#this is literally elena's earthquake!!!!!!!!!

[lilacerull0]

we can't talk if you find elena annoying in this episode sorry

[dios-teo]

NAME: Mateo Ruiz DEITY: Tlazolteotl AGE: 33, August 29, 1990 GENDER & PRONOUNS: trans male, he/him/his ORIENTATION: Homosexual FACECLAIM: Diego Boneta HOMETOWN: Tecate, Baja California - Mexico ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral

Tidbits:

HUMAN PARENTS: Jorge Ruiz & Rosa Ruiz (step-mom) DIETY LINAGE: Tlahzōlteōtl, Goddess of sexuality, vice, purification, steam baths, lust, filth, and a patroness of adulterers. Aztec Pantheon. SIBLINGS: Esteban Ruiz, Elena Ruiz, Gabi Ruiz. CLOTHING STYLE: Tends to wear a lot of sleeveless shirts along with beach shorts.

Mini-Bio || About:

This is a mess, I'll clean it up later.

In the Aztec calendar system, the days in the year are separated into two consecutive wheels of time. One of 13 day signs influence a month of twenty. Each month and day governed by a different duo of gods or goddesses depending on the corresponding day and month sign Tlazolteotl being one of these goddesses. She governs the fifth day along with the twenty day cycle that starts on the day sign of Ollin. Was it then by coincidence that Mateo was born on a day under her supposed protection? Born in Tecate, Mexico. It seemed as though every other year would bring about constant hurricanes and earthquakes. His father being a head executive at an oil company allowed his family the availability to relocate away from one natural calamity before being met with another. It would also allow for Mateo to study in the United States, or whatever you're supposed to call having your ankles meet your ears for almost four years. His time in the states was cut short, being called back to shadow his father at the oil company's business meetings. Often times Mateo would be bored out of his mind, having to keep a rotating cast of office assistants to entertain him in between meetings. Heated whispers promising them a seat on his staff if he were allowed to sit on theirs.

. . .

Day Itzcuintli Itzcuintli is a good day for funerals and wakes and remembering the dead. It is a good day for being trustworthy, a bad day for trusting others of questionable intent.

One of his favorites and company hopeful was Hector Suarez. He was a promising man around the same age as Mateo. A little older, and perhaps a little more cunning. Mateo often had a knack at spotting who amongst the white collar bramble were the opportunistic type. It took one to know one after all. Hector, however, seemed too play this to his advantage. While Mateo pulled him towards his bed, promising what they both knew he couldn't procure, Hector would pull him away from the secret meetings formed to oust his father from the company. Panes of glass fogged each night in a luxury car as the fog of deception closed in onto Jorge in a sudden and swift removal. Mateo had woken up with the ground shifting under him, literally. It had seemed mother nature would join in striking down the family as well. The cliff where their manor had stood collapsed down into the polluted seas below. He would wake up in a hospital bed, the only one recovered from the monstrous wreck. He had no home, he had no job waiting for him. He was alone. Only thing he had was his body and it was one he barely managed to hold on to.

August 27, 2023 - Day of the Call?

The thirteen day period (trecena) that starts with day 1-Ollin (Movement) is ruled by Tlazolteotl.

More to come.

[katiesharms]

i'm praying you don't see the signs (praying for you to me mine) - ch. 4

read on ao3!

a/n: it's phoenix's turn! probably my favorite one. lmk your thoughts!

After Phoenix notices it, that night when she can’t sleep before the Mission, the past signs of it become obvious to her. Maybe Bob’s right, maybe she’s a bit stupid. Just on land, though, and just about this. About Jake. Overall, she tries not to beat herself up about it too much. It’s not like anyone other than Coyote and Bob saw it, so she feels like she can cut herself some slack for being just a tad clueless. Or that’s what she thinks, until she calls her sisters.

She has a monthly FaceTime session with her two younger sisters, which she’s never missed, through deployments and trainings, it’s always taken priority. Though she loves her job, sometimes Nat misses her sisters so much it hurts. They’re close, only six years between her and Elena, the youngest, and growing up, it was the three of them against the world. It’s where she gets her protective streak from, watching over her two younger sisters her whole life. 

Phoenix kicks Hangman out of his own room for the call, not quite ready for him to meet her family yet and knowing Halo has their room...otherwise occupied. He only protests briefly, but dutifully leaves with a kiss on her cheek in departure.

When the call connects, Natasha can actually feel tears in her eyes at the emotion. Another reason to send Jake off; he doesn’t need to see her crying. 

After the chaotic, overlapping greeting with perhaps more squeals than necessary, Julia asks her, “wait, Nat, where are you?”

Looking around her, she tries to find anything that would distinguish this room from hers. Nothing on the walls would give her away, and all the bunks on base are identical. Their short stint at Miramar hasn’t given any of them the opportunity to decorate. “How’d you even tell I was somewhere new? Every room is identical; it’s literally the whole point.”

“Yeah, but your room has the lovely soft lighting from the faerie lights we got you. This one looks like an interrogation room,” Julia offers as explanation. Damn, her sister is observant.

