#new leonidas watch | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

telvess · 1 year ago

Text

RoR: How they seek attention (Hades, Jack, Leonidas)🔞

I don't know how title it. I don't know why I wrote this in such form.

Hades

He’d give you smut to read. No kidding. He just leaves it at the dressing table for you. He then continues his daily routine, effectively pretending nothing happened.

At the end of the day, when you take a bait and read in his presence, Hades watches you from his safe spot (where he drinks wine or plays chess with his parrot). He is looking for any sign that you'd reached the right moment in the plot.

Once you give yourself away, he drops what he is currently doing and quietly joins you on the couch. He puts his arm around you and slowly massages your waist. At this point you already know what’s going on and he knows you know.

— What are you reading, my queen? — he asked with a smile, indifferently. — The interesting part — you replied. You didn’t want to give him a smile yet so you continued to stare at the book, even if content stopped interesting you. — Hmm… would you dare read this out loud? — his lips next to your ear made you shiver. What a sly husband you had. — As his hand slowly moved towards the inside of her thighs, his lips closed hers in a steamy kiss that took her breath away. His tongue made its way inside and explore a new place in wild, intense dance-e… — you stopped. Hades began leaving small kisses on your temple. His finger was caressing your jaw when other hand started to undoing your dress. You felt little buzz on your back from this barely perceptible touch. As the straps of your dress slipped down, a cool breeze on exposed skin made you blush. You hoped you could hide behind curtain of hair but Hades - as if he reading your thoughts - immediately tucked your hair behind your ear. — What’s next? — he asked calmly. He leaned down to give your naked neck kisses. You took a deep breath and looked at the book with trembling hand. You couldn’t remember where you finished reading, nor did you care what was happening there anymore, so you started reading a random paragraph. — Warmth risen under her belly, between legs, where his hand was heading… — Hades gave you a hickey which made you moan — She felt something was growing there and demanded to be satisfied… — you stopped and looked at him — Are you proud of yourself? — you asked but he didn’t give you any answer; his lips didn’t leave your neck. — You should be… — you whispered. You melted under the touch of his lips. The book fell off the couch, but neither of you cared about that poor written work anymore. — You know that you could just ask — you said, forcing him to look at you. Hades smiled. — Yes, but what a waste that would be. You should read to me more, my queen.

Jack

Jack probably doesn’t have high sex drive or he is very good at ignoring it. Of course everyone has their limits and Jack isn’t exception from this rule. If you don’t initiate any intimacy events for a longer time, at some point Jack’s will would crumble.

He has no idea how to suggest those kind of activities, he considers it inappropriate for a gentleman. Which probably leads to sudden loss of control.

You were sitting next to Jack in the arbour, enjoying good tea and cookies together. All your attention was focused on the book Jack had chosen for you. You weren’t very familiar with Shakespeare’s work but didn’t mind changing that. It required a lot of dedication from you because you had a trouble understanding some parts. Therefore, the process took much longer. You heard the sound of a spoon falling, but you didn’t take your mind off the book. Jack pushed away his chair, and out of the corner of your eye, you saw his head disappear under the table. You read long monologue, repeated it for better understanding but something was wrong. You frowned as you realized that Jack had frozen in a bent position. You took a better look at his face and followed his gaze, which led to your legs. Oh…, you thought. Usually you preferred to wear pants but today you chose a dress. It ended right below the knee and now that you were sitting cross-legged, Jack probably had a very good view of your legs covered with fishnet stockings. — Jack… — you said softly. Jack flinched; he came back to reality… wherever he was, and sat up straight. In your opinion, too rigidly. Your gaze fell to the floor again. — Spoon… — you mumbled and leaned down to pick it up. Apparently Jack hadn't quite recovered from his reverie because he did exactly the same thing and you two bumped heads. — Ouch! — My apologies, dearest — Jack said immediately. — No, it’s my fault… Your eyes met and suddenly Jack’s lips were on yours. You moaned with surprise, but deepened the kiss. You slowly straightened up without interrupting. Jack hands came around you, his fingers tightened on a dress as his tongue slipped between yours lips. Some sensation was born between your legs. You didn’t know when or how, but suddenly you felt his hand on your tight, his touch was leaving burning trace on your naked skin. All you could’ve thought about was his button shirt and how you wanted to rip it off. Before that could happen, you two separated, gasping for air. You looked away, feeling all the intense heat on your face. — This was not gentlemanly behaviour — you heard. You licked your lips. — Will I become less of a lady in your eyes if I say I liked it? Jack’s eyes brightened. — Not at all — was his answer. — Then let’s continue — you said with a smile.

Leonidas

Straight to the point. Why waste precious time for talking?

Sometimes though for some reason he likes to let things piss you off. He likes when you’re angry, it turns him on.

Leonidas was supposed to supervise your javelin throw training but instead he was reading another dull book. You threw javelin after javelin and none of them stuck in the ground. Frustration was slowly building in your chest as you hadn’t made progress in the last half hour. — Ugh! — Keep throwing, hon — you rolled your eyes. — Are you sure I am doing it right? — you asked through gritted teeth. — Yup — was his reply however from the tone of his voice you could tell that he was more concerned about his stupid book than your training. You took breathe in and out. He did it on purpose, didn’t he? Fine, two can play this game! You grabbed another javelin and tried again. Then repeat, then again, again and again. Calm and methodical. Until, out of the corner of your eye, you saw how impatiently Leonidas began to turn the pages. Until you felt his irritated gaze on your back and you almost gave yourself away. How easy it was to turn tables around. — Hon, wanna have some fun? — he asked finally, after abour fifteen minutes of silence and many javelins later. — You mean like boxing? — you asked innocently. Leonidas glanced at you over his book, which could basically shut anyone up. — I could do that with my men. I meant fun. You froze with javelin above your head. — Well technically you can do that with your men too — you sent the javelin flying, but the result was the same: it rolled along the ground. Pathetic. You flinched at the sudden creaking sound. — Look what a smartass we have here — Leonidas quickly moved towards you. You watched silently as he picked up two javelins from the ground, took the proper stance, and threw one of them. A javelin stuck in the ground like a strange flag many meters away. — I told you, put some strength into it! — Leonidas shouted at you as he placed a new javelin in your hand. He helped you take a correct stance, you felt his irritation but decided not to tease him yet — Eh, these weak arms of yours… Something has snapped inside you. You broke free from his grip. — We will see how you gonna cry under these weak arms of mine later, you jackass! — you yelled. The anger you felt earlier escalated to much greater size now. Leonidas smirked at your much smaller figure. His shirt tightened dangerously on his wide, muscled chest as if it were about to tear. — Oh, is the princess mad? — he mocked. — Piss off! You turned your back on him, otherwise you could have killed him on the spot. However, before you could leave, you felt a grip on your hand and a moment later you were pulled towards Leonidas. He picked you up and kissed without hesitation. You gasped with resentment at that audacity and began punching his chest. You felt him trying not to smile. The tight grip of Leonidas's arms around you didn't weaken for some time. — Now that’s the kind of fun I was looking for — he said once you had stopped. The kiss took your breath away but pride still demanded justice. You just looked at his smug face and tried to overcome your body's stupid excitement. — Let's take this elsewhere — he said. — Don’t you dare… NO! — you screamed as he threw you over his shoulder. — Screw you!

#record of ragnarok #shuumatsu no valkyrie #ror x reader #snv x reader #ror hades #ror jack the ripper #ror leonidas #ror hades x reader #ror jack x reader #ror leonidas x reader #snv hades x reader #snv jack x reader #snv leonidas x reader #udj

432 notes · View notes

deathmetalunicorn1 · 9 months ago

Note

Hi glad to see you back, hope your doing well.

May I ask for a Teen!reader like MaoMao from The Apothecary Diaries. If you haven’t watched that, they’re fascinated by poison and herbs, and have a habit of experimenting with them to observe their effects, primarily on their own body which leads to her applying bandages on her arms to cover the scars due to their passionate love of poisons and her enjoyment when consuming them. How would the family react to their child poisoning themselves on purpose because they’re fascinated by the effects?

(they have a decent immunity to poisons so it doesn’t kill then)

-First of all, the moment they realize that you experiment on yourself with poisons…. PANIC!!!

-Doctors are being called, only the finest physicians for their precious but dense child! While a portion of your family is crying or panicking, thinking you were going to die, the other half is scolding you and forcing you to vomit anything you had ingested.

-You were pouting, being put on time out, as you would call it, being confined to a bed as you had to let yourself be doted on, being treated like a child while the doctors checked out your arms, as many were horrified to see the condition of them, seeing the new and old scars, as well as the new wounds.

-When you finally got them to sit down and shut up for a moment so you could talk, you explained that you had always done this, as you wanted to create medicines for others, but all medicines and treatments had to be tested first, and what better way than to use yourself!

-A few did see the reasoning in your words and methods, but that didn’t mean that they liked it, like Hercules, Jack, Odin, Apollo, and Nikola.

-There were also a few, Lu Bu, QSH, Leonidas, Kojiro, Beelzebub, and Hades, who weren’t overly bothered at all, after hearing of your reasoning, and hearing that you were safe while you experimenting, knowing when to stop, knowing your limits, and knowing countermeasures just in the event if something more serious happened. A few knew of apothecaries, as they were around in their time when they were on earth, or heard of their research, so this wasn’t anything new, it was just surprising that it was you.

-Then you had a few, Adam and Ares mainly, who were beside themselves with worry, trying to go as far as commanding you or banning you from ever doing anything like this again, as they didn’t want anything to happen to their precious baby!!!

-You appreciated their different views and opinions, but you weren’t going to stop, you loved your medicines and poisons, that’s how you made a living when you were alive, being a poison tester, making medicines and treatments, and heralding in new techniques.

-After a while, your family did relent, with some rules in place, as they knew that doing this, for some strange reason, made you happy. While at first you weren’t happy about the rules, but you relented, because you realized they only put them there because they loved you and didn’t want you to get hurt or do anything stupid.

-You couldn’t help but smile softly, ‘I’m so lucky to have so many that care about me.’

#record of ragnarok #ror x reader #ror adam #ror jack the ripper #ror heracles #ror hades #ror odin #ror apollo #ror nikola tesla #ror leonidas #ror lu bu #ror qin shi huang #ror ares #ror kojiro sasaki #ror beelzebub

176 notes · View notes

poppitron360 · 3 months ago

Note

Hii! Can I ask for some of your more lighthearted (as in not too angsty) Leo Valdez headcanons?

1. CANNOT SIT ON A CHAIR PROPERLY

FOR THE LIFE OF HIM. YOU COULD POINT A GUN TO HIS HEAD AND HE STILL COULDN’T DO IT.

I NEED MORE FANART OF THIS PLEASE

2. Can in theory breathe fire but doesn’t bc it gives him a really bad sore throat.

3. Still reading TOA- I just found out that Leo’s full name is “Leonidas” (either that or it’s a nickname Calypso gave him, but the fandom seem to agree that it’s his real name) but he HATES it when Calypso calls him that, so my hc is ANNABETH is the ONLY one with “Leonidas” privileges. And that’s bc he’s so fucking terrified of her he doesn’t DARE appose her on it. I feel like she does use it respectfully though.

