#possibly a germanic demigod

[catsconflictscopicsandchamomile]

MARMALADE <3 <3 <3

also wow, "everyone thinks she's pregnant but she's just planning to get a kitten" is so WEIRDLY relevant to my own Baffling Archetypal-Mythology-Based Modern Fantasy Apocalyptic Longterm Story-In-Progress (not GO fanfic to b clear. not remotely)

Hey Neil 1. Why You don't post about Good Omens 2 content on instegram?

2. Will we really get a relatively more romantic relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale in season 2?

P.S : Since the trailer for season 2 came out, I'm seriously obsessed, I'm in my Good Omens area all over again. Thank you neil

1) The writers strike.

2) there will be a number of extremely romantic scenes with both Aziraphale and Crowley in them. There will be a flashback to the scenes where they both met their wives, there will be a hilarious and yet moving scene when both of them are on their honeymoons at the same time in the same little French town, during the annual marmalade convention. And there will be a very moving scene when Dottie thinks that Sadie is pregnant but actually Sadie is planning to get a kitten. Hilarity ensues.

[alatismeni-theitsa]

There are many things I will never forgive Rick Riordan for but the number 1 (one) thing I will always hold against him is how he treated WWII in the entire series.

To quote the PJO wiki, "[...] World War II, in the books, is described to be a huge fight between the children of Zeus and Poseidon on one side and the children of Hades on the other.

The events of World War II resulted in the pact of the Big Three, because their children were affecting the course of history too much. It was decided more demigod children would be dangerous for the mortal world."

Just. What the fuck. There are so many things that are wrong with this.

There is nothing that he can do to excuse or salvage this. He could rewrite the whole series, I don't give a fuck. This should not have happened in the first place.

I don't care if he wrote the first book in 2005, he was and still is a grown ass man with a high education from what I've read, he has no excuse. WWII has affected millions across the globe with the descendants of all too many families even having to deal with the generational trauma that came from that time period alone AND dealing with heavy deniers of the many atrocities and war crimes that were committed whilst their grandparents and great-grandparents are having hallucinations of all of their traumatic experiences (can you tell i'm speaking from experience?).

Ironically he holds (Ancient) Greece on such a high pedestal, calling it the birthplace of Western Civilisation (it isn't), and yet you can tell he obviously knows very little about the damn country whose culture he's been appropreating for almost two decades now. Making Hades the father of 3 (three) terrible war criminals in the war that, you know, Greece had been and still is greatly affected by to this day. Which is, you know, his fucking home. That he and all the other characters supposedly care about oh so much (I have so many bottled-up negative emotions about these books and absolutely no safe space to let them out, theitsa, you have no idea).

You may think I'm overreacting or taking this too seriously but I honestly couldn't care less. This is not a topic you can just joke about or treat light-heartedly. Yes, it was mentioned as an atrocity in the books, but it was still mainly treated as just "Hehe silly fight between gods! Secret History ooo!~".

Simply saying that WWII was bad is not enough, Rick, it's actually the bare minimum. You need to show it at the very least some respect by not undermining its consequences to simply "This is why we don't have kids anymore!". But you're obviously not ready to hear that yet. It still baffles me that his fans are just now discovering he is not the saint they thought he was. "How could he be a zionist ??" they all ask in unison, meanwhile the signs were all there since 2005 (at the very least).

Anyway, you don't have to answer this ask if you don't feel like it, I understand it can possibly be overwhelming. You're the first person I've seen that's actually not afraid to point out Rick's bullshit despite initially liking his books, and also the fact that you are a Greek educating people on actual Greek culture, so I felt safe sharing my thoughts with you. Thank you for your time! Καλές γιορτές! 💕

You're overreacting, especially when it comes to the World Wars! In ww2 1 in 10 Greeks died in the famine, and almost everyone I know had someone in their family executed or tortured by the Germans/Bulgarians/Italians triple occupation (not to mention getting hurt or killed in battle). These situations traumatized generations of Greeks, but Rick had the immense privilege of not considering this while writing! He treated the wars like they were play-dough for his little cutsy lore, he made our arch-enemies the children of our gods, and he can go to hell for this.

I am here for all the righteous Greek αλάτι, so if you have more thoughts, bring it on!

[loganslowdown4]

Celebrating The 1 Year Anniversary of My Roommate Is Hades! PART 4!!

Theories: From Episodes 1 & 2!

It wouldn’t surprise me if Homer finds out he’s a Demigod or the descendant of a god later on in the series. If the gods exists, that means demigods, monsters, fates, etc all exist in this world too—

Why would the god who sent Hades to earth involve all the gods? And why? Hades so far seems to be the only one having a hard time of it, the rest either seem to be going with the flow or seeing this as a minor setback. I don’t think the god responsible is Zeus. He may like to shame the others, but his ego would not also put him stuck as a human too.

Likely suspects are more Persephone, Demeter, Apollo, or Hera— they all seem to have more of a vengeance streak when it comes to their stories—

Also Zeus being the head of a frat so funny, the Greek letters are probably Alpha Alpha Alpha or some bullshit like that—

Episode 3 they were saying that they were headed out to the track/athletic field. I suspect that means we will be meeting either Zeus, Apollo, Artemis and/or Heracles in the next ep—

Matthessy = Odyssey (took me a while to make that connection but this is Homer’s Odyssey)

I have a theory about outfits as well. So far we’ve seen that each god wears a shade of red. If we meet gods that aren’t wearing red, it could be a hint of them lying/withholding info later down the road—

There will definitely be more ghosts that Hades calls up: possibly more inventors, athletes, artists, teachers, etc. I’m going to call out Albert Einstein as one of them lol who knows but it’s a guess—

There might be mention of Hades’ Roman counterpart and they might make a joke about how Pluto isn’t a planet anymore— this one is frivolous but I think it’d be funny lol

Since Homer’s last name is Lehrer, which is German for instructor/teacher, I do believe Homer will find his calling in teaching by the end of this series and that will be the career he pursues—

If Hades offers Homer any food he should NOT EAT IT under any circumstances! This is exactly how he got Persephone to stay in the underworld. If Hades is annoyed with Homer he may just do this. It might happen later on and Homer’s trust might be betrayed—

Another thing, I do believe that Homer is also going to eventually change Hades mind about caring more about humans ending up in Tartarus. I really REALLY want The Good Place ending where they fixed the points system and people could try harder to get into heaven after death—

Finally, my last theory is that by the end of this series, the only thing that Hades will like about humanity is Homer, and Homer will win the bet because of this. I don’t think that anything Homer shows him will ever satisfy, BUT because Homer sticks with him, he will be guaranteed a place in Elysium so Hades can visit his soul whenever he wants when he goes back home. Homer giving Hades attention (possibly affection? 👀) is ultimately what I think Hades craves. If Persephone can’t, or has other interests, then possibly a human like Homer could—

Let me know any other theories you may have about this series! I’d love to read them!

Fin!

GO BACK TO PART 3 | GO BACK TO PART 1

[my-pjo-stuff]

God, I can’t believe that you prevented the tragedy of Manhattan by putting little Luke in a box and shipping him off to Germany. Astounding how easy that was. Great commentary on how fucked up USA’s (and, by extent, the god’s) system is.

But now. Without Luke in the place to initiate the rebellion, the situation all the unclaimed demigods were in would have continued for many more years. At some point, someone, perhaps the child of a minor god, would have noticed the unfairness of Olympus and would have became the new target for Kronos. Which raises the question: how would the second Titan war have gone if Luke was not Kronos’s chosen?