“I'm, uh, in Jake’s room.” Natasha fights to keep the blush off her face as Julia squeaks, throwing a hand over her mouth to keep from making too much noise.

“Wait, who’s Jake?” Elena asks, confused.

“Hangman, mija. Remember that pilot from Nat’s birthday?” Julia clarifies, and then Elena screams loud enough that Natasha has to pull her AirPod away from her ear.

“Ohmigod, Tash, are you guys fucking?” she asks all in one breath.

“No!” she protests, and then amends, “well, yes, but not just that. We’re together.” She smiles as she says it, the newness of it all still making her feel elated.

“I fucking knew it!” Julia cuts in, speaking a bit more quietly than her sister. “El, you owe me 50 bucks.”

Natasha’s jaw drops. “You were betting on me? How did you even know this would happen?”

Her sisters somehow manage to exchange a look through the screen. She hates when they’re like this, in on something together that she doesn’t know.

“Remember your birthday last year? We met him while you were still getting ready and we were waiting in the visitors center.” Natasha does remember. When she arrived, her stomach dropped seeing that Hangman was talking to her family. She’d asked them what he said, but they all just giggled and didn’t tell her.

“Yes, but you guys only spoke to him for what, ten minutes?”

“Yeah, but that was plenty of time,” Elena says. “He was trying so hard to impress us, it was cute. He kept calling mom ma’am and he asked me about med school and Julia about her job at the Earthquakes. Like he was trying to prove he remembered stuff about us.” Phoenix can’t even remember telling Jake about any of that.

“Oh, and remember when he tried to speak to mom in Spanish?” Julia adds. “It was adorable; he kept using usted like the little white boy he is.”

“That’s why mom invited him to come with us to lunch. She totally thought he was your boyfriend. Jules and I came up with the bet in the backseat. I thought it would take at least another couple of years, based on how much you used to complain about him.”

Nat remembers that day extremely clearly. When she’d walked in and seen Hangman talking to her family, she was worried at first, about what kind of ammunition he was gathering. But when she reached them, she found instead that Jake was acting the perfect gentleman, asking her mom about the drive down and her sisters about their careers. When her mom invited him to come with, she almost insisted he accept, but he declined before she could. 

“Was it that obvious?” she asks a little meekly, thinking of Coyote and Bob. 

“Oh, no,” Julia reassure at the same time Elena says, “of course it was.”

“Elena!” Julia protests and Nat just laughs.

“It’s okay; I’ve accepted that I was a bit oblivious. Not anymore, though.”

Her sisters, recognizing what must be a very sappy look on her face, because the two of them go soft.

“Aw, Nat, we’re so happy for you,” Elena says. “And if he tries some dumb shit, we will destroy him, military laws be damned.”

“I think military laws are just the law, mija,” Phoenix says, but laughs anyway.

Later, when Jake is back and she's finally off the call with her sisters, she brings it up.

"My sisters had a bet on us."

"Oh?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah, apparently, you made quite the impression last year."

A blush rises to Jake's cheeks. "Was it a good impression?"

"My mom liked you, apparently. Enough to invite you to dinner." He relaxes at that, clearly relieved. "Next time, though, don't try to speak Spanish to her. Honestly, kind of embarrassing."

"I was trying to be respectful!" He protests.

"Babe, we don't even speak Spanish at home. I barely know it." She laughs at his sheepish impression. Her dad never spoke the language, so it didn't make sense to learn it fully .She speaks enough to get by when visiting family in Mexico, but mostly, she's monolingual.

"Okay, next time no Spanish. Got it." He looks determined, like he's making a mental note of it.

"Are you making a list?"

"Maybe," he answers meekly, and Nat bites the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing. It's cute, she thinks. That he's trying so hard.

"Don't worry," she pats his cheek affectionately, "they all love you already."

[bobbiamorse]

agents of shield at camp half-blood

(disclaimer that I’ve only read the original PJO series, and I haven’t revisited it for literal years, so if I contradict canon... you know, fuck canon anyways, right?)

Daisy is the daughter of Poseidon, who, in addition to being the god of the ocean, is also the god of earthquakes; she doesn’t have the same water powers as most of her half-siblings, she can control earthquakes pretty damn well (hence the nickname Quake)

Lincoln, obviously, is the son of Zeus and has a penchant for lightning bolts. He and Daisy bond over being children of the Big Three, along with...

Coulson, who is the son of Hades (because seriously, who else could cheat death so many times?). It’s kind of weird for him that the other kids of the Big Three are so much younger, but he loves Daisy immensely and still takes on a role as a mentor/father figure for her since she doesn’t often see her “real” dad.

Hunter and Elena are both children of Hermes, and are the chaos siblings that Camp Half-Blood does not want but absolutely needs. Hunter has more of his father’s roguish behaviors while Elena has his speed and ferocity.

Daisy, Hunter, and Elena are particularly close since Daisy spent her first three summers at Camp Half-Blood in the Hermes cabin before Poseidon claimed her. She sees them as her older siblings, and comes to them for things that she’s not comfortable talking with Dad/Coulson about.

