading all of them <3 a lot of you are saying the same things like taking a walk or doing some light exercise, drinking water (I haven’t been doing that enough today) and things like that. As I said, I can’t do exercise tonight since it’s late, but I’ll try and take a walk tomorrow if the weather is good. And I’ll try and get some water in me.

I’m afraid talking to someone professional isn’t really possible right now, but hearing I can just go once makes me feel a little better. I’ve never realised I don’t have to try and afford an ongoing therapy thing. I can’t do it right now, but I’ll see if I can figure something out at some point in a few months if I can.

But thank you again for your help, guys. And although I feel bad for asking... but I’d really appreciate if you guys could continue to give it. Not because I want instant gratification or anything, but just because I don’t have much support elsewhere, and I want to get past this.

and thank you for being patient with me. I’m trying, I really am.

[alivelime-blog]

Over the years, Singapore Airlines has established itself as a premium airline company that delivers an outstanding service. It has grown a basis of increasingly demanding premium customers who tend to be loyal to the firm – up to a certain point. In 2001, it was challenged by the introduction of reclining seats by British Airways in the business traveler segment and started to lose passengers. I believe that, even in the face of crisis (in that case 9/11), SIA must deliver on its promise of comfort and quality to customers and upgrade its own seating to match – or exceed – BA’s level of service. Business travelers were the most affected by the 9/11 crisis; they need to feel reassured to travel again despite the risks and having them feel comfortable is the best way to do it.  Indeed, comfort when sleeping is probably the No. 1concern of business travelers who feel the need to be refreshed when they reached their destination, since they have days of hard work ahead of them. SIA must be consistent with its premium image and fulfil its promise to its loyal customers.

Of course, spending $100M in seats seem like an expensive strategy to maintain the loyalty of business travelers. And who knows where the race to better service will end? However, behavioral science has shown that pleasing customers does not necessarily entail high investment or operating costs for companies. Instead, it is a matter of targeting one’s effort, measuring the impact, and acting on the feedback received on a iterative basis. For instance, adopting a customer centric approach entails staying close to passengers at all times. SIA established the ratio of complaints on positive comments mailed to the HQ per 10,000 employees as a KPI to measure customer satisfaction. Employees’ performance is indexed on customers’ satisfaction, even at the highest levels of management. Surveys to gauge customers’ satisfaction for on ground and on air services are rolled out on a quarterly basis. Finally, on board crews are requested to submit a summary of customers’ complaints or questions at then end of each flight.

The latter data are not particularly expensive to collect; yet they provide valuable data for SIA’as management to account for customers’ satisfaction in a context where customers’ loyalty is difficult to build. SIA could further increase customer centric value by sending “spies” that would go through the same user journey than passengers, from check-in to luggage claim. That would allow SIA to observe crew and passengers’ behaviors and identify areas of improvements that are typically “not spoken” (e.g. difficulties that passengers may have had that were not reported to the flight attendants). Similarly, a design thinking approach of studying the full customer journey as opposed to isolated steps.

SIA stands out for the thoroughness and high frequency of the “service trainings” it provides to its crews. Finally, its Singapore Girls, young, beautiful and well-spoken flight attendants provide an hedonic and ego flattering flight experience to passengers. If the crew looks so perfect, then, the passengers may be really important, aren’t they?

This is only one way SIA can manipulate customer’s perception to deliver a perceived high quality of service while limiting operating expense. Other tactics can produce similar results, notably:

1.      End well: in the airline industry, it is common practice to have the crew lined up to wish farewell to offboarding passengers. An easy to implement way to serve customers well until the very end is to assist them extensively through stress inducing transfers by indicating directions and calling colleagues in other parts of the airport for flight information. I was impressed by  Air France when I had a flight attendant chase me through baggage claim in Point-a-Pitre because I forgot my carry on baggage in the plane. Not only did I feel grateful, I also felt important since I had been remembered.

 2.      Get the bad things out of the way first - transparency on flight delays and cancellation is of upmost importance to decrease passengers’ level of anxiety and tendency to rationalize, sometimes wrongly, the causes of the problem.  Taking off is pleasant for no one, and airlines can make it easier by distributing headphones early on upon passenger boarding to distract passengers from the discomfort of the moving plane.