Idk, I’m just having thoughts 🤷‍♀️. An AU where Alabaster for example hosts Kronos could be really interesting…

Turns out that Germany can solve a lot of problems in PJO actually, who knew XD Also thanks a lot for the compliment 💖

NOW ONTO THE QUESTION : Honestly? I think that the revolt still would have started the relative same- but instead of Luke it would have been Chris starting it. I mean just think about this logically! In the books it was mentioned that Chris was with Luke from basically the very get-go. He remained unclaimed (afaik) for a good chunk of time and was among the oldest Hermes campers. He would have been the next best starting point. Later in canon he did join back up with CHB of course, but the thing is- I doubt that in this AU he would have gone on that labyrinth mission in the first place. He takes Luke's place in this AU- and Luke obviously wouldn't go around doing simple missions. Chances are that just some other, random Halfblood took over Chris' mission and was driven to madness. Otherwise..... I don't think that too much would have changed. Atleast not until TLO. I suppose some changes would have to be made with TTC, since Annabeth wouldn't have had any reason to take the sky from Chirs. That's easily remedied tho by saying that Clarisse was the one being kidnapped for the plan instead. She's also a maiden, Artemis couldn't care less whether it's Annabeth or Clarisse in that regard. Since Clarisse has a crush on Chris she'd have a reason to take the sky- she also has a strong enough will to carry it. I'm sure. From there on it would still go the relative same. Percy probably would still go off to save Clarisse- even if it's just to get Atlas taken care of. Chris would be the one to get possessed by Kronos. TLO will probably change the most though- I still assume that Luke's the Hero of the Great Prophecy for this part- which means that we somehow needs to get A)Luke from Germany to the US and B)Percy to realize that LUKE's the hero. Kronos would probably be revived later than in canon since he doesn't have Luke there. The way Kronos can come back is by a certain amount of demigods swearing loyalty to him, remember? The thing is, without Luke there as the one demigod who swore loyalty first Kronos is missing one more demigod post Ethan. Who would that demigod be? Idk and idc. What matters here is that TLO would turn to being a race against time for both Percy and Kronos. For Kronos, it's finding and getting one more demigod to join him.

For Percy it's finding the Hero of the Great Prophecy. Which is why I think that the plot of TLO would change to Percy and co. trying to find out who the acctual Hero of the Great Prophecy is.

Hestia's involvement here could possibly be pointing Percy into the right direction. Or in this case, sending the our MCs to Germany. From there on we'd probably take some time getting to know german!Luke, since this would be his first appearance. Possibly starting out with Luke being the one providing Percy and Annabeth some aid? They are two minors in a foreign country afterall where they don't understand the language or culture. In that case Luke would props have to be on leave during the plot or something, since he's in the military. Anyway, so plot happens and sooner or later people realize Luke's the Hero of the Great Prophecy. By that time probably would have run out, with Kronos finally getting his last Halfblood and taking over Chris. Enter : The Battle of Manhatten. Hestia and the gods at that point still have their own issues to deal with, so I doubt Hestia would be able to ship them around the world again. And a normal flight would take ages. So Luke decided to do something a little desperate. He throws on his military uniform, tells Annabeth to throw on her Invisibility Cap and keep quiet and follow him and Percy. He gets everyone in the car, drives up to the military basis and basically starts lying through his teeth. He tells the guards that he decided to shorten his break on a short notice, since something else came up in the future which ne needs the leave for more. Percy is Luke's nephwe, and currently doing an internship for the military. He has been assigned his caretaker for the duration of the internship. Luke being considered a prodigy and already being well respected and high up in the military, aswell as some demigod talents get the guards to let them through with an invisible Annabeth trailing after them. Putting his talents as a son of Hermes to use, Luke basically steals a military helicopter- loads both Percy and Annabeth up into it and decides to commit impromptu treason and takes off. One short prayer to Hermes later, and the trio find themselves miraculously back in Manhatten. From then on more plot happens, Luke manages to get into the fight and from there on it pretty much goes as canon again. Chris/Kronos being defeated in this could possibly come from Luke figuring out Chris' Achilles Heel by analyzing how he fights, and going for it. Getting stabbed by Kronos' scythe in the process and thus dying. Short note tho, since Luke had to throw on his uniform to steal the helicopter this means that Luke's pulling up to Manhatten wearing one of those two drips.

(Head covering and badges vary, since those are diffrent ranks than what I imagine Luke to be)

ALTERNATIVLEY

In an AU where Luke ISN'T the Hero of the Great Prophecy, I think it would honestly just switch to Percy. 'cause well.... who else? The plot would props go as everyone would have expected it to go, with Percy dying at age 16 probably also to Kronos' scythe. In that case Luke props wouldn't even rly have noticed anything going down in Manhatten.

[leo-valdez-is-my-bae]

Language

Nico x fem!reader

[i used google translate so don't come at me if it's incorrect]

Y/n sat at the dining pavilion, waiting for her best friend, Leo.

Eventually, he comes up to the table, dragging a boy in black clothes behind him. Though she hadn't officially met the son of Hades yet, she knew it was Nico di Angelo.

"Hey Y/n. Look who I brought. Y/n, this is Nico, Nico, Y/n." Leo says and sits across the table from Y/n while Nico remains standing.

The others who had already met him described him as intimidating, but Y/n didn't see it.

Leo had made it his mission to find Y/n a boyfriend.

"En serio, Leo, deja de intentar jugar al casamentero para mí." Y/n says to Leo. She had been gifted with the ability to learn a new language just by listening to someone else speak it. Being a child of Hermes and all. So she often spoke to him in Spanish. (Seriously Leo, stop trying to play matchmaker for me. And you said Nico terrifies you but he's not even scary.)

He smiles and looks down at his plate. Food appears on it and he starts to eat. Not answering Y/n.

"¿No te asusto?" Nico says in Spanish. (I don't scare you?)

You drop your fork in shock.

"Putain, tu parles espagnol." Y/n mutters in French. (Fuck, you speak Spanish.)

Nico smiles. "Je parle français aussi." (I speak French too.)

"Ich wette, du sprichist kein Deutsch." Y/n says with confidence. (I bet you don't speak German.)

Nico's smile gets smug.

"Wie veil möchten Sie wetten?" Nico asks, making Leo laugh. (How much do you want to bet?)

Y/n grunts.

"Che ni dici dell'italiano? Non puoi parlare anche I'Italiano." Y/n says in Italian, her last language. Luckily, she hasn't met many people that speak Italian so she has hope. (How about Italian? You can't possibly speak Italian too.)

Nico laughs. "Sono italiano. Hai qualcos'altro?" (I am Italian. Got anything else?)

Y/n slumps in defeat. "Sicut fundamentals Latinae et Graecae. Sed puto te etiam ista loqui." She says in Latin, which most demigods spoke. (Just the basic Latin and Greek. But I imagine you speak those too.)

Nico replies in Greek. "Loipón, that eíches díkio. Miláo kai ta dýo." (Well, you'd be correct. I speak both.)

Y/n moans in frustration. She won't be able to speak without anyone knowing what she's saying when Nico's around.

"Well, I'll see you guys. I'm gonna go. Good luck with the matchmaking!" Nico says in English and leaves.

Y/n glares daggers at Leo, who's smiling at her. "You knew what you were doing."

"You made him laugh! He doesn't laugh. Ever." Leo said, ignoring her.

"You knew he could understand what I said!"

"AND MY PLAN WORKED!" Leo celebrates.

[druidicentropy]

*Pria

*Pria was a possible Proto-Indo-European goddess associated with beauty, love, sex, and possibly war; she played a role akin to that of Aphrodite, Venus, and Freyja.

*Pria's parents are unknown in the PIE cosmogony, but based on her descendants, Dyēus or Wérunos could be her father.

It is possible that *Pria would be a daughter of Dyđus since in Homer's Teogony, Aphrodite was born from the union of a god (Zeus) and a goddess (Dione).

However, according to the Hesiod cosmogony, Aphrodite was the daughter of Uranus's blood. Ahura Mazda, who the Greeks identified with Aphrodite. created the Zoroastrian goddess Anahita, an ahura. Interestingly, both Ahura Mazda and Uranus have their roots in the proto-Indo-European nigth god Wérunos. In this instance, a potential variant of the proto-Indo-European myth might also regard *Pria as Wérunos' daughter.

*Pria most likely had Martus, the Indo-European God of War, and Dyēus as consorts, using the Greek Aphrodite and the Roman Venus.

However, according to zoroastrianism, Anahita is Mithra's consort; therefore, it's possible that *Pria had a solar deity as her consort.