Mack and Fitz are both sons of Hephaestus (where Mack is the cabin counselor). Mack is Fitz’s supportive older brother, especially after Fitz gets injured on a quest and has to deal with the after-effects of the injury.

Bobbi is a daughter of Apollo, even if most people assume she’s a daughter of Aphrodite. Like most of her siblings she excels at archery (she still does love her batons), but she also has the unfortunate ability of prophecy... though she can’t tell the difference between prophecy and paranoia most of the time.

Jemma is a daughter of Athena. She is annoyed as fuck she did not inherit the grey eyes, because she thinks grey eyes are awesome. (Also, she thrives on being around people who will listen to her obsess over her newest intellectual hyperfixation.)

Written for @agentsofchallenges’s March Madness, for Greek Myth AU (ish).

[daisybeewrites]

Academy Blues — Prologue

word count: 1.8k

warnings: not any for this chapter

ship: Dousy, background Fitzsimmons and Philinda

okay y’all.. here it is. the first installment of my first LONG TERM SERIES!!!!!! ahhhh i’m so excited. literally i cant wait to continue this and see where it takes me. i have an idea and a few different planning sheets, but honestly i have no idea where exactly this will end up. i love each and single one of you <3 thank you for reading!! this is also posted on Ao3, and linked in the masterlist.

Daisy hated the sound of the bells at The Academy. Screeching, awful, way too loud, the bells were the bane of her existence. They all wore standard-issue watches from the lab that monitored vitals and gave them reminders, and also told the time, for god’s sake! Fitz had even modified hers so that she could play snake on the tiny watch face! There was no need for the bells to be so excruciatingly disruptive. Though, Daisy guessed, there were many things more tortuous than bells ringing every hour and fifteen minutes.

Daisy slowed to a jog, cutting her morning run short. The bright side to being a third-year was that you chose your schedule, for the most part, and that meant Daisy had a free first period for four out of five days of classes. She usually spent this free period getting an extra hour in at the gym, boxing or sparring with Mack or Bobbi, two fourth years that had reluctantly taken her under their wings, or sleeping in. She reserved sleeping in for especially rough nights where visions of ashes and earthquakes and lightning returned time and time again, no matter how many deep breaths she took or sheep she counted.

But this morning was not one of those mornings. She had been up before sunrise, a little before her usual alarm and silently headed out of her dorm for a run. It was humid this time of year on most Virginia mornings, but never so hot that it made Daisy feel as if she was being smothered. The cooler air chilled her sweaty skin, her chest rising and falling as she jogged up the three flights of steps to the second years’ dorms. Down one long hallway, and she arrived at her room.

Daisy had been given her own room at the start of last year, complete with poly-adaptic-proto-whatever panels, which she had painted a pastel shade of purple, to compliment the greens of her cacti and the dark purples and blacks of everything else in her room. Even May had agreed that the stark white was too ”psych wing” for a bedroom. Daisy was grateful for the space, but considering the panels and the private room were only necessary since...

She shuddered. Grabbing her shower caddy, Daisy set off to the bathroom at the opposite end of the hall, hoping no one else was spending a free first period at the dorms.

Her shoulder-length waves were wet from bouncing against her neck, and starting to become annoying now that the sweat had dried and was starting to itch. Picking the white tiled shower furthest away from the door, Daisy quickly turned the water on, checked the temperature, pulled her sports bra and shorts off and hopped into the shower. Shampoo, condition, soap body, rinse. Checking her watch, Daisy found that she had showered in record time, less than three minutes. After spending another five just enjoying the hot water, she hopped out and changed into her class clothes.

Dark purple leggings, Coulson’s grey vintage SHIELD tee and a pair of white running sneakers she had “borrowed” from Jemma completed her look. Passing the mirrors, Daisy tried not to glance at herself. If her hair was messy or her undereye bags a bit too dark, she didn’t want to know. Instead, she headed back to her room to pack her bag for the day.

SHIELD-issued laptop, extra hard drives and a charger, Advanced CS 3: Ethical Hacking: Theory and Application, Advanced CS 4: Secrets of The Coding Languages, Physics notebook, an essay that was three days late on some boring book about international laws, and her sparring gear were all thrown into the black bag. She gave a second glance at the Russian notebooks Bobbi had loaned to her, promising that she’d learn without taking the class. Oh well, she still had all of this term to start. Plus, would she ever really need more than the dirty words?

One look at the alarm clock that sat on her dark hardwood night table showed that she still had almost forty-five minutes before she had to be in the computer lab. Sitting down on her bed, Daisy ran a hand over the grey blanket May had given her.

Daisy’s relationship with May and Coulson had been something of a problem with other students when she first got here. Some had been okay with the obvious paternal love Coulson showed for Daisy, showing her around and checking up on her, scheduling lunch dates and reminding her of tests. May was more subtle, texting her links to tai chi videos when she noticed Daisy getting too stressed or letting Daisy do her own thing if she saw that she was overwhelmed. Of course, none of the other students knew her family history, what she had gone through just to realize that May and Coulson were more her parents than her biological father and mother could ever be. She would see them later today—May during field training and Coulson in between lectures in the canteen.