Hazel is also allowed to use it sparingly.

4. Oh yeah fuck canon Leo and Annabeth are besties and they bond over both being runaways and also engineering/architecture stuff. Leo’s DEFINITELY had a peek around Daedalus’ laptop- his design for an automaton that can house a human soul got him thinking about his mom. He always planned on maybe taking a closer look at those files but then the laptop got lost in Tartar Sauce. I know you said no angst. Whoops.

5. Leo and Hazel start a support group for demigods who have come back from the dead. Every Wednesday in New Rome. Biscuits and Orange Juice will be provided. They call themselves the “YOLTers” (You Only Live Twice- because YOLO is for the weak). Thalia is also a frequent attendee.

6. I hc him as hard of hearing after the explosion in Blood of Olympus. Specifically deaf in his right ear and chronic tinnitus in his left. He uses hearing aids sometimes and also uses ASL and Morse Code to communicate. I choose to view that as wholesome bc we need more disability representation.

7. He is a “Leonidas” ONLY at Starbucks. He then follows it up with a bunch of equally hard-to-pronounce middle names (which he completely made up) said in a rapid-fire Spanish accent and watches the Barista panic as her white ass tries to spell it all. It’s even funnier when she tries to say it back to him when giving him his order. He takes the cup (leaves a generous tip) and says “but usually I just go by Leo” and walks away.

That is pretty much my entire understanding of American culture right there-

8. Trains autistic. He loves them. In the one I’m currently reading- The Dark Prophecy- Calypso and Apollo go on a train without Leo and I’m just imagining them getting back and him being “But what kind of train was it? Standard gauge or narrow gauge? Man, I love narrow gauge trains. Did you know that there’s this place in Wales called the Ffestiniog railway, where they have this special type of locomotive where the engine- the sicky-outy bit- is like, either side of the locomotive, so that there’s no need for a turntable-“

Okay I might also love narrow gauge trains (I’ve been on the Ffestiniog railway, it is amazing) (Also that is not a typo, in Welsh I believe the double f makes a soft sound (like in “off”) and a single f makes a hard sound, more like a v (like in “of”) you learn a new thing every day!)

9. Ambidextrous but Left-hand dominant (Often has to specify to his tool belt that he needs left-handed tools)

10. When speaking will put weird pauses in the middle of a sentence and not stop between sentences like talkingreallyfastwhenhe’sreally exited and talking slowly when he’s tiredit’skindaweird and choppy like hisbrainisgoing a million times faster than hismouth.

11. His favourite Disney film is Frozen.

12. When he’s comfortable around you, you start to hear more of his hispanic accent.

13. Said it before, will say it again. Headcannon no. 13 is ALWAYS WITHOUT FAIL “They’re a Swiftie.”

He has to listen to music as a way of not being alone with his thoughts. I discovered Taylor at a young age, and she has remained one of the few consistencies in my life since then. She got me through some tough times (Not as bad as Leo, but she helped me survive 2020). I feel like Leo would be the same- not always knowing where he’ll be sleeping that night or if food will be on the table, he’d want comfort, stability. Taylor would be there.

14. He wakes Frank up at 3am with “Hey I can’t read that what does that say?” “…Leo you wrote this. You’re telling me you can’t read your own writing?” Little does Leo know that Percy came in with exactly the same request half an hour before. Frank is finding being the only non-dyslexic on the ship incredibly frustrating.

15. Has the philosophy “anything is a fidget toy if you fidget with it” and STICKS to it

16. If Piper sees an item of clothing with an ungodsly amount of pockets, she is contractually obligated to buy it for him.

17. Eats cheese straight off the block. Like doesn’t even bother cutting it, he just *noms* straight into the block of cheese like it’s a chocolate bar. Similarly also eats Nutella straight outta the jar, sometimes without even using a spoon (and y’all know he doesn’t wash his hands).

18. Slightly more immune to electric shocks than normal bc of his way with machines (Valgrace nation do with that what you will)- similar to how Percy, as seen in botl, is a little bit fireproof.

19. You can’t tell me that during his first quest with Jason and Piper, they didn’t at least once triple-spoon with Leo in the middle bc he’s warmest.

20. In fact, “Cuddle Leo” is a common pastime for Jasiper. Particularly when it’s cold.

21. HE. CAN. SEW.

I saw a lot of people hc that Leo makes Percabeth’s wedding rings but that is factually incorrect. TYSON makes the ring. LEO makes Annabeth’s dress. I just started this fic where Annabeth, Piper, Leo, Reyna, and Rachel all go wedding dress shopping for Leo to get ideas, but he makes absolutely the most BEAUTIFUL gown for her- much better than any store. It puts all other wedding dresses to shame.

22. He can also knit, crochet (This hc was supplied by my mum who I’ve forced to read Heroes of Olympus), weave, and do macramé. He’s gone down rabbit holes about old-fashioned lacemaking. Him and Annabeth have sewing/crafting competitions at camp and on the Argo.

23. Autistic hand-flappy stim

24. He watches Stand-Up Comedy specials with Jason. I feel like if he wasn’t a mechanic he’d be a comedian (or run a taco truck, like Jason suggested in TLH). He takes his friends to as many comedy shows as he can. He loves them.

25. A Valgrace hc but it relates- while I was thinking up ways for Leo/Jason to propose (just a regular day in my brain), I had an idea for Leo to take Jason to one of those comedy shows that does crowd-work, and sits in the front row to get their attention. When the comedian asks who they are, Leo introduces Jason as his fiancé. When Jason goes, “Wait, no I’m not!” Leo yells “WELL WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE?” And gets down on one knee.

Also, sorry it’s taken me so long to respond. I’ve had this saved to my drafts and I’ve been slowly adding to it every time I get a new headcanon.

75 notes · View notes

an-idyllic-novelist · 1 year ago

Text

Leonidas with Yoriichi Tsugikuni!fem!reader platonic headcanons

Warning(s): RoR manga spoilers up to ch. 78, historical references, violence, KNY anime spoilers, established relationship, strong language from Leonidas, ooc.

Collab work with @deathmetalunicorn1. Special thanks to @enryegotrip and @themoonisrising for their feedback in the drafting phrase!

Before reading this piece, however, I strongly recommend you read this story, as it acts as a part two. The link will be here.

With that being said guys, sit back, relax, and enjoy the chaos that is about to unfold :)

King Leonidas knew the gods existed and he hated them. Apollo, the arrogant little shit who was worshiped in Delphi all those centuries ago, is the god whom he despised the most. His men knew why but they were wise enough to never speak about the patriot of the arts in front of him. He did not, however, know that demons existed in Valhalla too…until that fateful night.

He and his men were settling in their campsite, bellies full and ready to resume their training or take the first watch and make sure no one tried to sneak past them…but someone did. It had been an old man, whimpering and cowering with a large lump on his head and wearing tattered clothes. Just when a soldier barked at him to leave or die where he stood, brandishing a spear in his direction…the old man’s body split in half, then half again until four young men began attacking the campsite. All hell broke loose, and Leonidas had no idea what the fuck was going on or how to kill them.

Guns didn’t work on the winged one because he was too fast in the air, the swords and spears of his men snapped in half when making contact with the bodies of the blue-eyed one before he impaled them with a halberd. The one wearing red robes possessed a staff that could create lightning within a seven foot radius, and the green one used a fan to blow away his men with a single swing. He used his shield when the latter and the winged one attacked, but it could only do so much against a sonic wave attack.

When shit looked like it was about to go sideways in the worst way possible, she showed up seemingly out of nowhere. She zigzagged across the field, dodging the winged one’s attacks and swiftly decapitating the halberd-wielding bastard, his head flying off and landing in the mud with a ‘thud’. That was when King Leonidas noticed something odd about the opponents…no, it wasn’t odd. These sons of bitches knew who exactly you were and they were afraid.

The horned demon in red raised his staff in the air, preparing for another lightning strike when she appeared in front of him. She inhaled sharply through her mouth and raised her sword above her head, the blade becoming ignited in crimson flames before striking him down, his body splitting in half. It was after taking this monster down that she addressed him.

“My lord….there is a fifth demon…heading northeast. That is the demon’s main body. If it is destroyed, then the other four will cease to exist. My comrades…they are on their way. They will be here soon, and provide aid.” She then looked him straight in the eye, calm and level-headed as if this wasn’t the first time she had fought against these things. “Normal weapons cannot penetrate a demon’s body…but seeing that you are carrying firearms, use this.” She pulled out three cartridges of ammunition from her robes and handed them to him. “Aim for the head. I must go…before the main body gets too far away.”

She then darted away from the campsite, disappearing into the darkness of the forest. Leonidas is a proud man, but even he knew not to look at a gift in the horse’s mouth. He unclipped the magazine in his pistol and loaded in the new ammo, opening fire but making sure that these bullets would not be wasted.

Just as the woman said, reinforcements arrived. All wearing robes and carrying swords, moving across the battlefield as if they were dancing and not fighting against these creatures.

Spartans are bred for battle and will die for battle. Never give up, never surrender. That is in their blood. However, a smart Spartan realizes the difference between an ally and an enemy, and that the flow of time constantly changes in the mortal realm. From politics to fighting techniques, if it can be used to take down an enemy, King Leonidas doesn’t give a flying fuck about anything else.

When his second magazine was on the last bullet, all of the demons disintegrated into ash. The soldiers shouted in Grecian, raising their bloodied spears in the air and smiling victoriously. Their mysterious comrades either relished in the moment or simply walked away from the battlefield, sheathing their swords with a grimace. A little while later she returned to the campsite, expressionless and covered in blood that was not her own.

She bowed deeply to him. “I apologize…my lord. If I had been sooner…there would not have been so much damage…and you would not have lost so many men.”

Leonidas just shook his head. His men were prepared to die in battle if it meant glory and victory in the name of Sparta, they trained to go up against even the most powerful of opponents. But what he could not stand is not knowing what he and his army are fighting…so what the hell were those monsters? He wanted information, and he wanted it now.

To his surprise, she was more than compliant to sit and talk with him. One of her associates, a tall brat with a large sword strapped on his back, barked at her, saying that it's against the rules to share confidential information with an ‘outsider’ but the woman replied that he has a right to know. He is the commander of these men; would it not be better to tell him and prevent this situation from happening again?

Furthermore, she is an unofficial member of the organization, so the rules do not affect her as much as it does to him or the others. When her associate turned away with a scoff, she asked him what he liked to know.

“Everything.” He snapped.

She nodded. “Of course.”