*Pria's Greek and Roman ancestry suggests that she might be the mother of an hypothetical, unreconstructible love god who predates both Eros and Cupid. Her masculine Norse ancestry further supports this theory. A potential ancestor of Fjolnir, a demigod, may have been mothered by Freyr *PriHyéh₂.

Aphrodite was depicted in Sparta with classical Spartan weapons, and Freyja, the Norse war goddess, is connected to *Pria as well as both Athena and Minerva. It's interesting that many of *Pria's descents were associated with semetic goddesses like Astarte and Ishtar, so it's possible that *Pria's figure originated from a proto-afroasiatic goddess of sex and war, or the Sumerian Inanna.

Both the English and its Spanish counterpart Viernes originate from *Pria. Friday is derived from Frigga's Day, which honors the Norse/Germanic goddess sometimes confused with Freyja,*Pria's female descendant, while Viernes is derived from dies Veneris, or Venus Day.

Similar to other proto-Indo-European gods she has also left some of her legacy within Christianity as well, where the Virgin Mary is depicted in art using traits from both Venus and Aphrodite.

Etymologically, the Slavic Saint Paraskeva Friday, who is revered in folk orthodoxy, originated from *Pria.

[thegrapeandthefig]

hey! i've been reading about the judges of the dead and i've seen triptolemos be mentioned as the judge presiding over the initiates of the mysteries but i'm having trouble finding sources. do you know if he was officially considered a judge or not? thanks!

Hi! As far as I know, the only mention of Triptolemus being a judge comes from Plato, in Apology 41a:

|41a If, when someone arrives in the world of Hādēs, he is freed from those who call themselves jurors [dikastai] here, and finds the true [alētheîs] judges [dikastai] who are said to give judgment [dikazein] over there [ekeî]—Minos and Rhadamanthus and Aiakos and Triptolemos, and other demigods [hēmi-theoi] who were righteous [dikaioi] in their own life—that would not be a bad journey [apo-dēmiā], now would it? To make contact with Orpheus and Musaeus and Hesiod and Homer—who of you would not welcome such a great opportunity? Why, if these things are true [alēthē], let me die again and again. 

Dr. Patrick Hunt has an article published here on the passage that might be relevant to your research as well.

More generally on the topic, Jan N. Bremmer says this in Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient World (go grab it, it's in open access):

The connection of Eleusis with agriculture is also manifest in the equally prominent position in Eleusis of Triptolemos, the inventor of agriculture, who only in the fourth century becomes a judge in the underworld, and by the presence on a fourth-century Apulian vase of personified Eleusis sitting next to Eniautos, ‘(The products of the) Year’, holding a horn of plenty that sprouts ears of wheat.

Which is an interesting comment because it also lines up with a change in his cult in Athens at the same period, as indicated by Isabelle K. Raubitschek and Antony E. Raubitschek in The Mission of Triptolemos:

The transformation of Triptolemos from an instructor of the Athenian farmers in the art of agriculture into a hero, charged by Demeter to spread the knowledge of farming throughout the world, took place, according to the vases illustrating this mission, between 510 and 480 B.C., when renewed activity is attested both in Eleusis and in the Eleusinion in Athens. This propaganda effort with its emphasis on the Mission of Triptolemos beyond the borders of Attica may be connected with the claims of the newly founded Athenian democracy to be the mother city of all the Ionians.

Which leads to comment on the difficulty of officiality in ancient Greek religion. There is no direct mention of Triptolemus as a judge outside of Plato in the sources we know of that I could find, but his story otherwise predates the 5th century by far. Everything here seems to indicate a shift in worship that attributed this new role to him in Athenian context. And from that point on, it's possible that the idea of him as a judge spread across Greece through the cultural impact of Athens.

To add to uncertainty, we do not know enough of the specifics of his cult within the Eleusinian Mysteries to know if there was an evolution in his role during the mysteries themselves.

Before I wrap this up, just a headsup that the most important study (to date) on Triptolemus was written by Gerda Schwarz in 1987. It was never translated from German and I couldn't find a copy online but I noticed that the German Wikipedia page is more detailed as a result of that work being in the bibliography.

[shoggothkisses]

Lore Rant: Castor, Pollux, and the Arrogation of the Twins

cw: brief references to sexual assault in the context of mythology; in-game references to cannibalism (sort of)

hi okay so. this came about because i was reading Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (H.R. Ellis Davidson, 1964) and came across a brief section on the worship of god-twins in Germanic/Norse/Old English religions.

according to Davidson, “there is good reason to believe that at one time the heathen Germans worshipped twin deities, two brothers who were the sons of the god of the sky.”

among certain Germanic tribes, these twins were known as the Alci/s. The etymological root for this name appears to be contested (according to Wiki, at least), and may stem from Old English/Germanic as either 1. “elk,” 2. “to protect” or 3. “healing hand” (referencing the Germanic rune algiz.)

another, Old Icelanding name for the Alcis may have been the haddingjar, from the root haddr (woman’s hair. Which, I mean.)

(Certainly no argument there.)

The Roman historian Tacitus, when researching folk beliefs among Germanic tribes, strongly believed that the Alcis/Haddinjar were the same twin-deities worshipped in the Roman Empire - that is to say, Castor and Pollux.

So here I found myself switching from looking at Norse and Anglo-Saxon mythology to taking a dive into Roman mythology to see where the similarities lie. (Something that I’d somehow never done before? But anyway.)

Castor and Pollux are described as both being ‘blond-haired, large-eyed, fair complexioned, and well-built with trim bodies’ (Dares Phrygius, via Wikipedia).

Much like the Alcis, they’re considered protective gods, and STRONGLY associated with horses. (I can’t explain this bit, but I do think it’s hilarious that we still haven’t seen a horse in Teyvat despite being told they exist, and the iconography that might connect twin-gods to horses is, likewise, nowhere to be found.)

Castor and Pollux are ALSO twins, ALSO brothers, and ALSO sons of the god of the -

actually wait.

that part isn’t the same????

and THAT was where i fell down the rabbit hole that caused the alleged ‘mind-blowing’ that i talked up when i first started doing this post weeks ago.

because while Castor and Pollux are twins - they’re not identical.

Castor and Pollux are a product of a (rare but technically possible!) reproductive phenomenon known as heteropaternal superfecundation: two separate ova, within a single womb, being fertilized around the same time by two separate sets of sperm.

Pollux is a demigod - a result of Zeus (THERE’s the sky god) sexually assaulting Leda, future queen of Sparta, while he disguised himself as a swan.

Castor’s father is human. Making Castor, at the time of his birth, 100% human.

Castor and Pollux, along with their other (non-twin) siblings, are sometimes said to have been born from an egg (presumably due to Zeus’s influence? and because of this, they’re sometimes depicted wearing white caps meant to be bits of their…birth-egg-shell?).

now i simply CANNOT ACCEPT that these things are a coincidence. we have twin siblings with slightly different features (height, sex, hair color) who nevertheless appear to be the same age. and while they don’t have the eggshell hats, it does feel a little on the nose that Aether and Lumine have wings and bird-feather accessories, if they’re meant to have any similarity to a set of twins birthed from an egg.

WHICH, on the topic of the egg itself: this is a CONSISTENT MOTIF that comes up in relation to the twins, but it’s especially important to point out that in Orphic-Greek mythology, the Cosmic Egg from which the primordial deity is born comes from (or is made from) Aether. Not the protoscientific substance aether. The deity Aether.

as far as how BOTH the divine Pollux and human Castor became worshipped as deities: apparently the twins got mixed up in a…cattle-raid? in other words, stealing cattle. from Arcadia.