Daisy walked over to her window to open her blinds, staring out at the campus she had grown to love. The large brick buildings scattered around acres of the Virginia countryside; green fields meant for physical activities like sparring or obstacle courses, or simply basking in the weather to study or chat; the dorms—red brick and concrete melded together to upgrade and expand the charming style of previously-built homes.

Grabbing a protein bar, Daisy headed to the canteen to make a green smoothie (and maybe snatch a cup of joe before she had to listen to an hour-long lecture on the reason SHIELD must cooperate with the UN’s stupid rules at 7:30 in the morning). Smelling the pines and morning dew surrounding her, she smiled slightly. Maybe this term wouldn’t be so bad.

———————————————————————

Daniel Sousa was a man of honor. He was a man of great strength. Agent Daniel Sousa, previously Officer Daniel Sousa in the US Army, was a man who could fix his damn alarm clock on his own.

Just, not today. Or the day before.

So, Agent Daniel Sousa was now hurrying his way to class at The SHIELD Academy, books in hand and gym bag slung over his shoulders. Catching a glance at himself in the shiny glass doors of the bio-chem building, he groaned. He hadn’t even brushed his hair. And, looking down, he discovered he was wearing two different shoes.

This is the college experience everyone raves about, he thought bitterly. You see, Daniel Sousa had enlisted to the army straight out of high school, forgoing university. He climbed the ranks impressively quickly, earning his place as second-in-command and reconnaissance scout in the 28th Infantry Regiment. Unfortunately, after only four years in the army, Sousa was injured in the field, losing his leg and almost his life.

He came back to the US a war hero, and yet, he felt he wasn't finished. So, when a recruiter named Peggy Carter knocked on his door claiming to be from SHIELD (“Wow, you guys are still a thing?”), he leapt at the chance to continue fighti-...doing good. The Academy wasn’t exactly what he had bargained for, though. Trying to earn his B.A. and training to be an agent at the same time was grueling, but nothing he couldn’t deal with.

No, six different one hour and fifteen minute long classes plus mandatory physical therapy every day wasn’t going to break him. Learning how to be a communications agent and re-starting field training and catching up on general college education was no problem. Pressuring himself to be the best, to break the limits, to get past all his weaknesses was just another miniscule feather to add to the pile.

Unless his stupid alarm clock broke. Then yes, Agent Daniel Sousa would fail, buckle under the weight and be left on the floor to die.

Maybe he was being a bit dramatic.

One bunny-slippered right foot and a sneakered left leg carried him forward, propelled by a quickly chugged orange Celsius and his sheer will not to be late.

Daniel heard the late bell ring out, understanding that, on his first day of class, he would be counted late. It wasn’t like him, not at all. Especially when his first class was a refresher course on field tactics and covert strategy, something in which he was already aces.

He let out a sigh, slowing as he rounded the corner into the comms building. At the Academy, most buildings were grouped into categories: the cafeteria, gym and pool, and student resource building all to the south; the gun range, obstacle course, and specialized gym to the east; bio-chem labs, tech labs, and smaller rooms for lectures to the west; the computer labs and comms buildings right smack in the middle; and dorms to the north.

He swiped a key card with his driver’s license picture and student ID, unlocking the sliding doors that led to the computer labs. It was quicker to short cut through them than to walk around the building to the entrance closest to communications classrooms.

It wasn’t because he knew a certain broody brunette spent her mornings in the lab.

No, it wasn’t, because she wasn’t in her usual seat in the corner, typing away.

He slowly walked through the rows of computers, searching for a familiar black backpack. Nothing was there.

“Hey, Sousa,” an accented female voice called behind him. He whipped around to see who it was, feeling just a twinge of disappointment when Elena, or, as most people knew her, Yo-Yo, was leaning against the door frame. Yo-Yo, a fourth year operations trainee, who was very close with Daisy.

“Hey, Yo-Yo. Good morning,” he called, “I’m running a bit late.”

Elena checked her nails casually, “Way to state the obvious. You were running faster than I could trying to get here before the bell.”

Daniel rubbed the back of his neck and blushed. “Yeah…”

“Daisy’s running late today, too.”

Daniel looked around, pretending that hearing Daisy’s name didn’t make him want to smile. “Oh, of course. She’s usually here early.”

Elena nodded, chuckling a little at his response. She couldn’t tell if he was oblivious or just a bad liar. It was charming, really. “Right. See ya ‘round, Sousa!”

“See ya,” He replied. He thought he heard a quiet ‘Lovable nerds’ coming from the direction she left, but he couldn’t be sure.

And so, with a last look around the computer lab, Daniel set off to arrive late to May’s lecture.

———————————————————————

okay okay,,, what do y’all think?? like/reblog and let me know! it’s the best way to support writers and it only takes a second! stay tuned for more chapters!!

[terraxcloud]

On the Lookout - DFFOO

I took a lil’ itty break (it’s natural disaster time and what-not). Truth is, I was waiting for Japan to release Act 3 Chapter 7 Part 1 of DFFOO.