 3.      Segment the Pleasure, Combine the Pain – making sure than passengers only queue at the beginning for check-in, and never again during transfers (through agreements with airports and partner airlines) is a good way to combine the pain. In medium duration flight, offering several snacks might be better perceived by customers than offering a unique, bigger meal.

 4.      Build Commitment Through Choice: allowing passengers to choose through different meal options greatly increases their experience. SIA offers passengers to choose between Asian and Western style food, aknowledging their personal tastes and therefore increasing their wellness.

 5.      Give People Rituals and Stick to Them: the Singapore Girl is part of the SIA ritual that is so rooted in its customers’ minds that it is almost impossible to alter it. As an Air France’s customer, I am used to be offerred champagne for aperitive,  and wine, bread and cheese with my meal even if I seat in the economy class. I feel that removing that from me would be a sacrilege. However, if rituals cannot be changed, other can be introduced, leaving airlines with the flexibility to modify passenger experience.

To conclude, creating a better customer experience can be achieved by manipulating customers’ perceptions without necessarily having to spend more on operating experiences and investment.

[mythopoeticreality]

Snow

((written as part of this challenge))

She was marble upon the snow, pale and lifeless and cold as it. No. Paler, for while her skin had leeched all of it's color to a flat white, the drifts of ice surrounding her blazed red beneath the rising sun.My fingers trembled as I knelt down in the bloody snow and reached out for her, just brushing against her arm. My stomach twisted to feel her flesh give, soft as any woman's.

I forced another breath in, past my chest, drawing my hand back, my nails biting into my palms. I cast a glance over my shoulder, but even the birds fled when I had come. A few feathers floated on the air, banners snapped in the wind. In the distance, the shadow shapes of men moved about unmaking their camp.

They left her here, where she had fallen. Like children with a shattered pot or a broken doll, fleeing to avoid trouble. They did not understand what they had done. They did not see it as so wrong, she had come to them after all. Even the King would see it so. But I would not, and they knew it, and as much as the King was a Magician, I was one as well, and I was a warrior, and above all else, I had the King's ear.  

Casting a last burning glare towards the backs of the soldiers, I turned back to the woman. My gaze softened as I looked upon her. A  sigh escaped me. “They were not meant to do this.” I murmured, shaking my head. 

I leaned forward, brushing a long strand of hair from her face, dark as the raven feathers that fluttered around her. My lips twisted, thinning into a hard line as they pressed into one another. My throat drew as I swallowed. For a moment I hesitated there, just looking at her, before my gaze flicked inward and I fell back again, away from her and back to the edges of her pool of blood.

“You were not supposed to be here.”

I cannot say how long I sat there like that, silent and motionless. A flash of black out of the corner of my vision brought me once more out of my thoughts. I refused to look, at first. To aknowledge his presence there. I knew who he was, of course. I knew him too long not to recognize him. I knew the look that would be on his face as he watched me as well. It would be that same look he gave me while we sat away from all of this, looking across the whole of the valley and speaking. When he first mentioned...

It would be that same look. His head just edging to one side, his brows just beginning to draw together as he struggled to hide it. That perplexity he felt. The fact that he didn't understand. After all, he was The Raven King! The rain and the wind, the earth and the sky, every bird, beast, and fish in England would answer to his call and act as his servant. He knew them and how their minds worked. How could there be anything he did not understand?

Arrogant bastard.

The worst of it was how often I found myself wondering the same thing. 

I found him that evening out beyond the edges of our camp. There was a hill not far off that overlooked the surrounding moors – our people, the flickering lights of the village not far off, the rolling silver-tinged field of snow that reached off towards the horizon. In the sky above the stars gleamed, cold and silent as distant chips of ice, watching us. The moon was full, and her light lept up from the snow bright and clear enough for me to easily see by

As the wind swept through, cold biting at me to my very bones, I pulled my cloak more tightly around myself. My feet crunched across the snow as my eyes scanned through the darkened land surrounding me. Even my breath turned to silver mist in the night.

Where has he gotten to now? A sharp click escaped from the corner of my lips, and I raised my hands to my mouth, rubbing them together and hoping to breathe some life back into them as I searched. I knew well enough by now, of course, that he could take well enough care of himself, and yet...

I did not like to leave him alone. Not in a world he had never set foot in before – not within memory, at least –  and not now, especially, in the midst of war. I think of him too much as my own, I know, but it is difficult not to. I have been with him from the moment he was first brought into the brugh, or so it seems, how can I feel any other way towards him?