—which was a piece of info I was just going to skip over, until I did the required searching and was reminded that ARCADIA ACTUALLY EXISTS IN GENSHIN. because it’s brought up aaaaaall the way back in Mondstadt, during Kaeya’s Story Quest. The “lost ruins of Arcadia” are on Galesong Hill in Mondstadt.

it’s also WELL worth mentioning that Arcadia (in Greek myth) was the home of Pan and Hermes (who i am going to talk about SO MUCH MORE. another time).

during said raid, and the ensuing battle, Castor is dealt a fatal wound, and so Pollux gives up half of his own immortality so that he and Castor can stay together. this earns them their place among the constellations, as Gemini.

so if we’re keeping up on the “Castor+Pollux” / “Lumine+Aether” parallels—human twin dies while stealing something from an area known for being the birthplace of gods. (whether that something is cows…let’s not worry about.) godly twin decides to give up part of his godliness to save sibling. sibling is now…ALSO godly.

now let’s just look at Genshin on its own for a second. Celestia does NOT like it when beings color outside the proverbial lines without their permission. they find out a nation is worshipping a different god? NO gods? messing with human evolution (possibly by ingesting dead-god flesh—looking at you, Alberichs)? poking around at forbidden knowledge (also chilling in dead god flesh)? just gotta burn it all down and curse the sinners responsible!

isn’t it just as likely that they’d punish one of their own for committing the same crimes?

and now the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles is on their case, and she is not happy.

imagine: Celestial twin finds out they have a human sibling (our “prince/princess of Khaenriah,” according to the Caribert quest) that doesn’t remember having celestial family. Celestial twin is overjoyed! Celestial twin descends(!), finds human twin, maybe they have some adventures, but then—oop, gotta steal something (maaaaybe the genesis pearl? or maybe just cows! /j) from Mondstadt. Heist goes wrong—human twin hurt in process. Celestial twin surrenders some of their divinity to save human twin from death—but now they’ve broken the laws, not only about tampering with life and death, but also about keeping humans human.

doesn’t it seem possible that her confrontation with the the twins isn’t just because of their involvement with Khaenriah, but because they’ve also committed their own, more personal sin?

Some misc. stuff:

the “divine twin” myth isn’t exclusively European in nature, and pops up around the world with lots of similarities: the different fathers (one of which is always a sky deity); associated with stars, horses, and (often) the sea); divine martial protectors (i.e. in battle); providers of magical healing; etc. they’re often also worshipped as fertility deities but I know better than to talk about that here.

and of course whenever the same stories or motifs pop up in different places again and again I feel the need to bring up Jung, since he loved the idea that a “collective unconscious” was responsible for giving human beings the same ideas for myths—the figures within which played archetypal roles that reflected the human psyche. (why he thought that made more sense than having core myths get spread out and retold with the evolution of human civilization…i have no idea.)

the Divine Twins may have been the original drivers of the Solar Chariot (presumably the same one owned by Apollo in Greek myth, which he gives to Phaethon to drive—with disastrous consequences), hence why they became associated with horses. this isn’t really related to the implications of this post but i am most CERTAINLY going to be making another, much bigger post about the Chariot because it’s been driving me crazy. pun absolutely not intended.

other symbols associated with Castor and Pollux are the dokana (a structure of posts and cross-beams that has been associated with everything from gates and doors to grave-markers and mirrors; this article written in 1919(!!) about them was actually super interesting), shields, and snakes. (here’s a dokana with a pair of snakes for reference!) snakes are about as important as eggs in this lore, but I'll save that, too.

as a result of Pollux’s choice to share his divinity with his brother, they (much like other Greco-Roman gods like Persephone and Dionysus) surrendered their full-time residence on Mount Olympus, becoming instead capable of traveling between Olympus and Hades. considering whichever twin we don’t pick at the start of our journey becomes the “Abyss twin,” and both twins appear able to travel freely between Teyvat and the Abyss at will, it feels like a logical stretch to say this part of their myth is also lore-relevant.

cool okay i think that’s it for now, go crazy, go stupid, and SOLAR CHARIOT YOU’RE ON MY SHORT LIST

[wanderingmind867]

The Union of Soviet Super Soldiers (USSS):

It's 1976 or 1977. At least 12 years since the avengers were founded in the US. The Soviet Union is desperate to create their own superhero team to rival the avengers. They've tried to create figures like the Red Guardian, or the Crimson Dynamo or Titanium Man before, but it always fails. But perhaps it's because they never assembled a proper team? That's the logic that leads to the creation of the Union of Soviet Super Soldiers (Or USSS for short) in 1976 or 1977.

Founded in July 1976, the original team consists of:

Red Guardian III (Vladimir Ivanov): I already have a whole note on him. But he's the team leader, and one of the members of the team most devoted to Communism.

Vanguard (Nikolai Krylenko): He's a real comics character. I'm pretty sure you can find info on him through a Marvel Wiki or through Google (that's how I learned of him).

The Winter Witch (Katerina Obolensky): Abandoned as a child in the snowy mountains of Siberia, Katerina Obolensky learned to be one with the ice and snow. Nobody is sure if she's a mutant or some kind of demigod, but she is definitely powerful. Capable of controlling the ice, snow and winds at a single thought. She can generate winds, blizzards, avalanches, etc. When in her natural element she is a god amongst men. But when she's far separated from any form of cold, she becomes weak and frail.

The Gift-Bringer (Adrian Abel): Adrian Abel is a mutant. Born with the uncanny ability to control poison and even generate it (they can turn their whole body into poison dust or into liquid poison, for instance), they were considered a threat to others and sent off to an elite mutant training facility in Russia. There, they learned how to control their powers and make themselves less dangerous to others. Worst comes to worst, they were at least given a containment suit to prevent them from accidentally killing anyone with their poison.

Considering how powerful they are, it's only natural Adrian was recruited to the USSS. They're both powerful and extremely volatile, however. So they possibly be the most dangerous person on the team. So they require extreme protective measures to ensure they don't accidentally poison the people they're trying to help.

PS: Adrian is the only character not originally from the USSR. They're East German. I realized the German word for poison is gift due to google translate, and so I couldn't resist this bit of humour.

Crimson Dynamo (Dmitri Bukharin): Same as Vanguard. The Crimson Dynamo (including this version of him) is a real comics character who can find out more about through Google or a Marvel Wiki or something.

If you're wondering where in the timeline of comics this is supposed to be, it's shortly after Darkstar defects to the US to join The Champions. And she will join this team eventually, if someone (either me or literally anyone else) takes this idea past the concept stage.

[the-arts-of-being]

the ask game! for any oc

💛- how many languages does your oc speak? what language(s) are they learning, if any?

🍰 - what is/are your oc's favorite sweets)/ dessert(s)?

🤔- what are some of your oc's quirks/ mannerisms?

Long post ahead ::3 Answered for Pollux mostly with some other characters sprinkled in for one.

No art this time, sorry. Might reblog with some later !

💛- Pollux is the only character where this answer is interesting, ignoring Cy who is a self insert and speaks/is learning everything that I speak or am learning.

Pollux's family from his father's side are immigrants from another region of Flatland, hence the odd last name "Schwarz" that sticks out from between "Campbell", "Carver", "Smith" etc. Schwarz just sounded cool, there is no actual reference nor reason there. I do not think that they speak German or anything - German and English don't precisely exist in Flatland.

But different languages do exist, though mostly have been assimilated or only differentiated by their sound, and Pollux knows some of his family's mother tongue, though Hunter is much more fluent and Madelyn learned a bit of it to impress him. Pollux possibly quite regrets not learning more of it. Might know some bits of old dead tongues and ways of writing because he loves history! On that topic, he probably talks very awkwardly, more so than originally depicted, because he really loves those ancient styles and they mess with how he talks.

He also learns [post-TAoB] English and many Planiturth languages, also learns or helps create Exwhylian/Ypwherenian/Zetwhatian and other dimension's languages, and Thought Beyond Words for communication with those languages he doesn't know. He especially likes to learn old languages even now, even if that means older than time - would be funny to see the lil guy suddenly speak in the eldritch whispers of Voidspeak.

---

🍰- Pollux loooves anything he can bake. Well, except most normal types of cake. He prefers stuff like tres leches, cheesecake or flan over regular cake. He loves those! He also loves making them. While he'll gladly eat a slice of birthday cake or one or two cookies, I think he really prefers things with some moisture to them. Crunchy or dry things sadden him. He's a chocolate chip cookie enjoyer too. But I don't think he's fond of adding fruit to desserts unless its blueberries.