Japan recently released Act 3, Chapter 7 of Dissidia: Final Fantasy Opera Omnia. Click here to see it!

The developers of DFFOO are aware of FF7R’s future (I don’t know if they’re FULLY aware, but I’ve learned to assume that they know way more than us). Chapter 7 of every Act thus far has been about Final Fantasy 7 to some large degree (Act 1 stars Vincent & takes place in a mansion, Act 2 stars Zack and the final boss is Sephiroth).

The following may be spoilers:

According to the trailer and from what I’ve seen, the final boss of Act 3 Chapter 7 Part 1 is Kefka and “his Kefka clones/manikins”.

I’m not at all surprised by this (I haven’t said anything about why though :V). I had a hunch that if FFX characters were featured in two Act 3 chapters, then FF6 can do the same.

This is a clear indication that Act 3 Chapter 7 IS a 6/7 chapter (w/ some FF11?), but the only thing I have is the trailer, so here’s the FF7 stuff from it!

Dani Cruz, who streams/posts DFFOO videos on Youtube said in one comment - “I'm hoping we fight Safer Sephiroth as the newest story cutscenes indicates that we will fight him next". This would mean that Kefka & Sephiroth are the main villains of Chapter 7 (unless it ends up being...Jenova or...her Sephy clones...or Gackt (don’t Lol)).

I would assume that Onion Knight’s crew will finally find the FF7 characters in Part 2. OH, And let me just say for those who are unfamiliar, Onion Knight is symbolized in FF7R as the character Oates. 

Not surprised that they chose Cissnei over Elena to be in DFFOO. This is the clear indication that there’ll be FF7 elements.

One thing about this chapter is that something “big” is happening. The loading screen of this chapter is literally the gods themselves. There’s an “earthquake” when the trailer shows the gods.

One time I DID post about the red nebula at the end of FF7R being very similar to the red nebula at the end of Act 2′s map.

You be the judge if there’s a connection here, but Act 2 was around during FF7R’s release calendar.

Act 3 Chapter 7 Parts 1 & 2 may be the best things to look at to get hints of FF7R Part 2. There are a lot of theory YouTubers and such, and those do have information that people EXPECT to find, but I haven’t found the slightest about FF7′s connection to FF6, something people aren’t expected to know.

I hope some people are searching for stuff beyond what I can do, since my life is lacking free time.

This is the trailer for Act 3 Chapter 7 Part 1 as I linked above.

Since I tagged FF6, let me just say that Act 3 Chapter 2 is the main FF6 Chapter. Not too many people play Opera Omnia. It basically starts in the ruins of Mobliz, which is the storyline that Advent Children modified and gave to Cloud to connect him with orphans. 

Kadaj is in DFFOO and will likely appear in Part 2 of Chapter 7.

I’ll write about Zack soon (at least, I hope it’s soon)~

[swan2swan]

Shuriki is also a surprisingly scary villain because she doesn’t mess around.

There’s no “evil plot to kidnap Elena’s friend” or “I’m building a device to cause an earthquake”; she literally has one objective, and that is to murder Elena. She doesn’t mince words, either--she’ll gloat for a second or two, but then she just goes for the one-shot kill. She might as well have been walking around with a shotgun the whole time--all she has to do is point at Elena and say her magic spell, and if Elena doesn’t block or dodge in time, Elena is dead. And if Elena is dead, it’s Game Over for everyone.

So Shuriki becomes the scary monster from your nightmares, just walking slowly around and closing the distance until she makes eye contact with you, at which point she tries to kill you, and if she hits you, it’s over. She’s the Terminator walking around Disney Junior. She doesn’t want some magic crystal that she needs Elena to hand over, she’s not trying to find a hidden city or break through a wall or even hunt Elena down, she knows where Elena is and is simply trying to get to her. There’s no Xanatos Gambit, no “let’s team up”, no “can we talk about this”, no throwing hands or crossing blades--she deals with a one-shot, one-kill agenda.

The very first thing we see her do is murder Elena’s parents. Not “injure”, not “kidnap”, not “banish to the shadow realm” or “turn into birds”, but vaporize them completely in front of their daughter’s eyes. 

And it’s not even a matter of “well someone else can resist her” because we already saw that when Elena was imprisoned for forty years, Shuriki ruled unchallenged. She’s an Advancing Wall of Death--she can’t be tricked, reasoned with, deceived, or stalled. There’s no conversation, no elaborate plan, no “I just want to talk”. She has murder on her mind, and that’s scary. 

[5hfanfiction]

Love, Lauren (Camren)

Chapter Two: Coincidences

Coincidence /kəʊˈɪnsɪd(ə)ns/ (noun) - A remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.

☾☀︎

Have you ever heard of hitsuzen?

It’s a naturally foreordained event. A state in which no other outcome can simply be possible. It’s where only one result can be obtained by a causality, and all other casualties will result in another result.

So, let me give you the simplest example I can come up with. Say, you have a big exam but you didn’t study, the only possible outcome is that you fail. It’s as simple as that. That’s not a coincidence, it’s just hitsuzen.