I found him, soon enough. Saw upon the crest of the hill the crouching shape of him, set black against the snow. I began climbing to approach him.

He did not look back to me as he heard the thin crust of ice that had formed over the snow breaking beneath my boots. He only rolled his eyes back towards me as I knelt down and took my place just behind him, murmuring his name softly in greeting.

There was a moment's silence, and his head just dipped downwards for a moment as his eyes turned back away from me once more. “That is not who I am, Thomas,” he murmured, the words carrying the well worn edge of ritual to them by now.

“No?” My lips quirked upwards into a smirk, “No. It is not. What shall I call you then?”

As they always did the words only prompted a soft snort and an irritated wave of his hand, as though the question were a particularly annoying fly, buzzing in his ear and bothering him with insignificant matters.

Another moment passed in silence, where he edged backwards, nearer to me.

“What are you doing out here?” I asked him.

He gave only a shrug in response. “Why are you out here?” He spoke the words as if they were the more proper question. I rolled my eyes.

“I was searching for you.”

“There are easier ways.” He said.

Now it was my turn to shrug. “I prefer my way.”

His eyes flickered back towards me there was just a fraction of a moment's hesitance before he ventured a thought, “You would rather...walk across English soil now that you are back?”

“Perhaps.” It was true that the air tasted different here, and the sunlight seemed to have a different quality to it than it did in Faerie. It was familiar to me...almost. “This is not my home, however. I have no memories of this place.”

“Hrmmm...”

Silence descended over us again.  For a few moments I let it settle, absently tracing through the snow as I watched my King. Again his gaze had shifted more fully out across the night, to the moors, our camp and the village below.

“It is quiet out here.” I said, “Good for thinking.”

For the first time that night a wry smile crept it's way across the face of the boy beside me. He turned, slowly, to stare at me, his eyebrows nearly reaching his hairline. “It was.” he said.

“Oh, come off it!” I said, shoving at his shoulder, “you are grateful for my company and you know it.”

“Mmmm...Perhaps...” he said. At that very moment the wind picked up, snatching at my cloak and clawing through my clothes to my flesh beneath. The wind tore my cloak off of my shoulders, sending it flying off and dying down only as the garment settled about a yard off down from us. I turned, shivering, to shoot my King a glare. He only stared back at me with wide-eyed innocence.

“Don't look at me like that.” I grumbled, shaking my head and pushing myself back onto my feet as I marched down the hillside back to retrieve my cloak.

“Like what?” He said.

With a snap of my wrist I dismissed the words. Leaning down I snapped my cloak up off the ground to shake the clinging snow from it. The broken, rusted brooch that had been holding it on my shoulders – and had been in perfect condition before – fell to the ground.

I snatched the brooch up into my hand and settled myself back beside my King. “You know what. Explain this.”

He only shrugged, “You needed a new cloak clasp, obviously. I can make you one, if that is what you want.” To his credit, I must say, he managed to keep an impressively straight face while saying it.

As he began reaching for the rusted pieces I snatched my hand back and pulled the rough wool of my cloak all the tighter around me. “Bastard.” I muttered.

He said nothing to this, only smirking and turning back towards the night once more.

As he did that, I muttered a few words over the broken pieces of my brooch, reminding them that they belonged together, and re-fastened the cloak around my shoulders. The smile had faded once more from the King's features by the time I looked back towards him, replaced once again by his usual pensive look.

I sighed, my brows drawing together as I wondered what it was that had brought him up here in the first place. What it was that was going through his mind. “What is it that you are looking at?” I asked him.

Time passed and he didn't turn back towards me. He remained silent as I waited for some response. Finally, just as I was about to give up hope on receiving any answer,he turned and cast a glance back towards me over his shoulder. “Them, below.” He nodded, off towards the camp and then the lights of the village.

“I had guessed at that much.” I drawled.

“Then why are you asking?” Already he'd turned away from me again.

A long sigh escaped me and I only shook my head, deciding to leave it. I knew well enough by now that this was really the best response I could give. He'd say only as much as he wished, and if he wished to reveal more later, well...then he would.

And so he looked back into the night, and I sat with him, waiting, just letting the moments pass. It seemed however that he was finished with me, and the cold was growing to be too much, even if it seemed not to bother him.  I was about to leave, moving back to my knees and from there my feet again, as I heard the murmuring strains of my King's voice.