As the men cleared the debris and buried their dead, Leonidas fired question after question at the swordswoman, whose name he learned was [First Name] [Last Name]. Demons were nocturnal in nature, and consumed human flesh to gain strength. Their bodies were extremely durable; normal weapons cannot harm them, and they can only be killed by decapitation. Her sword, a nichirin blade, forged from Scarlet Iron Sand and Scarlet Ore, both of which can be found in high mountains that perpetually bathed in sunlight all year around.

Sunlight was the only thing that could kill a demon for good. The bullets she gave him were created from the same materials, designed for a Hashira that preferred guns to swords. A Hashira is a very strong Demon Slayer, and she is one herself: the Sun Hashira, which is why her blade ignited upon attacking the demons. The Breathing Style is…difficult to explain and to learn, but it is effective.

The Demon Slayer Corps had existed for over a thousand years, and it was revived in Valhalla under Lord Hades’ command. Another human soul, Nostradamus, destroyed the Bifrost and demons have been crawling their way into Valhalla ever since. The one he and his men came in contact with is Hantengu, a powerful demon who once served under Muzan Kibutsuji.

Muzan was the original creator of the demon race, and she had encountered him once many years ago.

“I wish I could tell you more my lord,” She bowed her head to him. “The only thing I can offer is to give you the name of the person who can create these bullets, though I must ask that you keep his identity a secret. Muzan might have perished all of those years ago, but seeing one of the Upper Moons here in Valhalla and still possess their powers…the possibility that he might have regenerated in Helheim cannot be ruled out. If he still wishes to destroy the Demon Slayers, he will make another attempt to kill the craftsman who creates the weapons that can destroy him and the other Upper Moons under his command.”

Lenoidas nodded. Makes sense, He thought. Keeping a supplier safe is crucial in war. The less an enemy knows who or how their opponent is getting their weapons, the better. Cut off the supplier and supply route, these people wouldn’t have the swords or bullets needed to destroy the demons. Still…

“Is it possible to meet the guy who made these?” He asked, holding up the empty cartridge. “I know that’s asking a lot from a stranger like myself, trust me, but just having the basic info on an opponent won’t help me or my army be prepared if this situation happens again. You said you’re an unofficial member of this organization.”

“...I am. However, to meet the creator of the bullets…I would need to speak to Lord Ubuyashiki first. He is…very protective of us all, like we are his children. The secret location of the swordsmiths had been exposed once before, when the organization had been on the decline in the Taisho era. You may have to speak and present your case to him as to why you wish to know the suppliers.”

“How soon can that be?”

“When I return to headquarters, I will go straight to him myself…though I am sure no one will want that. He has…not been well as of late.” [First Name] looked to the side, blinking at the large crow perched on her shoulder. “I will send you a message through this little one, should he allow this meeting. Is that acceptable?”

Momentarily surprised that such a large bird suddenly appeared out of nowhere, Leonidas cleared his throat. “Yeah, that’s fine. I look forward to hearing from you…through your bird.”

The Demon Slayer nodded, bowing to him before she left the campsite as quickly as she had appeared, stunning the war general with her agility. Huh…were women soldiers in the Demon Slayer Corps always so sneaky? He’ll have to ask next time. Right now, he had to direct his mind and think about his next move. For now, it seemed going north would be the best choice; there was a Greecian military base there, so his men could rest until they were called to the next war. He’ll also need to let his wife, Gorgo, know what happened as well.

Gorgo remained Queen of Sparta when he was away at battle, in life and in death. She had just as much authority and political power as he did, so he knew their home in Valhalla would be well-protected in his absence. If he hadn’t known that these demons existed until now…could he truly say that their home is fortified against every single threat? No. And she deserved to be aware of the situation.

They were husband and wife for fuck’s sake.

A week flew by until the army reached the base, and another when the messenger crow flew through the window in his study one sunny afternoon, a scroll tied around its neck. Hoisting himself up from his hammock, Lenoidas marked his spot in the book he’d been reading and set it down on the floor. He walked towards the window and untied the rope around the crow’s neck, unfurling the parchment to scan the contents.

The meeting will take place in four days. A member of the organization, a kakushi, will personally escort him to the lord of the manor on the morning of the meeting. To ensure everyone’s safety, he must wear a blindfold the entire time until he is given permission to remove it.

Lenoidas’ brow twitched. You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me. He thought, annoyed, before he sighed deeply. [First Name] had promised him that she will try to persuade the clan head to speak to him in regards to the suppliers. This would be his first and only chance to negotiate peacefully.

He couldn’t allow the Sun Hashira’s hard work to go to waste…so he’ll play along.

Time passed quickly as he made the necessary preparations. Before he knew it, a fellow dressed from head to toe in black with a cloth concealing his face waited at the city’s gates. The kakushi blindfolded the king of Sparta, and then they departed.

But it wasn’t just one kakushi that escorted him…there were many of them, each with a different voice and mannerisms, switching him off at a designated post. Some were polite, curt. Others were skittish, can’t really blame them honestly. When he’d been granted permission to remove the blindfold, Leonidas was…surprised to see a young man smiling serenely at him, dressed in white and purple robes. He was flanked by two small children, and a woman sat behind him.

Safe assumption that these were his heirs and wife, but the Spartan general kept his comments to himself as he observed the lord. His eyes were clouded, unfocused. Blind. Probably caused by the rotten skin that’s spreading on his face.

The man and his family bowed their heads to him. “Welcome to our humble home, Lord Lenoidas of the Spartan Army.” He said softly. “[First Name] has spoken highly of you since her return. A courageous leader who remained calm in such a dire and unexpected situation…though you wish to meet the ones who have supplied my children with the necessary weapons to protect themselves and others from the demons who prowl at night. May I inquire why you wish to have access to our resources? How can I be sure that you will not spread this information to others?”

This was it. One chance to either get the information he seeked…or to lose it all, and his men would go back into battle unprepared. Leonidas inhaled a deep breath, and spoke.

He didn’t sugarcoat his intentions, plainly and respectfully to Lord Ubuyashiki. To his surprise, this brat didn’t get pissed off or talked down to him. Instead, the young lord understood where he was coming from. There have been more reports of sporadic ruptures in the Bifrost; try as they might, the Demon Slayer Corps cannot be everywhere and protect everyone. Lenoidas’ armies were the largest within the Grecian district, rivaling only that to Chinese militia, so it would be beneficial to supply the war general with the necessary anti-demon artillery, but only to his armies.

Right now, he was the only human leader outside of the organization who knew about the demons’ existence. As much as he wanted to help everyone, there were too many cons rather than pros to take another gamble with the supplier’s secret location should anyone else be aware that there were weapons that can kill demons.

As much as Leonidas wanted to protest…the brat had a point. The less people knew, the better. No good in causing a panic among the public. The gods could go fuck themselves, of course. The war general wasn’t too concerned about them so much as his fellow mortal comrades.

Then the meeting was settled. He along with the Sun Hashira would be escorted to the swordsmans’ village to meet the bullet crafter, and talk about business as needed. Lenoidas thanked the lord for his time…and politely asked to give his regards to [First Name].

That was the last time Leonidas saw Ubuyashiki. Within the following week, he and the Sun Hashira embarked on a journey to the suppliers alongside the secretive kakushi. He saw how the bullets were created, negotiated the amount needed to a fair price, and things propelled from there.

He also came to enjoy [First Name]’s company. She wasn’t a talkative person, though she had proven herself to be insightful and open-minded when they spoke on the way back to Sparta. She had agreed to go with him and his men on an expedition under the condition that she would teach them everything she knew about demon extermination. She warned him she was not good at explaining more complex Breathing Styles, and it might not be suitable for his men. There might also be questions that even she cannot answer fully, though she will do her best.

Leonidas said he was well aware but at this point, he was willing to take a chance with the Sun Hashira; these men were under his command, so he knew them like the back of his hand. Whatever Breathing Styles or demon exterminating techniques she knew and was willingly to teach would be appreciated. Hell, if there was a way to implement it in his army’s battle formations and even his own fighting style, Leonidas will take it for what it’s worth.

Leonidas grinned as he watched [First Name] training his men from the rim of his book. She had proven early in their journey that she was not to be underestimated or her lessons to be taken for granted. She’d saved their asses, helped them secure a supplier for a fair fee, and showed them how to combat against lower-level demons if they ever came across them at night. Didn’t even complain about the long hours spent walking or hiding up the mountains.

The only downside to this arrangement is that when it was time to restock their weapons with anti-demon bullets, spears, or shields, Leonidas had to go get everything himself.

Pain in the ass, but worth it in the end.

The war general wondered if he should consult Gorgo about adding women who can fight to the army’s ranks would be more beneficial and boost morale, or would just make things worse, when a scout shouted that a god was approaching the campsite. Lenoidas narrowed his eyes, getting himself out of his hammock again because shit was about to go down. Once he grabbed his spear and shield, he darted towards the enemy with [First Name] following close behind. The men were already in the phalanx formation, acting as a barrier around the campsite to prevent the intruder from taking another step further.

Lenonidas stared at the god. Tall, muscular, couldn’t be more than seven or seven and a half feet tall. Black tank-top with a weird ass rabbit on the front, orange robes tied around his waist and hands. Sunglasses, long blonde hair, light blue orbs…is that a fucking lollipop in his mouth?

Who is this punk?

“Buddha?” [First Name] said.

Lenonidas blinked once, then twice before he swiveled his head over his shoulder to glance at the slightly stunned swordswoman. “You know him?” She gave him a brief nod, then looked straight ahead with a confused frown. The war general followed her gaze and saw the son of a bitch standing right in front of him, his shadow almost towering over his own. The god blinked, munching on the lollipop with his oversized canines.

“Yo. You’re that war general from Sparta, right? Nice to meet ya. Soo…sorry for the sudden visit, but I’m takin’ the Sun Hashira back with me. Ya dig?”

“And what gives you the right to treat her like an object, shithead?” Leonidas growled. “This is why I can’t fuckin’ stand the likes of you or any others in the pantheons.”

The god stared at him. “Old man…I respect that you wanna protect her, but you should know more than anyone that she’s more than capable of defending herself. You’ve seen her in action, right? That’s how she met ya. And why she decided to go with ya on this trip. However, she’s been away from home for far too long.”

Buddha then walked past him and gathered up the swordswoman in his arms, with one hand under her legs and the other around her shoulders. “C’mon sunshine, we’re headin’ back to paradise.”

[First Name] blinked. “We are? But the men still need more time to be properly trained - ”

“Six months.”

“Hm?”

“You haven’t been home in six months, and ya had the guts to leave your husband all alone in a cold bed.” He puffed up his cheeks in annoyance. “I might enjoy hangin’ around the bodhi tree when you’re not around, but I wanna cuddle with my wife more than once before she suddenly heads off on a mission without sayin’ good-bye! You could’ve woken me up before ya left so I know were you’re goin’, you silly rabbit!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Ya should be! I almost had to call Kintoki and ask him to track ya down if your crow didn’t drop off a message beforehand! Think things through before you run off into action, darlin’!”

“Okay.”