What I didn’t know that when I took Aphrodite’s journal out of that crazed woman’s hands, my life would’ve become a series of coincidences. I didn’t want to believe everything was happening for a reason.

☾☀︎

“Lex?” My best friend opened her eyes. She was laying on my lap, as we sat outside studying for a pop quiz. Yes, you heard me correct. A pop quiz during the first two weeks of school. We barely did anything to even be quizzed on, but you know how professors are.

“Mhm?”

I sighed. “Do you believe in coincidences?”

She sat upright and turned to look at me, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean coincidences?”

“I mean, like say on your birthday, you wish for something and it happened.” Ever since I saw that slice of pizza in my room, especially after I wished for it in Aphrodite’s journal, I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

It was just a coincidence, right?

Lexa shrugged. “I mean, I guess that’s kinda weird. It could be a coincidence but it could also be some sort of terrestrial being that has answered your wish.”

A deity?

If there is a deity, a creator of all things, then it’s responsible for cancer, depression, mass murders, rapes, mass killings of innocent lives in earthquakes, flooding and so much more destruction. That was just a few of the evils present in the world today.

I’m assuming, this deity is responsible for the human traits/behaviours of greed, hatred, malice and every single source of cruelty, that humans inflict upon each other.

Hm.

“Why do you keep asking these types of questions?” Lexa looked at me in confusion.

I had in fact been bombarding her with very peculiar questions, but I needed to stop.

There was a logical explanation for what happened…but I just didn’t figure it out as yet.

I shrugged. “No reason. I guess I was just doing some readings on Aphrodite and it just intrigued me, is all.”

“Righttt,” Lexa dragged out. “Anyway, I should probably be heading to class. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

I nodded. We exchanged a quick hug and went our separate ways. I had to do some research for a paper, and since I had no class this afternoon, I planned on spending the rest of my day in the library. Which I strongly regretted the moment I set foot in the room, because there she was sitting at a table, surrounded by books.

As though she felt eyes on her, she looked up at me, and sent a soft smile my way.

“Lauren.”

I felt my throat tighten, and my heart rate speed up. She always had that effect on me whenever she said my name, it just didn’t mean the same thing as it used to anymore. I think right now, I was just afraid of making a fool out of myself in front of her.

“Elena,” I managed to let her name roll off my tongue. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she said. Her smile grew a bit wider. I noticed that she had dyed her hair black, and if it was possible, she had gotten even more beautiful.

Not that it mattered to me, anyway.

“How have you been?” Elena asked, and I wasn’t sure if she really wanted to know the answer to that.

Because truth is, I was lonely, but I was also somewhat living my best life at the same time. I’m not too sure if that was possible.

I guess I’m just a paradox.

But I need to stop being a damn paradox. I say I want to be happy but I allow myself to think about the past, think about something and someone that’s not going to come back. I say it’s time for a change, but I literally don’t do anything to make a difference in my life.

It’s time to let myself be happy.

It’s time to take control of my life. I need to speak and write my path into existence.

It’s time I let myself be happy, because God alone knows just how badly I deserve it.

“I’m fine,” I said, going with the simplest answer to the word. There’s this thing about having an ex, you’re never too sure if they really gave a shit to know your answer when they asked about your well-being.

It wasn’t the same for me.

“How have you been?” I asked her. “I haven’t really seen you around the halls.”

I saw some sort of emotion flash in Elena’s eyes but she pushed it away. “I’ve just been really busy with my classes.”

I nodded because I knew that was the end of our conversation, because every time we chatted, it always reached this length. So, instead of looking like a complete idiot, I waved at her and walked to a corner of the library, where I could’ve still seen her discretely.

A few moments of casually glancing up at her, I saw that a guy came and took a seat next to her. The way her face lit up when she saw him, I had remembered that she used to look at me like that.

You ruin your life by choosing the wrong person. Why are we so enamoured with the need to be someone’s first, rather than their person?

A love born out of the need to have someone to sleep beside, a love that caters to our need for attention rather than to fill us with passion, is not a love that would inspire you to open your eyes at 7 in the morning ready to take on the world. It’s not a love that will give your life a sense of purpose and meaning.

We must strive to find a sort of love that makes us want to become a better person.

I want a kind of intimacy that’s rare.

I know I crave affection, and I don’t want to be alone, but I think in the long run, it’s good for me.

Eat alone. Be alone. Take yourself out on dates. Sleep alone.

In the midst of all this, you will learn so much about yourself that you didn’t know. You’ll grow, and when you meet the person who makes your heart dance and lights your soul afire, you will be so sure of it.

Why?

Because you are sure of yourself.

I sighed and looked away from the couple. I opened my backpack and saw that I had slipped in Aphrodite’s journal in it. Pulling it out, I flipped to the second page. It was blank, but my mind was racing with so many thoughts, and as a writer, a blank page was simply an empty canvas in which my words were going to paint a picture.

I grabbed a pen and began to write, filling the journal with my thoughts.