“There is a girl down there.” He said. “She came with others, but she was the only one bold enough to move forward.”

I froze where I was, turning back to look at him. While he was still gazing out towards our camp, I could see in the way he held himself that he was waiting for some response from me, wanting to know if I was listening.

“What are you saying?” I prodded, “Who are you talking about?”

He turned back to me, shrugging. “They came from the village. I do not know why, perhaps to see who we were. Most of them hung back but one moved forward. She danced with one of the men. Is still dancing with him, even now. By morning she will die.”

He spoke the words so matter-of-factly. As though he were describing some curious insect or cloud formation that he'd seen, rather than a human life. I felt my stomach drop, the words sticking in my throat for a moment as I stared at my King. I was used to such things by now, or I should have been. It was no surprise to hear them spoken by the Sidhe, but the King was human as I.

Or, it was easy to think of him so.

But no, looking at him now, seeing the way he was staring at me in that blinking manner, his head edging to one side, his brows just beginning to knot together as he struggled to hide that he did not understand...

I pushed myself to my feet, shaking my head. Gripping my cloak more tightly around me, I spun on my heel and swept off, without another word, down the hillside and skipping the space between, I arrived back at the edge of our camp. The sun was beginning to rise as I strode onward, gilding the snow. Ravens fled at my approach, and I encountered no sign of Fairy life.  And then I saw her, lying prone across the ground. All of the space around her was stained red, and she was as marble upon the snow, pale and lifeless and cold.

I looked up to see the King, watching me with that same expression I knew would be upon his face. I held his gaze for a full minute, before shaking my head and turning away. A long sigh escaped me. My gaze darted up towards the heavens – The last stars were fading, their cold gaze melting away in the morning's first light – then back to the girl. I raked a hand through my hair, and then letting out another long, shaking breath, moved to lay the girl's arms across her chest. Others would come looking for her soon enough. Her family would find her and they would bury her.

I pushed myself to my feet, only stopping as I moved to stand before my King. By now, any attempt to hide his confusion was gone. He pressed his lips together, opening his mouth to speak, before shaking his head and starting over again. “Have I said – ”

“Nothing.” I muttered, shaking my head and sweeping onwards. How could I explain something to him that should have come so naturally? I heard a low hum press past his lips, he knew that I was not telling him something, but he pressed no further. I felt his eyes on the back of my head – could just imagine he way he narrowed them at me, as though I were a riddle he were attempting to unravel –  before in the next moment he was striding past me.  

“Come,” he muttered, “We are heading out now, we need to be gone within the next hour.”

I gave a low grunt and nodded. Before long, we were gone, leaving only the girl to be found by her family.

[tumblunni]

Digimon frontier ocs?

Randomly started rewatching CactusCasual's great Digimon Frontier critique series. He's leaving youtube soon and making the weird decision to delete his whole account and everything he's ever done. But he's uploaded a bunch of his best stuff to google drive so if people wanna keep.it they can. Still i think its a lil dumb to not just leave the account open even if you're not using it? I dont know anything about why he's quitting the site though so maybe he has his reasons.