Lenoidas and the army stared at the pair with slackened jaws at the sight of a god pouting like a child as he scolded the Sun Hashira, who has identified himself as her husband. She was married to a god, and didn’t say anything to them?!?

[First Name] looked over Buddha’s shoulder, waving her hand at him. “I’ll be going home, Lord Lenonidas. I’m sorry this trip has to be cut short, but feel free to send a message to my residence or Lord Ubuyashiki’s if you have any questions or concerns.”

The war general felt a headache coming on. “Yeah…sure. Don’t worry about it or the training, we can handle it from here. Just go home to your…husband.” He muttered. “And don’t be a stranger either, all right? You’re always welcomed in Spartan territory. If any of ‘em give you a hard time, I’ll knock some sense into them.”

She nodded, offering the barest hint of a smile before she looped her arms around Buddha’s neck. The god looked back at him and inclined his head. In an instant, the pair were gone, returning to wherever it is that they called ‘home’.

Bonus Content:

Soon as Lenoidas received word that the Sun Hashira had come to pay him and his family a visit as she promised she would, the war general invited her to sit at his table for dinner.

Gorgo was delighted to finally meet the swordswoman who had earned her husband’s trust and saved the men’s lives. It is rare to meet a skilled warrior who is not a goddess and is humble.

Leonidas received the second shock since meeting [First Name] when she quietly revealed that she is, in fact, a divine being. Well, not exactly. More like a mortal soul who had received the blessing of a god.

She had met Buddha shortly after ascending to Valhalla. They were good friends for a long time before marrying almost two decades ago, though the enlightened one mentioned he should have done so sooner.

Something about rivals for her affection?

When his wife pressed on what [First Name] meant, the swordswoman’s calm face briefly pinched into an uncomfortable expression. Inhaling a deep breath, she answered Gorgo.

The Grecian representative of the Sun, Apollo, had approached her on the pretense that they were a perfect match because they were affiliated with the same celestial orb: bright, warm, and influential. In his mind, he believed Fate brought them together. [First Name] did not, and politely declined his proposal of a courtship.

Apollo did not give up. He was persistent in the coming days, and Buddha had almost intervened on her behalf. But it had been her own mess. So in the context of Buddha’s “lingo”, she “wiped the floor” with him.

Leonidas had trouble breathing as he howled in laughter. That fuckin’ shithead had actually gotten his ass beaten by a divine being who used to be a mortal.

Good. The prick deserved it.

Taglist:

@themoonisrising

@onecantsimply

@praisethesuuun

@enryegotrip

@sarah22447

@sarcastic-cookie

@zebralover

@screechingfatdragon

@mortemorii

@myrisan-melodies

@moonreaper25

@nunezs-stuff

@diamondzoey

@dance-till-the-death

@thatstrangesheep

@puffy-bangs

@justamegafan

@zodiacs-web

@seii-fantasy

@rukia-writes

#shuumatsu no valkyrie #an idyllic novelist #record of ragnarok #ror x reader #snv x reader #snv #snv buddha #snv leonidas #ror buddha #ror leonidas #ror headcanons #ror x you #ror apollo #snv apollo #apollo record of ragnarok #platonic headcanons #yoriichi!reader

569 notes · View notes

novankenn · 13 days ago

Text

Tenuous Partnership (11)

Departure times arrived and after the thirtieth time reassuring her father, Leonidas Nikos, that she would be coming home for breaks and holidays, and that no she was not planning on getting pregnant and then never coming home due to misplaced feelings of embarrassment. Finally able with help from her mother Athena to pry her father's arms from around her, she gave them each a kiss upon the cheek, and made her way on to the airship.

The flight attendants were polite and helpful, guiding her directly to her private cabin. It wasn't much, as space on airships was at a premium. But it was enough. It had a window, and bunk, along with a foldout table and chair. Setting her carryon, which was just the hard sided case for her weapons, she climbed on to the bunk and watched out the window as the airship lifted into the air.

She had flown many times, but it was always a pleasure to watch the ground slowly fade away as the ship ascended into the clouds. It was peaceful and inspiring. After spending a few more minutes watching out the small round window, she turned back to her room. It was a good several hours of flight time before the airship would reach Vale, at which point she would transfer to the shuttle that flew directly to Beacon.

She looked about the small enclosed space, and though she knew she could go for a walk, as these types of airships sported a huge viewing deck, she didn't feel like mingling or dealing with any potential fans.

Don't get her wrong. She was glad she inspired so many. But being a tournament fighter was not her goal. Her coaches and trainers had guided her into that activity as a way to improve her skills. It had worked, but it also put her directly into the public eye when it became apparent that she was a prodigy when it came to combat.

Of course her success opened doorways, and gave her a way to support her parents, who had always supported her activities... so all in all it was a net positive, even if fans could get a little grabby or needy at times.

Sighing she stretched out on the bunk, and then yawned. She was excited, but tired. The morning exercises had burnt off much of her nervous energy, and the heavy breakfast her father had made, was catching up with her now. Maybe a nap was in order. Yawning once again, Pyrrha rolled on to her side facing the small round window of her cabin. She smiled at the thoughts of all the new experiences she would have once at Beacon. At that her eyes drooped and she was fast asleep.

Glynda was startled awake by agonized screaming. It took her a minute to clear her head enough to realize the screaming was coming from inside her apartment, from inside Jaune's room. Beacon's doors were made of sturdy stuff. designed to withstand accidental weapon and semblance discharges. They however were not made to tank damage from a panicked aunt racing to her nephew's aid.

With her own door shattered, and Jaune's embedded in the wall of his room, Glynda was at kneeling at the side of his bed. Trying to calm the writhing young man. He was still screaming in pain, but it was muffled by his hands that were clamped about his mouth.

"Jaune. What is it? Jaune!" Glynda called out to him. One of her hands rubbing circles on his chest while the other combed through the agitated nest of vipers that was his hair. "Jaune, talk to me, please?"

Jaune's eyes were filled with tears, rimmed with horrified panic. With out any other options Glynda grabbed Jaune and pulled him up into a tight hug. She squeezed her own eyes tight as Jaune's vipers lashed out. Her aura prevented any real damage. Not that it mattered, she and Jaune were of the same species. She was immune to his toxins just as he was immune to hers.

"Shush... shush... it's okay, baby. It's okay. Auntie is here. Your safe." she cooed at him as his motions and muffled screaming slowed and eventually stopped.

Gently she returned Jaune to his bed, before leaving and returning less than thirty seconds later her scroll against her ear. Beacon had a first rate medical staff, but more importantly to Glynda a world renown cryptozoologists along with being a award winning medical doctor.

"Peach?" Glynda basically shouted into her scroll when the other end of the line connected. "My room. Jaune. Pain. NOW!"

Glynda tossed her scroll to the floor and returned to kneeling next to Jaune. He still had his hands clenched against his jaw and chin. His eyes were tightly closed but tears still rolled down his cheeks.

"Help is coming Jaune. Help is coming."

/==/

Additional Chapters can be found by following this link; Utter & Complete Insanity (2)

#rwby #jaune arc #pyrrha nikos #headmaster ozpin #utter and complete insanity #jaune is a gorgon #pyrrha is a monster hunter #glynda goodwitch #glynda & jaune are related #glynda is also a gorgon #peter port

17 notes · View notes

b3llasdears · 10 months ago

Text

"short queen"

leonidas x gorgo! reader

Technically this is a normal reader who is the wife of Leonidas, but there's mention's of Plistarchus (son of Gorgo and Leo), so I put it as "gorgo! reader"

English is not my first language so sorry for the mistakes!

The young boy fell to the sand, complaining about the pain of the fall and the blows his father had given him with the wooden sword "You still have a lot to improve Plistarchus, in a real battle you would have been incapacitated with the first blow" Leonidas said, dropping the wooden sword.

Plistarchus was sad, his father was right, The first blow he received had been on the arm, and in a real battle, in which that wooden sword would be real, he would have been left without an arm and would have been unable to fight.

"Leonidas!!" Suddenly the voice of a woman was heard shouting Leo's name, drawing the attention of the two men. "oh my baby! are you okay?" You crouched down and began to check your son, seeing the bruises that Leonidas had left on him "Leonidas! Look at our son! You're really hurting him!" you said pointing to plistarchus

"in a real battle it would be worse, that's how you learn" said the king crossing his arms "You're being too hard on him!" You said, approaching Leonidas clearly upset. "I am only doing what is necessary for our son to be a great warrior" Leonidas said defending himself. "But a warrior is not born knowing, you must go at a pace at which our son can follow you, and thus go up so that he learns"

You continued reproaching Leonidas, while Plistarchus watched in confusion.

Leonidas had not said anything to you, he simply continued looking at you while you spoke, but when he got annoyed he looked up at the sky, ignoring you given that you were shorter than him

You quickly realized what he was doing, and after letting out a screech of rage, you left in annoyance.

When you left, Leo returned to see Plistarchus who was sitting on the floor "Hey kid, take your sword and get up, we're not done yet." Plistarchus let out a sigh and stood up, but he remained stuck looking in the direction were you left

"hurry up boy"

"Dad, you should look over there"

"What?"

After saying that, Leonidas was tackled by you, you hung on him with your arms and tied your legs around his hips "wa- what the hell?!" Leonidas did his best to keep his balance but ended up falling flat on his back.

"uuugh... god dammit (name)..." Leonidas said, complaining about the pain of falling on his back "now you know how it feels" you said proud of what you had done "You are crazy" said leo "and you like that"

Suddenly the two heard the young prince's laughter, His laugh was so contagious that the two of you started laughing too.

"ok,ok...that was pretty good" Your king said as you got off of him "Thank you, but remember what I told you" You said, still laughing a little. "I'll remember it."

plistarchus approached you two "Mom, why don't you stay and see?" your son said happily "Good idea, I can make sure your father keeps his word." your king laughed a little "fine, maybe you can also teach our son some things."

The three of them laughed and then got up, you stayed watching how your husband and son trained.

and although plistarchus still ended up in the sand several times, he did manage to improve a little with the new rhythm leo was using

"I told you" - you

"Oh shut up" - leo

I feel like Leo would be a very good dad 🥹

#ror leonidas x reader #record of ragnarok #record of ragnarok leonidas #record of ragnarok x reader #ror leonidas #ror x reader #shuumatsu no valkyrie x reader #snv leonidas #snv leonidas x reader #snv x reader #leonidas record of ragnarok

76 notes · View notes

bones4thecats · 1 year ago

Note

How about a scenario with the reader x Apollo, Leonidas and Geirölul in the Barbie world?

A/N: I haven’t written for Leonidas and Geirölul yet, so I hope they aren’t too terribly OOC. I do hope you enjoy this though, Anon! Also, I haven’t watched the Barbie Movie yet, so I’ll just put them in the ‘Universe’ in general.