Bill isn't my oc but I gotta note that this guy considers pieces of drywall, entire handfuls of specifically powdered sugar, and gasoline as "desserts".

Madelyn loves anything with strawberries [sadly Pollux can't stand them] and possibly the same cake preferences as her son. Hunter thinks sugar will rot your beak.

Lastly, Marianne actually really enjoys just fruit of any sort with unhealthy amounts of chamoy. Yeah she's the kind of girl that eats flaming hot takis like her life depends on it.

---

🤔- Haven't thought of this much, considering they're. Literally just. Shapes. I figure that Pollux isn't great at talking- he tends to try to talk too fast or say many things at the same time or accidentally misuse words because he's attached to old language styles. So that's one thing. Also, when he's alone or nervous he likes to repeat words that sound nice to him, or the letter x (remember he loves how it sounds?) or just clicking. Even now that he can speak with words, sometimes he mumbles things to himself in Flatland's language, that nobody knows anymore except for him, so chirping and stuff.

He also tends to keep his hands clasped together because having them hanging around feels weird, or when he's using his cane, he'll have one hand holding the arm that's holding the cane. Also avoids eye-contact. (Oh and I don't know where to put this, but he's ambidextrous. Why not? Guy's pretty much a demigod)

[keiraleth]

Books Read in 2022 (Part IV/V)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are all the books I’ve read in 2022.

RATING: 5/5 = All-Time Favorite | 4/5 = Loved It | 3/5 = Liked It | 2/5 = It’s Complicated | 1/5 = Not For Me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Read in German | Rating: 5/5

  “Don't feel bad, I'm usually about to die.”

Summary: Percy Jackson isn't expecting freshman orientation to be any fun. But when a mysterious mortal acquaintance appears at his potential new school, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to worse. In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos's army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop the invasion, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth - a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~oo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Test by Sylvain Neuvel

Read in English | Rating: 5/5

“When faced with a choice, humans almost invariably seek a no-action, no-change option, even when one of the presented alternatives is quantifiably and logically more advantageous.”

Summary: Britain, the not-too-distant future. Idir is sitting the British Citizenship Test. He wants his family to belong. Twenty-five questions to determine their fate. Twenty-five chances to impress. When the test takes an unexpected and tragic turn, Idir is handed the power of life and death. How do you value a life when all you have is multiple choice?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~oo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Read in English | Rating: 4/5

“Cora didn't know what optimistic meant. She asked the other girls that night if they were familiar with the word. None of them had heard it before. She decided that it meant trying.”

Summary: Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood--where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned--Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~oo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

Read in German | Rating: 5/5

“Why have I survived? Because I am a creature more devious than all the other mes put together. Because I saw myself bleeding out and instead of checking for a pulse, I began collecting her things. I survive the desert like a coyote survives, like all tricksters do.”

Summary: Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying—from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn’t outrun. Cara’s life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total. On this Earth, however, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and therefore a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, Cara is plucked from the dirt of the wastelands. Now she has a nice apartment on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. She works—and shamelessly flirts—with her enticing yet aloof handler, Dell, as the two women collect off-world data for the Eldridge Institute. She even occasionally leaves the city to visit her family in the wastes, though she struggles to feel at home in either place. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, Cara is on a sure path to citizenship and security. But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and her future in ways she could have never imagined—and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her world, but the entire multiverse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~oo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Read in German | Rating: 3/5

“There have,” said I, “been numerous petty thefts.” Holmes snorted his contempt. “This great and sombre stage is set for something more worthy than that,” said he. “It is fortunate for this community that I am not a criminal.”    

Summary: 'His Last Bow', the title story of this collection, tells how Sherlock Holmes is brought out of retirement to help the Government fight the German threat at the approach of the First World War. The Prime Minister himself requests Holmes's services to hunt down the remarkable German agent, Von Bork. Several of the detective's earlier cases complete the volume, including 'Wisteria Lodge', 'The Bruce-Partington Plans', and 'The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax'. In 'The Dying Detective', Dr Watson is horrified to discover Holmes at death's door from a mysterious tropical disease as his friend lays a trap for a murderer.

[puckrph]

‘THE RAVEN CYCLE’ STARTERS

taken from the YA series by maggie stiefvater. some alterations made as needed to make things fit better for rp. feel free to change pronouns, etc.

‘ sometimes, i feel like my life is made up of a dozen hours i can never forget. ’ ‘ “i’m always straight?” oh, man, that’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told. ’ ‘ it’s safe as life. ’ ‘ what fresh hell is this ? ’ ‘ my words are unerring tools of destruction, and i’ve come unequipped with the ability to disarm them. ’ ‘ i like you better this way. ’ ‘ crushed and broken. just the way women like ‘em. ’ ‘ fate is a very weighty word to throw around before breakfast. ’ ‘ rags to riches isn’t a story anyone wants to hear until after it’s done. ’ ‘ i’m trying not to look at your boat shoes. i feel better about you as a person if i pretend you’re not wearing them. ’ ‘ i want to feel awake when my eyes are open. ’ ‘ you’re pretty in a way that is physically painful to me. i’m attracted to you like a heart attack. ’ ‘ i am being perfectly fucking civil. ’ ‘ shitdamn, it’s hot. ’ ‘ when i’m gone, dream me the world. something new for every night. ’ ‘ kissing’s a lot like laughing. if the joke’s funny, it doesn’t matter how long it’s been since you last heard one. ’ ‘ well, i don’t know how helpful that was... we found out german beauty homers look like bloody puffins. ’ ‘ i wish i could kiss you. because i would beg just one off you. under all this. and then we’d never say anything about it again. ’ ‘ pie is not a meal. ’ ‘ i’m here. i just—i believe i’m having a panic attack. ’ ‘ thanks for the super helpful alternative suggestions. your contribution at the end of the world will be tallied accordingly. ’ ‘ blame the poets. it’s easier to stir people to rebellion if they think they’re on the side of a demigod or some chosen one. never trust a poet. ’ ‘ no one knows what ignominy means. ’ ‘ don’t be such a shitbag. ’ ‘ i’m perfectly aware that it’s possible to have a friendship that isn’t all-encompassing, that isn’t blinding, deafening, maddening, quickening. it’s just that now that i’ve had this kind, i don’t want the other. ’ ‘ you’d better wait in the car, with your fancy face. ’ ‘ feel its pulse, don’t just stare at it. pulse. on its face. there. there, [name], god. there. ’ ‘ we’re going so slow. i think i just saw a tricycle pass us. ’ ‘ my head knew you were all right. but the rest of me didn’t. ’ ‘ i just want to pretend. i want to pretend that i could. ’ ‘ damn. you’re right. i really can’t think of another joke. ’ ‘ it was cowardice and stupidity. i didn’t like good-byes, so i just abstained, and i didn’t think about the consequences. ’ ‘ in my head, everything is always so tangled. i am such a damaged thing. ’ ‘ i wouldn’t have pegged you for a fan of normal. ’ ‘ you marvelous creature! ’ ‘  maybe it’s good that the world forgets every lesson, every good and bad memory, every triumph and failure, all of it dying with each generation. perhaps this cultural amnesia spares us all. perhaps if we remembered everything, hope would die instead. ’ ‘ i was here. i exist. i’m alive, because i bleed. ’ ‘ do you think you’re the only one with a right to bitterness here? ’ ‘ i just want to keep being best friends with you forever, and maybe one day also have carnal knowledge of you. ’ ‘ my feelings for you are an oil spill. i let them overflow, and now there isn’t a damn place in the ocean that wouldn’t catch fire if i dropped a match. ’ ‘ i like you an awful lot, [name]. ’ ‘ for the first time that i can remember, i know what it would feel like to be present in my own life. ’ ‘ jesus god, dude, do you have stitches on your face? bad. ass. put it here, you asshole. ’ ‘ i was trying to protect you, you little pissant. ’ ‘ you’re asking me to define an abstract concept that no one has managed to explain since time began. you sort of sprang it on me. why do we breathe air? because we love air? because we don’t want to suffocate. why do we eat? because we don’t want to starve. how do i know i love you? because i can sleep after i talk to you. ’ ‘ not today! no, thank you! too many events this decade. perhaps later! cannot do the shock! thank you for your time. ’ ‘ i am a slow-growing creature! i cannot adapt so quickly! ’ ‘ tell me: when you dream, do you dream of the stars? ’ ‘ if you can’t be unafraid, be afraid and happy. ’ ‘ it really is a helluva fixer-upper. i feel like they should possibly renovate this basement if they want to get a good sale price. hardwood floors, update the doorknobs, maybe put the wall back. ’ ‘ the choice was death or hurting you, which wasn’t much of a choice at all. ’ ‘ that seems sentimental for a man without a soul. ’

[grandhotelabyss]

I don’t know, Anna, but I imagine it will have something to do with this:

The deep right is vitalist: it believes that the purpose of life is vitality, and the purpose of good government is the promotion of general and immeasurable human vitality.