ANYWAY this got me thinking again about how Frontier is so goddamn boring and weirdly cliche and badly paced, and like everyone just focuses on "but they changed how digivolution works" and ignores all the actual reasons its bad. Like, kids have fused with digimon in previous seasons too! And haven't we all wished we could be the awesome characters like angemon and etc? A digimonny power rangers henshin thing isnt an inherantly bad idea, it was just executed badly. I dislike it cos it meant we completely lost any sort of digimon and human bonding experience plotline. They gave us two recurring digimon characters but they were just basically a pokedex and the world's least funny comic relief. Gimme a version of the show where the kids actually talk to their "spirit evolutions"! Like maybe they have a digimon partner but its forever stuck in baby form or spirit egg form and cant fight without fusing with a human host? Or just give us a better non-combat digimon pal like bokomon and neemon but like.. Fully developed with their own character arc and relationships with everyone else. Maybe ophanimon could have been around the whole time and been a mentor and parental figure? And we could actually explore her moral ambiguity, cos seriously the show makes her kind of a "ends justify the means" asshole and just NEVER AKNOWLEDGES IT. Wtf was up with that scene where she illusions Cherubimon with a fake dream of him being purified and getting to just go back home and be friends? And then she just backstabs him and we never mention it again. Like seriously even if she couldnt actually cure him that scene at least revealed that he WANTED to be cured and it made him so much more sympathetic! If he can be reasoned with, maybe they could have talked him down and then gone on an adventure together to find an actual cure for him? Also seriously what is up with his entire plot! Cos he just gets 'infected with darkness' cos he 'had darkness in his soul' but its just cos he thought the humanoid digimon were being racist against the beast digimon? And like.. The council was 2/3rds humanoid with him as the only beast representative and since he got infected by evilness they never remotely tried to recruit a new one or listen to what beast digimon have to say. So he was kinda right, yo! Also wtf with the reveal that actually no everything we just said is pointless because his REAL motivation was just blindly obeying ANOTHER humanoid digimon that comes out of nowhere to be the final boss. Also what is up with all the increased sexism in this series!! Its so weirdly worse than even adventure which had the excuse of being "a product of the times" yet still had way better variety of female characters and less bigoted stuff! And frontier came right after tamers which was one of the best series for gender equality and even used the medium of the setting as an opportunity to talk about the subject. Shame they censored that in the dub tho, Renamon talking about how digimon have no biological sex and how she only came to think of herself as a girl when she came to the human world. And rika's family accepting her and inviting her to family girls's night and stuff! Like as a metaphor for transgender issues it really worked to try and explain it to a younger audience in a natural way. And then one season later in frontier we have ONLY ONE GIRL IN THE CAST and wah wah whining about fashion and oh no she cant ever win a fight and her goddamn spirit form is in skimpy lingerie despite her being 12, and the show is always perving on her! And then she loses her powers halfway through the first season without winning a single fight, and has to be the damsel in distress to motivate the dudes in a stupid love triangle. And even when she does get to fight she's only allowed to fight the ONE SINGLE GIRL ON THE VILLAIN TEAM and they have stupid slap fights and "who's the most pretty" and BEACH EPISODE and GAHHHHH

...anyway as you can see i have a lot of reasons why i didnt really like the series. But what i meant to make this post about (BEFORE I GOT DISTRACTED) is that the fundemental concept itself isnt bad, they just wasted all its potential. And its a really good concept for ocs! Make your own digi superhero person and explore the fragmented world doing stuff offscreen during the series! Like they left so much open?? We know that other kids also got on other trains to the digiworld and they all just failed or gave up or got captured by the bad guys. And we know there's a bunch of spirits that the heroes never use because the villains got them again, so its cool to imagine an alt universe where the roles were swapped. What if different kids became the chosen heroes? What if different spirits were corrupted by the villains? What would a good guy Grumblemon be like? What would the kid be like who got that spirit? Would their evolution form be wildly different from grumblemon? Do the villain forms and purified forms look as different as Duskmon and Lowemon did?

SO MUCH POTENTIAL!!!

So yeah i wasted so much space here blabbering, so i'll probably make a separate post about my oc ideas lol. But i'd love to see other people's ideas for ocs/reinterpretations/other ways to fix that wasted potential!

So! Digimon frontier oc ideas!

To start off,have an undeveloped idea of someone on the team having Angemon as their spirit evolution. Cos it would have made the transition to such a new series a lot easier if they had some sort of "hey this is for you" to the fans of the previous ones. And angemon is the Adventure digimon that already looks the most like a regular human in a weird mask.

SPEAKING OF WHICH! less regular humans in weird masks! Whats the point of "you turn into a digimon" if you dont turn into a digimon? Like i know the whole gimmick is "humanoid mode and beast mode" but even the beast modes often look like humans in a costume! And there's been so many humanoid digimon before who actually looked like HUMANOID MONSTERS rather than just normal dudes cosplaying! There's literally nothing "monster" about agunimon, he's just a guy in some knight armour. Like the most you can do is charitably assume maybe the horns are his own and not just attatched to the helmet. And its annoying cos the villains have way cooler evolutions! And also double annoying that they always bend the humanoid/beast rule in such transparently self serving ways. Tommy gets two beast forms cos he's meant to be the cute mascot-looking character. Zoey gets two human forms cos she's meant to be grossly sexualized all the time. When kouichi turns from bad to good he loses his interesting looking actually monsterous evolutions and just becomes another dude in an armour. A friggin palette swap of his brother!

Anyway anyway LOL IM RAMBLING AGAIN yo...

Ideas for ocs!