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・

☀️ He didn’t know what the hell just happened

☀️ One minute, he was drinking some tea with his S/O, the next he’s looking at a hot pink building as you sit by him, your tea now just straight water in a plastic cup

☀️ You looked at him and shrugged your shoulders, complementing the building

☀️ Then a woman with blonde hair walked outside alongside a man with blonde hair as well, though it was a lot shorter

☀️ You stared at the woman as she ushered you both to stand, that was when you realized that these things were the Barbie and Ken

☀️ Your mouth dropped as Apollo thanked the duo, asking where they were

“ Why, you’re in Malibu, sillies. I’m Barbie and this is Ken, it’s nice to meet you! “

☀️ He feels like he’s heard that before, oh, those were the toys you were talking about getting Göll and the nymph’s children for Christmas!

☀️ Well, this was gonna be interesting…

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・

🚬 Oh his poor, poor eyes

🚬 He cannot stand anything with such strong color, especially things that were remotely close to hot pink, he just hates that color

🚬 You looked at how his face contorted into disgust as the hot-pink wearing duo came running out of their house

🚬 He pulled you up and held you behind him, glaring at Ken as he stepped back in fear

🚬 Who wouldn’t fear this guy though?

🚬 Barbie smiled and shook your hand while Ken hid behind her, fearing your husband

🚬 Leonidas looked at you and back at the duo when they recommended you guys to come inside for a cup of tea

🚬 Let’s just say when you got back to Valhalla, he has a new appreciation for the color silver

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・

❤️‍🔥 Geirölul was okay with hot colors because of Hlökk, but this was too much

❤️‍🔥 You and her just stood there looking at the duo of Barbie and Ken as they repeatedly asked if you both were okay

❤️‍🔥 She just replied with a stern;

“ What do you think? “

❤️‍🔥 You smiled, shook her off, and shook their hands, attempting to explain what had happened

❤️‍🔥 Geirolul eventually warmed up to the duo, as they never tried cursing at you for being with a Valkyrie

❤️‍🔥 Though, they didn’t really know anyone from a Pantheon, soooo

77 notes · View notes

valeriefauxnom · 20 days ago

Text

Accidental Minor Plot Holes/Misnomers!

Dragalia in general was surprisingly astute to its tangled mass of lore, but they were not perfect. Every so often, there were little tidbits that on closer thought/lore diving, make no sense with later information!

Take, for instance, the launch wyrmprint "King's Countenance", which intersects both well and poorly with later details on him and his kids:

Its description relays, starting in its 3rd stage:

Now, the king sits and ponders his future. He knows that if he continues on his current path, he will have to pay with his life. And yet, there is no hesitation whatsoever on his visage. For the king had eight promising children who had learned much from watching him fight to support the kingdom. Any of them was more than worthy to take the reins of the country's future.

On the bright side, this works well with the details that Aurelius, when heading to the Binding Ruins, knew he was playing with fire and chose to anyways in the hopes of helping Nedrick, whom he had newly discovered was alive and not-still-quite-so-well:

...But on the flipside, well...

I'm a royal fam major when it comes to Dragalia lore, and even I, uh, would not be so bold as to claim that Aurelius has 'eight capable children' to take the throne. Leonidas, Phares, Chelle, even Valyx, sure. Beren, whom has been locked in the dungeons since being an infant???? Emile??????????? Zethia, who has forsworn the throne herself to be the Auspex? Whoops.

And it's not as if Aurelius has blindingly rose-colored goggles on, either. He's Concerned enough about Emile to not only appoint Magnus in the hopes of teaching him some better morals, but also granted him the authority to outright kill Emile if he gets entirely out of hand in several worlds.

So, yeah, there's one incongruency. Speaking of kings, though, let's wind back the clock to the OG King of Alberia!

This one's pretty small and easy to explain. To put it briefly, his replica in The Blood That Binds shapeshifts into a dragon he should not have been able to: Brunhilda.

Why? Because she never pacted with Alberius in the first place!

Speaking of which, there's several more hmms in Mym's life. Her dragon story starts out with this narration:

One tiny little problem- Greatwyrms never, ever, are hatchlings. Later lore stated that all Greatwyrms are sterile and do not follow most other natural life cycles even for dragons. They also have a nice little auto reincarnation feature as primordial forces, though they do not keep memory between incarnations.

This is likely just a case of writers unintentionally bumping into each other with much later lore for Mids' and Mym's words here, as this info drops in ch.24 vs the base game with Brunhilda's story, but still technically a contradiction!

It also creates a new odd timeline. Greatwyrm ages are ambiguous, but we do have several rough ideas/implications:

-Jupiter is the youngest (Mym address him as a brat and otherwise younger than her)

-Brunhilda is the second-youngest (she's generally treated by the others dragons as a younger one too)

-Zodiark likely eldest

-Mids is under 1k years old, since he did not experience events with Ilia and does not remember them

However, Brunhilda's story again puts things in a major bind. Her story has her lying in fields for 'centuries' and then holing herself in a volcano for 'ages more' so much so that the land itself shifted until Alberius came. Alberius, of course, was 300 years ago. This leaves surprisingly little time to put her as definitively younger than Midgardsormr, who is canonically under 1k.

On the flip side, it partially explains her exact moody nature- she's hardly talked to anyone in her centuries and has largely been asleep for them, making her much less experienced in contrast to other dragons who have not made indications of sleeping for centuries. In essence- she's acting younger than her apparent age would suggest, because she's spent a majority of those years asleep!

Another little error comes with Luca and Sarisse, specifically which is the elder. The vast majority of the time, Luca is addressed as the elder. But in Luca's lines...

...Despite Luca's description correctly ID'ing him as the elder in that same base version!

Last but not least, another minor error funnily occurs in Cassandra's story, where Elisanne, despite speaking correctly in the first story, incorrectly labels the castle of Sol Alberia as 'The Halidom':

We never actually got a name for the castle, if it has one. It just is the castle in Sol Alberia, the royal capital. However, it definitely isn't the Halidom, as this scene takes place in the royal castle for Aurelius' marriage, which, again, is made all the funnier by Elisanne recognizing that this was not the Halidom earlier:

Now, I don't know the original text, but these last two might well just be a translation error. That being said, how it was written and published makes them contradicting!

So...yeah! That's been my Dragalia Lore Contradictions post, brought to you by too much memory devoted to this game!

#dragalia lost #dragalia #overanalysis #dragalia analysis #There might be more but those are the ones I'm remembering right now+able to track down #Do you guys recall any other plot holes/accidental lore contradictions?

14 notes · View notes

11queensupreme11 · 1 year ago

Note

I was thinking of baby Percy AU again and just thought of what would happen if Poseidon just… lost her in Valhalla. There was an emergency meeting, he forgot babies shouldn’t be left alone. Left unsupervised, Percy promptly toddled off towards the sunset (the human side of Valhalla) and gets lost amongst the masses. The encounters I’m picturing:

Leonidas chilling in his hammock, reading his book and drinking his wine only to reach down (to get a refill) and grab a baby instead of a bottle. There’s a baby lost in the Sparta training grounds and this man is panicking.

Adam eating his grapes with his family only for his ears to pick up the unmistakable sound of a baby babbling nonsense. He stands immediately and, without saying a single word to his wife or sons, just runs off and comes back cradling a giggling baby which he promptly places on his lap while saying ‘our daughter now’. His family only nods and goes back to what they were doing, as if this is completely normal (it probably is)

Nikola Tesla finds a baby playing among the detritus of his last failed experiment and decides he has found a new student to teach the art of Science(tm) to. She can’t even speak yet? No matter! It’s never too early to learn! Besides, don’t you know babies’ brains are like sponges?? He can teach her so much!

Sasaki Kojiro is out there in the wilderness, becoming one with nature (or whatever it is that he does when he’s not training - is there a time when that man ever stopped?) only to all but trip over a baby lost in the woods. What does a man who only has swords in his mind do?? Why, hand her a stick and teach her how to swing it.

(Almost predictably, Lu Bu does the exact same thing except they meet on the edge of a cliff and he tells her to aim at the sky)

Qin Shi Huang finds a baby blocking his path and instead of doing something normal (like stopping to make sure she’s alright, look around for the parents maybe), simply picks her up, at once recognizes her as a princess (royalty recognizes royalty) and continues on his merry way (he’s heading towards his adoptive mom’s house to show off the new subject/little sister he picked up on the way - he’s gonna teach her everything she needs to know about ruling).

Raiden finds baby Percy in a restaurant - specifically, he finds her well-fed round little body sitting inside a (now empty) plater she had crawled inside of when no one was looking. Raiden orders another plate and the two enjoy a very pleasant lunch together before he takes her back to the sumo training area so she can watch him wrestle everyone into the ground. Percy’s clapping the whole time.

Jack finds her lost and whimpering while skulking around in dark alleyways and, being the gentleman he is, immediately kneels down to offer her a handkerchief, picking her up and looking around for any sign of the parents (lmao, just realized he’s the only one in this list alongside Leo who’s going to make his top priority be finding Percy’s guardian first)

Meanwhile, at the god’s side of Valhalla:

Hades: WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST HER.

Poseidon: I told her to stay put.

Hades: SHE’S A BABY POSEIDON.

Poseidon: And? I was a baby once too and followed orders perfectly.

Zeus: and look how you turned out.

(They enlist Anubis to track her down)

THE RAIDEN ONE WHERE SHE EATS EVERYTHING ON THE PLATTER AKSJFJHFBV I CAN JUST IMAGINE HER CHUBBY CHEEKS 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

and the nikola one.... i feel like she's actually grow up with more than one brain cell if nikola's the one that raises her (full offense to poseidon lol)

I LOVE EVERY SCENARIO HERE SO MUCH. THE ADAM ONE IS ACTUALLY PRETTY CLOSE TO WHAT HAPPENS IN ACT TWO LOL

i bet you after this incident, they're gonna create the "percy alert". its basically the amber alert, but it's only to look for percy lmao 💀

#👸🏻| asks #👸🏻| arsenic blues

101 notes · View notes

telvess · 1 year ago

Text

Record of Ragnarok (characters playing Elden Ring headcanons)

does anyone remember this game?

Hades: He does very well, but he would prefer to play together with his brothers…

Poseidon: Every death is like a slap in the face, his pride absolutely cannot take it. Heavy breathing every time things aren't going his way.

Shiva: The guy has an extra pair of hands, which means he can hold two controllers and scores twice as many deaths. If he plays with his wives in co-op, they carry him.

Adamas: controllers flies across the room at least once per hour.

Beelzebub: He spends more time choosing build than actually playing the game.

Adam: He doesn't play, but cheers Eve.

Eve: She never gets mad.

Thor: He watches as Loki bites off his own fingers.

Loki: Mad cuz bad. Thor hasn't said a word about his performance, but Loki knows that he secretly scoff at him. That's why he provokes Thor to try the game himself. It was the God of Mischief turn to laugh! He ends up biting his fingers off again because Thor beats everything without breaking a sweat.

Odin: The moment Thor begins the game, Odin simply orders him to show no mercy.

Odin’s crowns: Perform better than Loki.

Herakles: He doesn’t give up until he finish.