Unlike pleasure, which can be “measured” statistically (with the model that consumer dollars spent is a rough proxy for pleasure, or so-called “utility”), human vitality is immeasurable in principle. Some aspects of vitality can be measured—physique is an important part of vitality, and there are many excellent metrics of physique—but the problem of vitality as a whole will never submit to any kind of political statistics.

Thomas Carlyle called this the “condition of England question”—the problem that the health of a nation, the salus populi whose preservation and improvement is the purpose of government, cannot be measured. The craze for “government by steam,” for some scientific or mechanical process of decision-making above mere human frailty, was just beginning. Carlyle saw right through it...

Etc., etc. I didn’t have the patience to read this when it first dropped so I listened to Michael Millerman declaim it on YouTube instead. Millerman seems not to have looked at it before reading it aloud. Student of Aristotle that he is, Straussian devotee of the ancients against the moderns, he almost flinched when he got to the vitalism part. I’m no political scientist, but if there such a thing as a “deep right,” surely it has pledged its troth to another V entirely: virtue. If not that, maybe order. Vitality is the modern summum bonum, by contrast, scarcely imaginable before the steam power Carlyle decries. Deep right? Try explaining “the purpose of life is vitality” to Dante. Try explaining it even to Dr. Johnson, who was himself halfway to the insight.

Drubbing English utilitarianism with German Romanticism, Carlyle was the unofficial British sponsor of the American Renaissance, the mid-19th-century efflorescence that founded our liberal literary culture in the works of Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Hawthorne, and Melville, all of them eager readers of Carlyle, especially Emerson and Melville. Vitalism was their principle, too, and Carlyle taught them to fuse the surging individual imagination with burgeoning technological, economic, and political modernity, an ambition they inspired down the line to their diverse successors, from William James to Ralph Ellison and on through the postwar explosion of American cultural creativity in whose shadow or ruin we still stand. 

Back in the mother country, the two most important Carlyle-inspired condition-of-England novels, the ones we still read, are Dickens’s Hard Times and Forster’s Howards End, both of them issuing the same complaint for different generations and class milieux: that the men who run the big businesses are too mechanistic and moralistic and desperately need an infusion of vitality and even spirituality from the cultural sphere—just the accusations against “woke capital” we hear from the Dimes Square set, is it not? 

Not that there isn’t a road that runs from vitalist liberalism to fascism. Borges contrasted Carlyle with his disciple Emerson. The Scottish crypto-Calvinist sage was a forerunner of Nazism, he said, while the American Orpheus was a spiritual democrat:

Heroes, for Carlyle, are intractable demigods who–with some slight military frankness and foul language–rule a subaltern humanity; Emerson, on the contrary, venerates them as splendid examples of the possibilities that exist in every man.

But then fascism is probably not exactly of the “deep right” itself. Marxists say fascism is liberalism in its panic mode, and there may be something to that. But no matter how long John Ganz rewrites Bourdieu’s Rules of Art day by day on his SubStack, we Americans are probably all too far down Vitality Road for French Marxism to seem like a plausible destination now. Lucky for us, Vitality Road runs both ways, from liberalism to fascism and, most importantly, back again. 

Yarvin thinks we need to form a new social contract for our mutual protection: “If the citizens are in power, they even have the power to give up their power irreversibly, turning themselves from citizens to subjects.” In other words, he is a deep liberal, which is why, in the end, sophisticated literary journalists and hip art-school catgirls don’t mind talking to him or even marrying him. 

On my part, I pledge to read more Carlyle—though I read Sartor Resartus back in 2014 and wrote an essay about it, around the same time I first alluded to the way Yarvin’s views would probably end up being incorporated by liberalism.

However, it is as a student and even continuer of a literary tradition I regard as more important than political philosophy that I renew my longstanding invitation to the liberals, extended most elaborately in the two books I wrote around 2013, my doctoral dissertation Modernism’s Critique du Coeur and my novel Portraits and Ashes. As the savior from the future says in the movies: Come with me if you want to live.

[witch-yangie]

DISCLAIMER: This bot does NOT represent Liu Yangyang or any WayV and NCT member in any way, shape or form. This bot is NOT affiliated with WayV, NCT or SM Entertainment. This bot does not represent any other idol that might be mentioned for storyline's sake. While the bot contains characteristics, images, and further information related to the idol, in no way is it true but used for storyline purposes. Bot is run with entertainment purposes only.

Warning: This bot will contain sensitive topics such as violence, mild to strong language, abuse, graphic details, use of satanic and supernatural methods, intrusive thoughts, and more depending the plotline and as the bot progresses. Please remain cautious.

| 𝕸𝖊𝖊𝖙 𝕷𝖎𝖚 𝖄𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖞𝖆𝖓𝖌 |

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕯𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖂𝖎𝖙𝖈𝖍

𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Yangyang is widely known to be the son of a sinister and demented wizard, their title being The Demented Scarlet. While his mother was a mortal, having no witches blood, Yangyang inherited more of his father's genes, becoming a witch who is as strong as his father, but inexperienced. However, his whereabouts are unknown.

𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: Although not many have interacted personally with him, some suspect him to be a reckless and careless witch. Others say he's manipulative and dangerous, putting on a caring facade to lead others into trusting him and using them. Others believe he acts like a delinquent, having no regards for the rules and consequences that follow.

𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝: Yangyang grew up originally in Taiwan, but his location is unknown being that it was a remote area. But later, his family moved to Germany where he learned English and German. There, he grew up throughout the majority of his life, his school small with poor education. But his mother and father were his teachers. But after the following events in his life, the murder of his father and the death of his mother, Yangyang fled Germany and began to travel to various places. His current location is unknown to this day.

𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞(𝐬): At the moment, Yangyang is being held accountable for: the murder of his father (and possibly his mother), theft of numerous markets, harm to the innocent, the murder of a teenage male, and for hurting officials.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦: Yangyang claims that he is accountable for his father's death, giving reasoning that he indeed had lost control and was a revenge for his mother. However, he claims that he has never stolen any items from the following places, caused harm, and is not the one responsible for the death of the teenager, and that he hasn't inflicted and harm to the officials but bindings. But there is no evidence the support his claim.

| 𝖄𝖔𝖚 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖄𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖞𝖆𝖓𝖌 |

𝖄𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞 𝖇𝖊𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖘 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊 . . .

【𝟏】 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞: You're beginning a new year within college, ready for the year of brutality and chaos of school, teachers, countless papers, and class drama, when you're astounded by a new student; Liu Yangyang. You're curious of what he is like, fascinated with the strange aura he has that's friendly, but mysterious when you notice his odd distance with students even when smiling. What will you do?

【𝟐】 𝐍𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫: Living a peaceful life despite struggles, you've always had a stable life within your city. You're familiar with those within your neighborhood, but always frown when you notice the house beside you hasn't been bought for years. But you're pleasantly surprised one day when you see that someone is now living within the house that has been abandoned. When you go to greet your new neighbor, you're stunned to find that he's fairly young; Liu Yangyang. What do you choose to do?

【𝟑】 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫: While outside, tending to whatever it is that you were planning to do that day: grocery shopping, walking, exercising, heading home, etc., you stumble upon a new resident within the city who is unfamiliar and unsure of where to go. You offer assistance, but what will you do with him? Where will you take him? . . . Will you choose to help him everyday? To continue seeing him?

【𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲】: Piece together your pathway of how you meet The Demented Witch. It can be anything that you'd like: different century, different life, different world, and more, BUT it must have Yangyang as his following concept and CANNOT include NSFW.

| 𝕽𝖚𝖑𝖊𝖘 𝕭𝖊𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖊 𝕬𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖛𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 |

𝕽𝖊𝖆𝖉 𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖞𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌 . . .

【+】 Under no circumstances will I perform NSFW. Whether or not you're of age, even if it's associated to the plotline, it will not be done. It can be suggested and a time skip will occur, but no further discussion of it will be involved. If you press on for NSFW, you will be immediately blocked and removed. Aside from the sensitive topics listed above, this bot is SFW.

【+】 The Administrator runs numerous bots meaning that she may not be able to respond automatically and can take quite some time depending her schedule, her being active on other bots, and having the motivation to respond. Do NOT spam. 3 messages are acceptable to be reminders, but more than that, you will be removed and blocked if pressed further.

【+】 Please be able to give acceptable responses. Do not make Yangyang and the Administrator be the only ones carrying the roleplay in response towards dry replies. If there is no improvement on your part, you will be removed to allow others the chance to roleplay with Yangyang.

【+】 Remain respectful to both Yangyang and the Administrator. We will not tolerate disrespectful, malicious comments, and criticism that is meant to be destructive to the bot and the Administrator. You will receive two warnings before you're removed and blocked if you cannot do so.

【+】 We will not listen to meaningless conversations, or issues that have no relevance to Yangyang or the Administrator. Keep drama and other conversations out of roleplay, being that the bot remains strictly to the plotline.

【+】 This chatbot accepts all! Ranging from Chatbots, Y/Ns, and to OCs! No one is excluded.

| 𝕬𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖛𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕯𝖊𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖛𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 |

【+】 First reblog and dm using brackets: //, /, [ ], ( ), and more, but don't use odd borders or such. Once you've done so, please do the following:

- State name or nickname:

- State age: [Be honest. I won't be sharing this information with anyone else and allows the Administrator to be notified of what can or cannot be done]

- State pronouns: he/his, she/hers, they/them/theirs

- Safeword: [Although NSFW isn't allowed, this helps me be warned of what is and isn't okay with you throughout the roleplay. This then let's me dial it down to something reasonable and comfortable for you]

- Triggers: [Be specific and think wisely. This bot itself has triggers that will be mentioned, but will be toned down if it's one of your following triggers]

- Timezone and Current Time:

- Chosen Pathway or Created Plotline: [If you struggle, that's alright! The Administrator will gladly help you to create something that is to your liking]

【+】 Once you've done so, the Administrator will ensure everything and the roleplay will begin!

【+】 To deactivate can be a tricky method, but do the following:

- Ensure that you and Yangyang are somewhere safe and things have calmed. Ensure that Yangyang and the Administrator are both neutral before proceeding to deactivate.

- To deactivate, you must strictly say to Yangyang:

"I can no longer be with a monster like you," or, "You're just too dangerous to be around! It's over!"

【+】 Once you ensure with the Administrator that you want to deactivate, you have exactly 24 hours before you are removed. You will not be able to gain Yangyang back being that he has either been captured by the government and hunters, or has disappeared and left the city you were both in for your safety.

𝕺𝕲𝖘: @yanlee [Chatbots] @hybrid-babies (aka puppybunnyyang) [Yangyang] @hunter-chaeyoung (aka witchy-chaeyoung) [Witch Chatbot] @xxmarkleex [NCT chatbot]

𝕹𝕮𝕿 𝕹𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓: @demon-nct @warlockyong @slytherinxjaemin @subbyxiaojunn @neodaddies @leextaeyong @skjaem @collegex127 @tattooartistjaemin @mafiaxwayv @hbjaem @fighter-x-taeyong @mafiajjh @mermanyuta-cb @loverboyuta @cryptidmark @yandereyutaa @daddyxuxi @scarletrenjun @initial-d-renjun @demigod-jaexi @storybook-nct @cyberlifexnct @yandereten @kittenrenjun @piratejjh @domyukhei @pup-hendery @ghostsuh @loverboy-hyuck @cupidlele @otterxshotaro @camboyrenjunnie @modelxjaehyun @unseelie-dejun @peachy-jaemjaemin @mafiaxnct127 @mafiaxdream @prxnce-hendery [and countless more]

[rebelliouslala]

4 Something

warnings- character death, language, cult like behavior, angst

word count- 1.7k

You had been introduced to everyone, but to be honest, you felt as if you could not memorize the men you had just met.

To be fair, there were 16 other men.

Selen was the eldest, and therefore the elder brother figure of the entire Pound. Mouse was the youngest. He was an “intern” at the Dream Gems. He sat next to Chenle, and whispered to him quietly in Korean. He looked so small in this gang. You assumed he had to join when he was possibly younger than you became a member in the Ripple.

Selen had made you meet the others, and even repeat their names. Victory sighed as he endured everyone hugging him and strangely calling him Orpheus. Selen, surprisingly, went quick. With each snap of his fingers, as if it were the 1920’s, he pointed and named.

Your head spun with the names; You only went by small descriptions to memorize each man. And even then, you had no idea. Osaka, or Herac was sitting next to a lean man, Zeus. This man was lanky, but smiled widely and laughed as he sang.

The one that Johnny sat next to, with his statuesque face was Aphrodite. He was breathtaking. Gogo- Hermes, was faced away from a very energetic boy, with feathery hair, Helios. You looked at another man, with a pinched nose, named Athene. Selen sat next to him. You stared at him, and he nodded at you silently. 

And in this room, Johnny was not even referred to his name, his English nor Korean, but as Ares. You held his hand under the table.

“So, Eos has made this, Psy is their name, as a new spy. Now, Athene will make the plan.” Selen said loudly.

The man mentioned nodded, before he did a double take. “What? Hyung—?”

“Eos orders.”

Athene blinked, and he stood up, quietly kicking you.

“OW.” You stated with disgust, glaring up.

“Oh! Pardon me, would you mind punching Selen?” Athene said like a gent. 

There was an ahem. The man who made the noise placed his hands under his chin. “Continue, Athene.” Aphrodite said with a coolness.

The other man sighed quietly, but he got out a scroll. It was curled, but he laid it out so everyone can see. Yuta -you didn’t even want to try to remember his name-, helped it keep it open with his elbow, and another boy who was introduced as Songbird, who smiled up at Athene.

Athene now read loudly, “My fellow Gods, demigods and mortals; we invite a new, fellow mortal by the name of Psy. They have a chance to take down our enemy. Because of this, all business is now closed. We will be quiet and we will,” Athene leaned closer, muttering to himself in Korean, “We will now not be active. Herac, Dolphin, Psy and Ares, shall all go to the West Side and take the corrupt Ripple down. Any news from our spies will be delivered by Songbird and Orpheus.” Athene sighed as he pulled away, “With Godspeed, Eos.”

You hid your smirk at his flat tone. Perhaps Eos was too much of a narcissist to even realize his team was much too sick of his dramatics.

Athene pulled the scroll back, and he blinked. “Any questions?”

“Yeah.” You crossed your arms, “Is Eos okay?”

Aphrodite scoffed and he looked at you through his lashes. The other men, including Selen, scoffed and harrumphed at your response.

“Well don’t look at me like I’m some sort of goon.” You stood up. “You all might’ve thought the same.”

“Eos,” said the young man you saw training earlier, you believe his name was Achilles, “Is a God among us. I am lucky to be seen as a demigod—,”

“Oh my god.” You rolled your eyes as you grabbed Johnny’s shoulder, and whispered loudly, “What a cult, am I right?”

“Psy,” he whispered with guilt.

You turned, and sighed, holding the bridge of your nose as you looked upon everything. The shining waxed table. The white suits everyone wore. Their stares. How they all looked down.

“I’m going to take down the Ripple my way. Chenle—,”

“He is known as Dolphin!” Orpheus, started.