Journal Entry #2

Dear Diary,                  I remember when I was just a little girl, my mom would tuck me in and read me bedtime stories, but there was this specific day, I had asked my mother about love. She smiled at me and touched my cheek ever so tenderly. She told me, “Lauren, honey, I can’t describe what love is, because love is something that you should feel. But it drives you mad. It sets your soul ablaze and you would never want that fire to be quelled.” And ever since then, I yearned for a love like that. I thought I found it, but soulmates don’t leave each other. Soulmates don’t break each others hearts. When I think of my person, I think happiness. It’s the most exhilarating and terrifying feeling that a human being would ever feel. Terrifying because you know that your happiness can be taken away from you at any given moment. Exhilarating because, it’ll be worth it even though you lose it along the way. I know that she’s out there looking for me, as I am in search of her. An ethereal beauty. Someone, with just one look can send shivers throughout my entire body. Someone so beautiful that’ll make Aphrodite herself look less than a goddess. Her eyes, painted with a hue so softly grey that can remind you of the moon, that when I look into it, I can see our future in those pools of grey. She may not always smile with her lips, but damn, it is her eyes that shine instead. It will possess this sort of radiance that makes every man and woman too, who sees it feel the need to submit to her, and smile too. For smiling eyes is the most sincere and pure emotion that anyone can show.                     I like my people a bit damaged. Rough around the edges. Someone that isn’t just an open book. I like people whose eyes tell a story, and someone whose smile, even after all the mental and emotional wars that they have fought, still manage to have a smile on their lips. You see, all I ever crave is authenticity. I want to see the way they wear their scars, rather than hide them behind fake smiles. I want someone to let their walls down and let me love them naked. Their damage may not be beautiful, but to me, whoever she is, she’ll always be beautiful to me.

Love, Lauren.

I signed the entry and reread it. I know on most occasions, I may come off as a pessimist and a realist, but I swear, I have so much love in my heart. I know that there’s someone out there for me.

My dream girl.

I picked up my things as I realised it was getting quite late, and I wanted to have my usual afternoon stroll through Manhattan, so I decided to head back to my dorm.

“Hey, Laur,” my roommate greeted me with a smile, as I entered our shared room.

I sent her a smile back. Her name was Renee and I had been her roommate since the beginning of this school semester. We had been in a few classes together, but I won’t necessarily call us friends, more like acquaintances.

“Hey, Renee. What’s up?” I asked as I took a seat on the couch. “It feels like I haven’t spoken to you in forever.”

Renee laughed. “Maybe that’s because you either leave way too early, or get back when I’m passed out cold. But I’ve been good. School is kicking my ass and it’s only been like a few days into the semester.” She tossed me a can of soda, taking a seat opposite to me.

“I’ll be lying if I said I can relate, but I can’t,” I took a sip of the cold drink. My roommate and I exchanged a few words before she had to leave for her final class. One thing I couldn’t do, those late night classes. When she left, I took a shower and threw on a change of clothes, then headed out for my afternoon into night stroll.

I looked up at the night sky. There were so many stars out. It was absolutely breathtaking. The night sky was one of the reasons I always wanted to fly. It is the most beautiful form of art. It comes alive with raw energy, and it’s a sight for the eyes. At times, during my strolls, I could feel it vibrating somehow, with the words whispering into my ears.

I guess, to me it always felt friendly. In a world of people that is so devoid of love. Maybe it was the fact that I was born on a full moon; January 23rd, 1997. I always felt drawn to the moon and to the night for some strange reason, so I guess that was why.

In Greek mythology, it speaks about Selene. She was one of the three goddesses associated with the moon. But only Selene was regarded as the personification of the moon itself. She was known as Luna and had the power to give sleep and light to the night. Selene was said to have shone her silver light down from her ethereal chariot in the heavens, that was carried by two snow white horses, as she roamed the skies at night.

So I guess, she was the Greek version to the Sandman.

Too caught up in my thoughts, I hadn’t realised that I was about to bump into someone. I had knocked the stranger down, along with the belongings in her hands.

“Shit!” She muttered out.

I stooped to her level and tried to help her gather her belongings. “I’m so sorry about that.” I said sincerely, but she didn’t respond. She had a hood pulled over her head, that most of her face was hidden from the world.

We both instinctively reached for the final item on the ground, our hands touching. I felt a sort of spark run through my arm when she touched me. I don’t know if she felt it too, but she pulled away ever so quickly; the moment our hands touched. She rasped out a small ‘thank you’ when I handed her books back to her. Before I even had the chance to process what the hell just happened, the mystery girl was practically sprinting away from me.

I guess she was just in a rush.

I stood and remained in the spot for a few moments, until I felt as though someone was watching me. I looked around, but there was only a faint glow of a white light in an alley that faded away when I looked up. A chill ran through my body, but I shrugged it off and walked away.

If someone wanted to kill me, I guess they would’ve killed me by now. There was no use in waiting.

I looked down at my hand, and I kept feeling that tingling sensation from the girl’s touch.

How can a random stranger affect your body in a way like that?

I shook my head. I was overthinking things, that was something I always did.

Overthink.

***

“Soulmates,” Mr Centaur’s voice boomed throughout the lecture hall. “Can anyone tell me what Greek Mythology says about soulmates?”