Ares: YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED, YOU DIED…

Hermes: He wouldn't die at all.

Zeus: One death too many and he forgets himself, and ends up crushing the controller in his hands. Hermes waits with the new controller right next to him.

Göll: She is too scared to explore any dungeon.

Sasaki Kojiro: He’s dead before he can scan anything.

Hrist: Her calm side patiently explores the world, her angry side rushes to annihilate everything in her field of vision.

Leonidas: He doesn’t care. Yells how dumb that game is. Keeps dying, gets more angry. He doesn’t care… Smashing and spamming buttons like madman. He doesn’t care!

Geirölul: Her pride wouldn't let her finish the game because she wouldn't pass Tree Sentinel at the first level.

Souji Okita: He gets distracted by a turtle.

Apollo: He finds appearance options not satisfactory enough.

Anne: She decides to drink every time she’d die. Ends up dying on purpose.

Jack: Calmly drinks tea while Hlökk screams in background after 2334th death. Wouldn't make single comment.

Hlökk: SHE DOESN’T NEED JACK’S OR ANYBODY’S HELP! SHE CAN HANDLE THIS!

Raiden: He doesn’t get it at all.

Thrud: She's quite decent but has too big fingers which causing problems.

Qin: The poor guy literally kills himself because of the damage he inflicts on his opponents.

Alvitr: She screams at Qin.

Brunhilde: When she watches someone she gives good advices and solid support, but the moment she tries to play herself, can’t do anything. Swears louder than Leonidas.

Tesla: He's fascinated by it, but doesn't spend more than 10 minutes on it.

Buddha: He eats sweets while watching others. Doesn’t share. Mocks. 2/10 viewer.

Hajun: He doesn't play the game. He does destroy television. Because of the reasons.

Zerofuku: Why would he hurt anyone?

126 notes · View notes

deathmetalunicorn1 · 1 year ago

Note

hi can i ask/request a x male reader who is like luffy?like from power's and behavior

they somehow got in to valhalla like they got accidentally teleported to valhalla and so after a while all of the gods and humans adopted him as a little Brother or son (this was Before Ragnarok]

they also don't know he has rubber powers and so when Ragnarok came around M!y/n decide to also join much to his adoptive families dismay.

but what made them more concerned is that M!y/n wanted to fight with out a Valkyrie.(by the way M!y/n's opponent would be like kaido)

and so when his fight was about to start all of his adopted family was watching very concerned as well as wanting to stop the fight before it even happens as you don't have a Valkyrie.

and so imagine there's surprise seeing you rubber power's as well as using your Armament, Observation, and Conqueror's. haki during your fight.

they're fight would play out the same as the anime/Manga (like everything from the scene of them splitting the sky to kaido turning to a giant dragon ect.)

and so when m!y/n fell unconscious when i tell you all of his adoptive family wanted to run in the arena and get him out of there.

but all of the suddenly they hear Drums?.all of them look at m!y/n seeing smoke or something covering him all of the sudden a Bust of energy in golp's the arena seeing that M!y/n had took the from of nika a powerful sun god that Disappeared centuries ago

after that the fight will continue to be like in the anime amd of course m!y/n won of course

and so how would his adoptive family react?,

for the gods i would like to see:

•Poseidon

•Apollo

•hades

for the humans i would like to see:

•qin shi Huang

•Nikola Tesla

and Leonidas.

-It had all started with an accident, one that brought you from your world to this new world, Valhalla. It was a paradise- no shortages of food so you were able to eat as much as you wanted for every meal, including snacks!

-While a bit disturbed at your monstrous appetite, those who found you- your new adoptive family, found themselves endeared to you- you were funny, loyal, and just a bright ray of sunshine!

-You loved this new world, despite missing your friends, as you learned that you would be unable to return back to your original world- as the way you came was a one-way ticket.

-Since you had so much fun playing there was no reason to fight, so none of them knew of your abilities.

-However, Ragnarok changed everything.

-You immediately signed up and you told Brunnhilde that you didn’t want a Valkyrie partner, you were going to fight by yourself.

-When your family saw you run out, many were panicking, some scared, some yelling at you- calling you an idiot and to get out of the arena but like normal, you just beamed brightly- not bothered in the slightest.

-Your opponent was massive- you would have strained your neck looking up at him had you not been made of rubber, but you grinned- he looked strong!!

-Your family, terrified for you- seeing that you had no weapon- no Valkyrie, but were quickly all gawking with awe, seeing you easily leap into the sky, stretching your body as if you were made of rubber!

-Even Brunnhilde was gawking- she had no idea you could do that!!

-Using your Haki, covering your body with Armarant Haki, you turned yourself into a weapon, “Gum-Gum Gatling!!” throwing a barrage of punches.

-Humanity was cheering loudly for you- watching you bounce around, hyping you up as you were having fun- that is until you got rocked, being sent hard into the ground, creating a crater.

-You weren’t moving and several members of your family, seeing you as a brother or a son, screamed out your name, several going in to stop the fight.

-Suddenly, everyone froze, hearing drums that seemed to be getting louder and louder, coming in faster and faster. Even your opponent had stopped, sensing something dangerous as white smoke came from your mouth, then other parts of your body.

-Warriors- gods and humans alike, immediately all flinched back, feeling the rush of energy escape you as your form changed, your hair turning white and fluffy.

-Your opponent went to charge and you stunned all by being able to move faster than before, hitting him with a well-placed punch- sending him flying back into the arena wall.

-The drums seemed to crescendo, reaching the loudest as the smoke finally cleared and everyone’s eyes went wide- seeing you standing there, a huge grin on your face, looking like you had not just gotten your ass kicked.

-It was like you became a god yourself, your power- your inability to warp reality- almost like you were a cartoon and anything you interacted with was a cartoon- it was so strange!

-His eyelid twitched, watching this one sided fight, now flipped from before, as your opponent was now on the defensive. He had no idea you were so powerful- but you looked so comical at the same time. However, seeing that you were safe, he did calm, no longer feeling afraid that he was going to lose you. However, you were going to get such an earful from him later- how could you hide something like this from him?!

-Poseidon, Hades, and Leonidas

-Was wide-eyed, watching with large, sparkly eyes- you were amazing!! Watching you fight was one thing- and he was so scared watching you get hurt. And when you seemed to be dead- he felt like he couldn’t breathe, unshed tears in his eyes- he just met you- he didn’t want to say goodbye already! As you came back, even more powerful than before, he could only gawk- he had never seen anything like that before- it was amazing!! He couldn’t wait for you to get backstage- he had so many questions for you!

-Apollo, QSH, Nikola

#record of ragnarok #ror x reader #ror poseidon #ror hades #ror leonidas #ror qin shi huang #ror apollo #ror nikola tesla

148 notes · View notes

theaddictedwatcher · 3 months ago

Text

Hello everyone!

We're meeting again today to talk about a show that's very different from the ones I'm used to reviewing, but more importantly, different from the ones I'm used to watching, so I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity you've given me and for choosing it in the poll on Instagram (@theaddictedwatcherrewiews) last Saturday. The series I'm about to tell you about is an adaptation of Daniel P. Mannix's 1958 book of the same name, which was re-released in 2001 as The Way of the Gladiator. The book is said to have inspired David Franzoni's screenplay for Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000). The series' release on Prime Video at the end of July this year could also suggest that it is paving the way for the release of the film Gladiator 2, scheduled for November 2024. As some of you may have guessed, I'm going to tell you about Those About To Die.

And as usual, a short synopsis : Rome, year 79, a few years after the death of Princeps Senatus Nero. The population is tired and bored. Some are starving, mainly because of the slow arrival of grain from Egypt. The ageing princeps Vespasian, who had initiated the construction of the Flavian amphitheatre, tried to distract and entertain the people with gladiatorial fights and chariot races. All this kept many people busy behind the scenes, providing a real 'spectacle' for the people. The new amphitheatre also provoked jealousy among the Roman elite, who resented Vespasian's desire to share the site with the people. Vespasian also had to deal with the rivalry between his two sons, Titus and Domitian. Against this backdrop, we follow the fate of Tenax, a man who starts from nothing and tries to reach the upper echelons of Roman society. Along the way, he crosses paths with Cala, a mother who has come from Numidia to recover her three children, who have been forced into slavery and transported to Rome. And now a short technical presentation: - Created by : Robert Rodat - Music by : Andrea Farri - Starring: Iwan Rheon, Sara Martins, Tom Hughes, Jojo Macari, Moe Hashim, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Rupert Penry-Jones, Gabriella Pession, Dimitri Leonidas, Emilio Sakraya, David Wurawa, Pepe Barroso, Gonçalo Almeida, Eneko Sagardoy, Lara Wolf, Anthony Hopkins.

As I said at the beginning of this article, this series is an adaptation of the novel Those About to Die by Daniel P. Mannix (1958, reprinted 2001) by Robert Rodat, the man behind films such as Saving Private Ryan (1998) and the Falling Skies series (2011), both directed and produced by Steven Spielberg.

In this work, which takes the form of a peplum, we find many of the codes found in other well-known productions such as the films Gladiator (2000), Spartacus (1960) and Ben-Hur (1959), as well as the series Rome (2005) and Spartacus (2010), to name but a few. The title of the work is a direct reference to the Latin salute given to the princeps during the games: Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant, which translates into English as 'Hail Caesar, those who are about to die salute you'. It's a quotation that is used almost systematically in all types of works dealing with gladiatorial fights, chariot races and, more generally, the Roman arenas, as in the comic strip Asterix Gladiator by Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny (album published in 1964).

But let's stop for a moment. What is a peplum? The Latin name peplum is derived from the ancient Greek word péplos, meaning 'cloth used to cover the body to make a toga'. Since the twentieth century, it has been used to describe a genre of historical fiction films set in antiquity, particularly ancient Rome, ancient Greece and ancient Egypt. There are also biblical epics based on the Old or New Testaments. Its place in the history of cinema is proof of its importance. At once noble - because it deals with history and religion and uses authors such as Homer (The Iliad, The Odyssey) or Gustave Flaubert (Salammbô) - and vulgar, because it exploits violence and eroticism, the ancient genre is associated with epic, comedy, fantasy and even the miraculous through its use of various mythologies. The basic recipe for the American peplum was laid down by Cecil B. DeMille: a handsome hero, preferably muscular, a beautiful heroine, spectacular action (orgies, battles), lavish sets and costumes.

Now that we've looked at the genre, let's take a brief historical look at the characters and the various themes.

BACKGROUND

Before we begin, this section will probably contain some historical spoilers about some of the main characters, but you need to know a little history to understand what's at stake.

Although the series begins in 79 AD, under the reign of Princeps Vespasian, we need to go back a little to understand the socio-political context of the time.

Before Vespasian

After the death of Nero in 68, the Roman Empire plunged into civil war, known as the Year of the Four Emperors, and power was hotly contested, leading to a highly unstable political situation. While the usurper Vitellius took power during 69, the Roman legions in Egypt and Judea declared Vespasian emperor on 1 July 69. He marched on Rome with his larger legions and defeated Vitellius, ending the civil war and becoming the first representative of the new Flavian dynasty.