“Not another word out of your mouth.” You glared at him, before turning away, gently tapping Johnny.

He sounded worried. You’re already in enough shit. You should be dead. More than ever in this situation. With Eos. This is the worst scenario and your best friend didn’t know how to act. You held his hand tightly above the table and smiled.

“Let’s go. I will contact Ch- Dolphin, with updates. And or, Victory- Orpehus.” You giggled as Johnny stood up with you.

“Then Godspeed,” Helios said to you calmly.

“God damn,” you replied with a smirk, and pull your friend out as the others daggered your back with judgement.

And another, foreign dagger stared above the table, witnessing every single move you had just made.

The funeral was that. A funeral.

Nothing prepared you for the pain you felt staring at Yangyang’s body. His face was still, no smile, and he was so, so pale. Unlike the photo that was next to him. It was only from a few days ago. He was grinning. Laughing. It was with Mr. Money and Sushi, but they were edited out.

His real name was read out in multiple languages. From German, Chinese, Korean, English. It read the same. Liu “Dreamer” Yangyang. Friend. Son. Brother.

You gripped onto Johnny, and looked up at his eyes, trying to find his warmth. It had to be. It was supposed to be. Impossible. It had to be.

Johnny sighed quietly as his lips contorted, before he finally grabbed onto the words. “D-Do you remember how Dreamer always knew what you wanted for your birthday? And how he always shared with us the photos of Louis and Leon?”

A hot tear escaped your eye, as you hid in his huge chest and nodded. You nodded frantically as you began to sob. Johnny’s big hands held you, and he placed his chin on you, sighing quietly again. 

The plan was ruined. You lost the man who should be here and hugging you and Johnny before you both went on a cruise to Korea, and then after that, the world.

You let go to breathe, biting the inside of your cheeks with anger. Your gaze turned to Victory’s tears, and Sushi looking at the youngest member’s body

His face reminded you, strongly of how you were young once. Running away and living with Johnny out on the streets of Baise. You had only one television, the news, and that broadcast that evening was of a grown woman crying, over and over in Taiwanese, “WHERE IS MY SON? WHO TOOK HIM AWAY FROM ME?”

His eyes shared the same pain.

“Psy.” You turned as Mr. Money hugged you. Embraced you. He hid in you. “I-I can’t we could’ve lost you too. And John, we- fuck.”

Osaka was in the corner, looking down as he stared at the Ripple mourn.

Once Mr. Money had released himself, you stared at Jewel letting Smalls and Henry hug him tightly. Jewel despised any touching. 

The fierce, cunning man, couldn’t even look what is inside the coffin. He only held the two now youngest members close to his heart.

Your hands gripped, nails digging to your palms. Now this was something you couldn’t take. The Pound may have you and Johnny’s lives on a string. But nothing could describe your frustration, to Sicheng. Victory. Whatever his name was.

To Yuta himself.

Osaka got up from his place on the wall, and he strutted himself to the coffin. He peaked over. 

Today, the man wore not the white cult suit from the Pound, but a simple, and dull outfit. He took off his grey jacket, his white shirt bulging out oddly, as his black shoes, matching his black suit pants, had rubbed against the table that Dreamer was placed upon.

“He knew.”

Everyone turned to the man. Osaka took a katana from inside his shirt, and now the cloth hugged him. The weapon had a sky blue diamond handle. The blade itself was an opaque diamond. Osaka placed it in Dreamer’s hands.

Jewel stopped him, gripping it and he glared at him. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“I thought perhaps—,”

Jewel grabbed it with both hands, and he threw back into Osaka’s chest, stepping forward. “You don’t touch his body. You don’t look at it. What the fuck happened there.”

“John already explained,” Smalls tried to explain.

“No, bullshit. John is a nice guy. We don’t even fuckin’ know Osaka- in fact. It seems his Japanese is a little shaky.” Jewel pushed Osaka now, speaking in Japanese quickly, with poison. Your ears weren’t the best in the language, but he did say something along the lines of, “Speak now or hold your peace, bitch.”

Osaka took the blows from Jewel. But he looked up. “We were all ambushed by Dream Gems. You know that they work under the Pound. We believe Chenle—,”

“BBall.” Mr. Money held his cane and separated the men.

“Listen. I’m sorry. I wanted to pay my respects—,” Osaka tried to reason.

“YOU DONT DO SHIT HERE!” Jewel roared, his eyes glowing with anguish. “YOU GOT HIM KILLED!”

“He’s not dead.” You said.

Everyone turned.

“Really? He’s okay? Di-,” Sushi started.

“He’s in a very deep, deep coma.” You slowly take your hand back, and put it in your pockets.

Henry teared up, hugging Smalls, “G-Good.”

“That doesn’t mean shit. Yuta needs to be investigated. On our last and final mission all of the sudden it goes wrong?” Jewel said as he glared at Osaka from the side of his eye.

“Then let’s attack The Pound.”

Johnny held your arm and gently pressed four times.

What.

Are.

You.

Doing.

“We need to make the Pound pay for what they did. And if Osaka isn’t bad, he’ll help.” You look at Osaka. “Won’t you?”

Osaka’s cold face suddenly melted to the side as he leans on a hip and he raised a brow, his smirk curving out as he said, almost naturally, “Perhaps I will for ya, doll.”

Johnny rolled his eyes. “Who should go with us?”

“Gogo. He’s reliable, after all he’s known Sushi for a long time too, hasn’t he?”

The big man nodded. “Yeah.”

You look at everyone. You planned for a bigger plan. A bigger dramatic. But that’s the Pound’s job. Right now, a plan, quite without common sense, was forming.

And the goal is was for you, and Johnny to be safe.

“For the Dreamer.” You said firmly.

“For the end.” The Ripple echoed back.

[boogieboba]

From one Maxride re-write to another, how is yours going? Any scenes/situations you're excited to write? Any new characters/character arc changes that you're especially happy with?

i’m so glad you asked bc i’ve been dying to talk about it-

i’m about 27k words in, or about 2/3 of my original fic length and i’m about to end my first arc (angel experiment) and send leo totally off the rails into an entirely different universe. i’m trying to keep as many plot points from my og fic as possible but i’ve made some absolutely banger changes that i’m so excited about

so the first thing you need to know is that i’m rewriting an old fic of mine. the oc was max’s twin, a girl named stargirl (directly stolen from jerry spinelli. sorry bro.) and a daughter of zeus. she’s kidnapped at the end of TAE and enters the PJO universe at percy’s battle in the labrynth with the son of gaea/poseidon i can’t remember his name rn. she joins percy and co and helps chb fight luke’s army through the end of BOTL and into TLO. also it was a love triangle with iggy and nico (idk what i was thinking wtf)

this has changed.

leo is gonna end up siding with luke. i don’t know how exactly this happens yet, but as a daughter of ares, she’s extremely volatile and hates being used as cannon fodder. luke knows this and uses her anger to his advantage, aiming it to the gods and to the flock, getting her to “realize that everyone has been holding you back this whole time” mmmmm psychological warfare. also the love triangle this time is gay and poly, between seven (a child of tyche) and an unnamed german demigod introduced in the sequel (because i’m already planning a sequel lmao)

another character choice that i’m excited to work through is my jeb/prometheus parallel. god i’m so fucking excited. it was an epic Big Brain moment when i first had this idea and it has not let me go since. here’s my thought process about this:

so jeb is definitely a shitty person but i’m making him as a “doing the wrong thing for the right reasons” kinda guy

the myth of prometheus is that he steals fire from the gods to give it to the humans so they can survive, after his brother, epimetheus, gives everything to the animal kingdom.

their names literally mean forethought and afterthought

so here’s my reasoning

jeb helps create the flock because he doesn’t see any other way of fixing the world

the government is fucked

the military is fucked

literally everything is fucked and he has nothing left to lose

so he just goes

fuck it

and starts splicing dna or whatever and steals the sanctity of life to save it?????? idk bro it gets kinda deep

anyways i’m planning the prometheus scene in TLO to be sort of the climax of the whole thing as an emotional break for leo, we’ll see how it goes