I was thinking of a main girl character who's basically just a "fuk u" to all the stereotypes they did with Zoey. Actually gets a monster lookin beast form and a warrior lookin human form and actually gets to goddamn fight! Maybe her name is Hilda or Hildegarde? And i'm imagining her as a chubby nerdy kid with glasses and curly hair and a super cute oversized sweater kind of fashion sense. And her main spirit form would be this super badass lady knight giant orc thing who can Protec All The Peoples! Maybe earth element or the irony of being light element but she's this big ol monster goblin with just a tiny pair of angel wings on the back, lol! And then her personality is normally super shy and socially anxious, but she actually finds the digimon world kind of freeing? She's a total badass in battle and acts like a big ol powerful protector of all her friends! And she's always super excited aboyt adventuring and gets carried away comparing stuff to her favourite books. And now we must learn everything about this new place!! TO THE DIGI LIBRARY!!! So she's able to be confident and bubbly when it comes to actual adventure stuff, but she's still shy about regular life and anything social. Maybe its her weakness? Like she's scared about going home because she thinks she'll be "just a nobody" again, and lose all the great friends she made here. And also maybe a backstory of her heroic side still existing even before she got magic powers, but in the most tragic way? She managed to fend off a burglar once all on her own, she just snapped and did everything possible to defend her family, even though this was a man three times her size! But instead of being seen as a hero it just made all the neighbours and kids at school spread rumours about her being dangerous. Oh she must be in *a gang* if she knew how to fight like that! Oh its so *dangerous* for a kid that age to have such anger inside! Maybe she's a *scary mentally ill person*! So the whole situation ruined her social status even more and made her retreat even more inside her shell. And this is why the circumstances of the digital world are such a wish fullfillment for her and she's so scared of just waking up and it all being a dream. I think the villains could manipulate her fears, and it could maybe lead to her Skullgreymon Moment?

And then another idea i had was for a trans boy? I just thought this would be a good framework to explore LGBT stuff. He'd maybe be the wind element? And his personality would be very "classic shonen hero" but without the "dumbass" part, instead he's the cynical planner type dude while Hilda is the "i didnt even think, i just wanted to save everyone" type. But he's still super peppy and tries to be the class clown all the time so people will like him, and loves to climb trees and stuff. I think maybe his fighting style would be all about trickery and random chance? If there was such a thing as an element of surprise then he'd have that one! And then his story is that he doesn't have anyone supporting him for who he truly is at home, and he's afraid that his new friends will call him a freak too if they find out. He took the opportunity and cut his hair short as soon as this adventure started, and just introduced himself to everyone as a boy. But he's scared that people will find out he "lied" even though he didnt, he's just been so beaten down with the idea that he's not allowed to be himself and he has to pretend to be everyone else's idea of an ideal cis man or else they'll reject him. So maybe he starts off a bit obsessed with cliche masculinity and has low confidence about himself? And this could reflect in his digivolutions actually changing! He starts off with a really over the top buff warrior dude form, even though his fighting style is entirely about speed and trickery. So he tends to get into trouble with this fake form getting in the way of his ability to fight. And then when everyone accepts him he gets all powered up and changes into a new form! A way less "cliche macho" dude who looks like a stage magician instead and actually synchronizes with his element to become super powerful! And he's all like "oh no i became less manly" but everyone is like "wtf dont let yourself believe you're any less of a man because of dumb stereotypes!" And Also Big Friendship Hugs.

And then maybe this provides a resolution to both him and Hilda's plots? Like when the story is over they still stay friends in the real world, and having a friend who supports them gives them enough power to withstand all the haters and stay confident in themselves. But itd be kind of a coincidence for all the digidestined to live in the same city lol! So maybe in real life they live at least a few towns away, and they become long distance pals who send letters/emails. Because I LOVE ALL MY LONG DISTANCE PALS!! Also itd make sense to have a Internet Good message in a digimon show, lol.

And then i dunno about the rest of the team yet but i thought itd be good to have a sort of moral divide? Like these are the two who have a shitty home life and dont want to leave the digital world. But then the other half of the group has big reasons to wanna go home. So the villains could play on this difference in goals and make them fight amoungst each other. Just generally make the villains more actually competant, yknow? Oh also if there's a Dark Agunimon on the villains he needs to be EVEN MORE of a boring human in a costume! Cos it sucks that all the villains have better character designs and the show seems to think theyre worse ones. Give me one case of more boring not meaning more heroic!