Princeps Vespasian - played in the series by Anthony Hopkins

On 20 December 69, it was announced that Vespasian had triumphed over Vitellius, and his appointment was confirmed by the Senate the following day. Vespasian's reign was marked by a series of financial reforms and ambitious building projects. His most famous project was the Colosseum, an amphitheatre the size of which had never been equalled. Through his delegate Agricola, Vespasian also pursued the conquest of Britain.

Vespasian was the first Roman princeps to come from a family of the equestrian order (the order that followed the senatorial order in the hierarchy of classes), and was also the first Roman princeps to be succeeded by his natural son, Titus, on his death in 79. His military career was the source of his fame (Roman conquest of Britain in 43, Roman domination of Judea - modern Israel and Palestine - during the Jewish revolt of 66).

Princeps Titus - played in the series by Tom Hughes

The son of Vespasian, Titus reigned from 79 to 81. Initially serving under his father, he rose to prominence as a military commander during the First Jewish-Roman War. Titus aroused the suspicion of the Romans when Vespasian became princeps, not only because of his status as prefect of the Praetorian Guard, but also because of his relationship with Princess Berenice of Judaea. Despite several breaches of Roman morality, Titus became increasingly popular after Vespasian's death in 79.

His reign, though short, was marked by a series of disasters. Having just come to power, Titus had to deal with the aftermath of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and distinguished himself by his great generosity towards the victims. The following year he had to deal with a fire that ravaged Rome just as the construction of the Colosseum was nearing completion. Finally, he personally intervened to help the victims of a plague epidemic that killed thousands in the city. Considered a good princeps by ancient historians, he died of a violent fever on 13 September 81.

Princeps Domitian - played in the series by Jojo Macari

The youngest son of Vespasian, Domitian succeeded his older brother Titus as Princeps from 81 until his death in 96. He was the third and last of the Flavian dynasty. As Princeps, Domitian strengthened the economy by revaluing the Roman currency, reorganised the frontier defences and embarked on an ambitious building programme in Rome (including the construction of the Arch of Titus in honour of his brother). His foreign policy was marked by Agricola's campaigns in Britain and the wars against the Germans and the Dacians.

He is also remembered for expelling from Rome the philosophers who, by spreading their ideologies, were creating opponents of the regime. Domitian's government, and in particular his policy of centurionism, showed many signs of despotism. Indeed, he saw it as his destiny to lead the Roman people into a new golden age. This image was conveyed through propaganda developed on religious, military and cultural levels. In fact, Domitian was popular with the people and the army, but he was considered a tyrant by the senators, to whom he had left only vestiges of power. Domitian's reign ended in 96 when he was assassinated by members of the court. After his death, like Nero, he was condemned by the Senate to abolitio nominis ('suppression of the name'; the modern equivalent would be damnatio memoriae, which literally means 'condemnation to oblivion' but was not coined until 1689), and Latin historians such as Tacitus and Pliny the Younger published versions of Roman history in which he was described as a cruel and paranoid tyrant. Since then, modern historians have rehabilitated his reign, whose political, economic and cultural programmes helped usher in a flourishing era for the Roman Empire.

Berenice of Judea - played in the series by Lara Wolf

Berenice, also known as Julia Berenice, born around 28 BC, was one of the daughters of King Agrippa I. She was a descendant of the Herodian dynasty, being the great-granddaughter of Herod I of Judea. She was a descendant of the Herodian dynasty, being the great-granddaughter of Herod I of Judaea, known as Herod the Great.

She was married for the first time at a very young age. After this first marriage, Berenice spent some time in Alexandria until her husband's death. While still a young girl, she remarried her uncle, Herod V, King of Chalcis (south-eastern Roman Syria), with whom she had two sons. Widowed again around 48 AD, she married for the third time to Marcus Antonius Polemo II, the client king of Cilicia (in modern Turkey), whom she left to return to her brother Agrippa II in Jerusalem. At his side, she performed the duties of queen, a status that was recognised even though no wife of Agrippa is mentioned in ancient sources.

She became the mistress of Titus, the eldest son of Vespasian, while he was in command of some legions trying to crush all resistance in Galilee (northern Israel) between 67 and 68. Their relationship continued while Titus crushed the Jewish revolt of 66-70, known as the Great Jewish Revolt or the First Jewish-Roman War. Titus returned to Rome to witness his triumph (late 70s) and to help his father. Berenice joined him around 75. Because of negative rumours about the affair, he sent her back to her brother in Jerusalem when he became Princeps in 79.

The charioteer Scorpius - played in the series by Dimitri Leonidas

Flavius Scorpus, also known as Scorpius, was a famous charioteer in Roman times who lived at the end of the first century AD. Scorpus amassed 2,048 victories (that's almost 10 chariot races a week).

As one of the most famous chariot drivers in Roman history, Scorpus earned extraordinary sums of money; his income exceeded that of professional Roman sponsors.

Geographical context

A number of places are used in the series, and some of them have changed names over the course of the story, so here's a short list so that everyone knows where we're talking about:

Some of the characters are from Numidia, which now would be Algeria and part of Libya.

Berenice is from Judea, the kingdom that included Israel, Palestine and part of the modern West Bank.

CASTING

I'm not going to beat around the bush so I'll be quite honest about my feelings. This is just for me, and you are free, of course, to have a different opinion.

One of the main reasons that made me want to watch this series, apart from the subject matter, was the presence in the cast of Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs, Elephant Man, Dracula, One Life) and Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones, Misfits, Inhumans). The former, used to very charismatic roles, plays a Roman Princeps, so the casting could hardly have been more dreamy. As for the latter, whom many of you, like me, discovered in Game of Thrones, he plays Tenax, a secret crime boss and owner of the biggest betting tavern in Rome. It's a new role, full of duplicity and manipulation, and I was curious to see how it would differ from his role as Ramsay Bolton. So why not give it a go?

With the exception of them both, the entire cast was unknown to me, at least by name, and sadly I think for many of them, this isn't the show that will showcase their talents. And I'm not necessarily talking about a lack of talent, although some of the performances leave something to be desired, but I'm mainly talking about visibility. The show is packed with so many characters that the main cast of the show is also immense, and the distribution of screen time between each of them leaves them with only meagre moments of appearance per episode.

For my taste, the interpretations of certain characters are either too caricatured or too effete, and this gives the whole thing an unpleasant lack of harmony. In fact, when you go from a very intense scene full of political stakes to a scene of discussion between two pages (this is just an example, but I think it's representative enough), the emotion created by the first disappears and, with it, a large part of the viewer's attention as well.

However, I have to admit that I discovered some talented actors that I didn't know and who deserve to be seen more. I'm thinking in particular of Jojo Macari (Morbius, Sex Education, Harlots), who gives a brilliant performance as the ambitious and manipulative Domitian Flavius, the youngest son of Princeps Vespasian, and also as Aedile Ludi, the person who organises the gladiator fights and chariot races in Rome.

But I'm also talking about Sara Martins (Les Petits Mouchoirs, Petits Meurtres au Paradis, Alexandra Ehle), a French actress who plays Cala, a Numidian merchant and mother of three children - Kwame, Aura and Jula - who does everything she can to free them from the clutches of the Romans.

They're not the only two, of course, but their performances and complex characters contributed greatly in making me want to watch beyond the first episode.

Although the characters played by Anthony Hopkins and Iwan Rheon are both very interesting and their stories could be explored in greater depth. Their presence in the cast isn't enough to make up for the lack of material in the script. It's a flaw I've already mentioned, and I'll come back to it later in the article.

However, I would like to pay tribute to the work of the actors/stuntmen in the race scenes and the arena fights.

THEMES

There are several important themes in the series, and although they are not always tackled with sufficient depth or with a fresh eye, I won't list them all here as it would take far too long. Themes inherent to the genre such as politics, rivalry, but also slavery and arena fights as entertainment are all part of it.

However, I can't help but mention one of the key themes of the genre, and of historical works in general: the exploitation of sex. It's an interesting topic, not only because of the importance of understanding the sexuality of the characters, but also because of their sexualisation. In many works of this kind, when male homosexuality is depicted, it's not so much to show relationships between men as to show the decadence of Rome, whether through fascination or moral condemnation. While male homosexuality is suggested and (self-)censored, this is not the case with female relationships, which are instead shown with voyeuristic force to satisfy a male audience, as in Sapho, Venus of Lesbos (1960) or Sodom and Gomorrah (1962). When the characters are explicitly lesbian, they are portrayed as hating men, and it wasn't until Xena the Warrior in the 1990s that on-screen sapphism was appreciated and reclaimed by lesbian culture.

What I like about the show is that although there are - far too many - carnal relationships between numerous characters, they are mostly brief and often censored by a frame or a well-placed sheet. Sexual vulgarity in the primary sense is not necessary to understand the stakes of the story and therefore doesn't need to take up so much space. However, it is notable that the majority of relationships between characters of opposite sexes almost systematically involve some form of sexual relationship or exploitation, which prevents the creation of the slightest connection between the two genders portrayed.

Another important theme is rivalry, especially political rivalry. Whether it's the relationship between Titus and Domitian as they fight over who will inherit the title of Princeps, the factions trying to seize power from the Flavian dynasty, or the relationship between Roman rulers and their provinces - in this case Numidia and Judea - political rivalry abounds. And yet, for most of the season, I got the impression that none of this was more important to the characters than their choice of dinner.As I said in the casting section, the sheer number of characters leaves too little room for each plot to develop, which is a shame because politics is one of the two main themes of the series. In fact, that's why I was considering watching this series in the first place: to better understand the political stakes behind the Circus Maximus games and, more broadly, to better discover the era of ancient Rome. But here the relationships remain superficial, predictable and therefore, for the most part, rather boring. Nevertheless, as Roland Emmerich himself said when the trailer for the series was released, "So much of it seems relevant in today's society, from the intertwining of politics and sport to the disciplines of the games, which haven't changed much in the last 2,000 years. The most electrifying spectacles for the general public still involve two men in an arena fighting each other, and today's chariots are called racing cars, whose drivers still have accidents and often pay with their lives". And I quite agree, if you look at the dirty tricks played by our politicians - anywhere in the world - the way celebrities are stripped naked as if they were gods, certain aspects of life back then are easily transferable to our times.

Finally, the approach to slavery with Cala's family remains, in my opinion, one of the rare successes of the series. Although certain events remain unlikely for the period, the recruitment of her children into the service of the Roman Empire and their sale into slavery remains plausible. I particularly appreciated the writing of Cala's character, who, as a visibly single and black mother, knows how to use these two characteristics to her advantage in order to manipulate her environment and try to free her children.

She's a strong, determined woman; she doesn't back down until she gets her way, and for once I find it refreshing to see not only a woman fighting to save her family, but to see slaves in a position of strength, all proclivities aside, of course. Speaking about the series, actress Sara Martins - who plays Cala - says: "Narratively, it's a side of Rome we've hardly seen. It's not just about the rich, the patricians, the ruling family and their opponents. It's also about all the workers, the slaves, the wealthy… everything that's behind the curtains of a city like Rome, like all the slaves who built those beautiful buildings. It shows life in Rome at that time and on all social levels". And I agree that through her character's and other's journey, the show gives us a glimpse of that, and it's enjoyable.

PRODUCTION

With a budget of over $150 million for a ten-episode first season, the series marks the first venture into television for German filmmaker Roland Emmerich, known for his disaster films such as Independence Day (1996), Godzilla (1998), The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and 2012 (2009).

Along with Marco Kreuzpaintner (Trade, The Collini Case, The Lazarus Project), with whom he had worked several times in the past, Roland Emmerich had already been commissioned by the American network Peacock back in July 2022. The script was to be written by Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan, Thor: The Dark World, Kursk), with whom Roland Emmerich had already worked in 2000 on The Patriot.

But apart from the very ambitious technical aspect, which I'll come back to shortly, the production made a few mistakes which, in my opinion, are very detrimental to the series.

Firstly, the show jumps straight into the action without taking the time to set context, which is very important. The only introduction we get is a short monologue by Iwan Rheon's character, Tenax, who briefly explains how the circus games work and his role in them. As a result, viewers who aren't historians specializing in Ancient Rome - which is frighteningly specific in itself - will lack many of the elements needed to even understand who half of the main characters are and what's at stake politically in the series.

Secondly, the terminology is sometimes historically incorrect, although this may be done to help the viewer understand certain elements. For example, when talking about Andalusian horses, they should have said that they were horses from the Betic region, as it is incorrect to speak of the region of Andalusia 700 years before its creation. In fact, "Al Andalus" - which gave Andalusia its name - originated with the Arab invasions of Spain in the 7th century. At the time of the series, it would have been more accurate to speak of horses from Betica, a region created during the reign of Augustus [63 B.C. - 14 A.D.] by the division of Hispania Ulterior, which at that time covered the south of what is now Spain and roughly corresponded to present-day Andalusia. Its name derives from the Latin name of the Guadalquivir River, Baetis.

Finally, and this is perhaps the thing that annoyed me the most, but I've already mentioned it, is the over-numbering of characters, which drowns out the stories of all the characters, doesn't really bring anyone into the spotlight and loses its own purpose in random, superficial scenes.

Book adaptation

I won't go into too much detail on this, as I haven't read the book, but from what I've been able to skim through and understand from the various analyses of it, Daniel P. Mannix's work seems to cover several centuries of Roman history, and not just the principate of the Flavian dynasty, which may make it a more complete and complex work than the adaptation suggests. Indeed, on the very first page of the book, a single sentence briefly introduces the primary context in which the novel begins, as we are told:

"The situation here is out of control. The emperor is mad, the army is on the verge of mutiny, and the people are dying of hunger. For God's sake, get the sand! We must take their minds off their troubles! - Daniel P. Mannix, Those About to Die, Reed. 2024, p.7.

This only reinforces my feeling that the TV adaptation lacks a crucial introduction to the situation.

SPECIAL EFFECTS

I'd like to delve for a moment on the visual aspect of the series.

The series was filmed at the iconic Cinecittà Studios in Rome. This is one of the largest film studios in Europe and was originally a propaganda machine for Benito Mussolini's fascist government. It has been in operation for almost a century and has been used as the backdrop for classic productions such as Roman Holiday (1953), Ben-Hur (1959) and Cleopatra (1963). In fact, the site has become so popular with American film-makers that it has become known as 'Hollywood on the Tiber'.

The fact that the cast and crew of Those About to Die were able to film in the city where their story was set allowed the show's creators not only to shoot in the Eternal City, but also to immerse themselves in its history while telling a fictionalised version of real events.

"We shot the series in Rome and we're surrounded by buildings built by these emperors. You are constantly surrounded by their legacy. So you can read as much as you want and research as much as you want. But when you go into Domitian's bedroom, which is still on the Palatine Hill, there is nothing like it." said Jojo Macari who plays Domitian.

Of course, the production couldn't necessarily film in the actual bedrooms of Roman statesmen, so ancient Rome had to be recreated through sets and visual effects. The sets for the series were designed by co-production designer Laura Pozzaglio, a native of Italy, who was inspired by archaeological discoveries made in a number of important Italian cities, including Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Ercolano and Oplontis. Together with Johannes Muecke - the production's co-designer - and the production team, they worked with a number of museums to reproduce certain objects for the props. A team of sculptors also reproduced statues from the period and carpenters reproduced furniture they had seen in Pompeii or in history books explained Laura Pozzaglio in the production notes, underlining the effort made to achieve precision.

What could not be achieved in practice was left to visual effects supervisor Peter Travers, who used the Volume LED video wall technology pioneered by The Mandalorian. He explained that the digital wall used was huge: around 51 metres in circumference and eight metres high. It's made up of LED panels and can be stretched infinitely, so even the smallest conversation scenes could have the Colosseum or the skyline of ancient Rome in the background, giving the actors the impression of living in ancient Rome.

And it's true that although the sets - be it the various patrician residences or the outdoor settings such as the Basilica of Julia or the Temple of Vesta - are grandiose in their excess, there's a big problem with the lighting in many scenes. This problem of light contrast is very present throughout the season, and as a result we sometimes can't see what's going on or even the physical reactions of the characters.

There are also problems with the use of special effects. The green screens are sometimes visible in some of the distant shots - particularly the aerial shots of the city at the beginning of the series. And I'll just mention the CGI of the lions, which is absolutely terrible.

However, I must admit that most of the cinematography of the chariot races and gladiatorial fights - particularly in the last two episodes of the season - is quite beautiful, and the photography of the scenes in the Circus Maximus is reminiscent of works such as Ben-Hur. I also think that the athletic realism of the chariot races is due to the fact that the horses were real animals and the races were not digitised. Of course, they were choreographed and stuntmen were hired for the most dangerous scenes, but the actors, including Dimitri Leonidas - who plays the charioteer Scorpus - had to learn to drive a real chariot pulled by real horses. Of this experience, he said :

"Learning the several stages [of racing] before they let us get onto chariots and practice with the chariots was a lot of fun. And then finally when the stunt guys let us on the four-horse chariots to try and learn, the feeling is just incredible. There's nothing like it. Four giant Hungarian horses going all out. It's like riding an earthquake. It's hard to describe, to be honest. All I can say is those guys that do it, the stunt guys and then the guys like Scorpus who actually raced, you'd have to be insane. It's completely bonkers what they're doing. [...] I didn't go that fast except for one moment where we were sort of training and the horses decided they wanted to race and I just got dragged along. There's a great photo, actually, one of our set photographers took just as the horses went, and you can see me and one of the other actors just trying our best to stop them as we hit the turn on Circus Maximus. And he said to me that he stopped taking photos because he thought something bad was going to happen. To be fair, I was on the chariot and I thought something bad was going to happen. But that's why you do all that training. You have to just train as much as you can, hope that everything goes smoothly, but then trust that if something does go wrong, you know the protocols and you know how to make it safe. But I'm glad I got to experience it because that was the only time really that I got to feel them go full pelt was when I wasn't expecting it. And it's wild. It's completely wild. And gave me a newfound sort of respect for Scorpus and all those guys that were doing it." - Dimitri Leonidas in an interview for NBC on July 12th, 2024.

The colouring of the series is also of high quality. They make up for a lot of empty moments in the plot by captivating the viewer's eye with grandiose imagery, which, combined with the spectacular sets and opulent costumes, is one of the show's few strengths in my opinion.

COSTUMES

My penultimate stop is the costumes! This is one of the great strengths of the series, and one that I have no criticism for: the costumes in this series are breathtaking! Under the supervision of Gianni Casalnuovo as head costume designer, not only the characters' outfits, but also the armours are of the highest quality. With the help of costume supplier Peris Costumes - which is based in Spain but also has a branch in Rome - the production team had access to rare, high-quality pieces that were tailored to fit the needs of the show. No stranger to film and television sets, Peris Costumes has also worked on projects such as Gladiator II and House of the Dragon. Together they have created a costume collection that faithfully reflects the opulence and grandeur of the great age of Rome.

The only downside would be the blood splatters, prosthetics of severed limbs and gashes in the gladiators' flesh which at times look crude, but in the heat of the action are almost negligible details.

MUSIC

The soundtrack of the series, composed by Andrea Farri, is quite interesting and epic enough to seduce the viewer. However, if you listen to the music outside of the episodes, you won't always be reminded of ancient Rome. Nevertheless, the violin and cello compositions are very beautiful and will appeal to music lovers, even if they do not match the instruments of the time, as the violin and cello were only invented in the 16th century.

What's more, the work on the show's theme music - which depicts rivers of blood running down the streets of Rome and its emblematic monuments - is reminiscent of many of the show's themes in recent years: Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, Westworld and more. Set to music by Woodkid, the epic status announced by the show's synopsis is truly palpable.

CONCLUSION

Despite having called on some big names for this series, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. While the superb costumes and some of the sets may appeal, the lack of any real depth to the story leaves room for the clichés of the genre, which have already been exploited far too often. Even the presence of Anthony Hopkins isn't enough to restore the reputation of this epic, which is fantastic in name only…

I won't go through the whole review again, I think it's self-explanatory enough for you to understand that this series was a big disappointment for me. Although peplums are far from my favourite genre, I was looking forward to another chance to be proved wrong, to learn more about an era I know so little about, and what's more with Anthony Hopkins and Iwan Rheon in the cast! Well, what I'll take away from this is yet another disappointment that has the bitter taste of time wasted…

I was expecting the exploitation of the games to highlight the political issues of the time and this is partly achieved. However, I think they could have emphasised the politics and toned down the sexualisation of the characters. Perhaps this is due to the period chosen, which is not the most eventful in history? Perhaps another period of the Roman Empire would have been more suitable for a series?

So I won't be going to the cinema today to see the next Gladiator, and I almost hope that Amazon doesn't renew this series, because there's nothing really at stake in this dull story. It would save everyone time and money… If they do decide to renew it, maybe they'll choose to do a temporal ellipse and focus on a period where the stakes are potentially higher. They had the opportunity to diversify and innovate with the peplum genre and, in the end, they chose to stick with the outdated clichés it's full of. Hopefully this is a mistake they won't make again if the show is renewed for a second series.

That's all I have to say about Those About to Die. I hope that those who have made this choice will still be curious enough to give it a try, if only to see for themselves. Maybe you won't be as picky as I am?

I'd like to give a special thanks to my partner, who watches all these series with me. She proofreads each article, supports me and, especially for this one, was my historical advisor, as this is her field of study.

Until the next article, I hope you enjoy your viewing, have a great week and see you soon on Instagram (@theaddictedwatcherreviews) to choose the next article!

Eli

11 notes · View notes