I was practically falling asleep in my class because the night before, I kept having weird dreams about the girl I bumped into a couple nights ago.

I never did see her face. Every time I saw her in my dream, her face was covered with darkness, but her eyes, I always saw her eyes.

Beautiful grey eyes.

I couldn’t understand why I kept dreaming her, it hadn’t made any sense, but I guess it was just my subconscious trying to figure out what this girl had looked like. And maybe why I felt something when our hands touched.

“Miss Jauregui!”

I snapped out of my thoughts. I felt all eyes on me, I guess my professor realised that I hadn’t been paying attention.

“Can you please answer the question?”

Because I had completely zoned out, I didn’t know what the question was. Thankfully, the person next to me, softly whispered it.

A lifesaver.

“I..uhh,” I began, still a bit out of it. “It was believed that humans were born with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. But Zeus had feared the power that a human would’ve had, so he split them into two separate parts. Condemning them to spend their lives in search of the other half.”

My professor nodded in content. “Thinking on your feet, Jauregui. Next time, pay attention.”

I smiled sheepishly and sunk in my seat. I hated being called out in my classes like that; it seldom happened but I still hated it.

“In the beginning there were three parents: Sun, Moon, and Earth. Each produced an offspring,” my professor continued his lecture. “From the sun, it produced the man; from the earth, the woman and lastly, from the moon, the androgyne. Each of these three was a double.”

I made my notes in the class, trying my best to pay attention, but this faceless girl was all that I seemed to think about.

Before I knew it, the bell had rang signalling the end of our lecture. “Before you leave, I have your final assignment. It’s worth 50% of your grade. I want you all to write about your experience with love, more specifically, someone who you thought was your soulmate. It must be nothing less than ten pages, I’ll see you all next class.”

I groaned but, I still made a note of this nonetheless, because whether I liked it or not, I was going to do my assignment.

Lexa had been waiting for me when I exited the lecture hall. She smiled as she saw me approaching her. “Hey there, best friend! Why do you look like death?”

“Because I feel like death,” I mumbled and dramatically threw myself at her. “I just need my bed to be honest.”

Lexa laughed. She wrapped her arms around my body, and patted my back. “Well let’s get you to bed, yeah?”

“Carry me?” I pulled away and pouted at her, trying my best to convince her, but I knew the distance was too far away for her to even consider doing that.

Lexa smiled. “How about I tuck you in, and read you a bedtime story?”

I rolled my eyes playfully as we pulled away from our embrace. “How old do you think I am? Five?”

“Actually, you act like two,” she stuck her tongue out at me. We linked arms and headed back to my dorm. On our way back, I hadn’t said a word to Lexa, I don’t know why I was so caught up in my thoughts all of a sudden.

I was always a daydreamer, but it was never this bad.

I’m constantly lost within my own thoughts and fantasies. I think in a sense, I never wanted to be a part of the real world. But I always knew that logically speaking, there was nothing I could’ve done about that. So I submerged myself into daydreaming; making up thousands of scenarios in my head that wasn’t going to happen.

When I was younger, I would always daydream about meeting a girl. We’d bump into each other, at a coffee shop and everything would blossom from there.

Cliche?

I know, but it never stopped my thoughts from running wild.

I always wanted to know, how could someone make their daydreams into a reality?

“Hey, Laur?”

I turned my head and locked eyes with my best friend. “What’s up?”

“There was someone outside your dorm today. I didn’t quite catch the face, but she didn’t seem familiar.”

“A woman?” I asked in confusion. I don’t usually get visitors unless it’s my parents, and if it had been my parents, they would’ve called to inform me to expect an impromptu visit.

Lexa nodded. “Yeah. She was dressed in all white,” she shrugged. “I was going to approach her, but someone bumped into me and when I looked back at where she was, she wasn’t there.”

“What do you mean, 'She wasn’t there’?” I asked incredulously. “She couldn’t have just disappeared.”

“I mean, she wasn’t there, Laur! The hallways are long as shit, and I looked from left to right and the person wasn’t there.”

I simply nodded just to end the conversation. I know that occasionally Lexa and some of her other friends would smoke, so I had just passed it of as though she was high. But, I mean these last few days have been very weird.

The diary.

Pizza randomly appearing in my room.

Bumping into that girl.

And that strange white glow in that dark alley.

Now this woman randomly appearing in front of my room, then disappearing?

Were they all connected?

***

I was sitting in my room, staring at my diary. My roommate was out late and again, I was ever so grateful to not have her here with me. I placed Aphrodite’s journal on my coffee table, for some strange reason, I thought staring at it would give me answers.

I’m not saying that I believe it was this journal that was causing these strange coincidences, but I mean…it was a possibility.

I grabbed my laptop and pulled up Google, hoping that I would find some answers. I typed in 'Aphrodite’s Journal’ and nothing came up, just a bunch of sites trying to educate me about Aphrodite, but I already knew everything important that there was to her.

I spent almost an hour scouting through various sites, but came up empty handed.

“Fuck!” I slammed my laptop down in frustration.

“Damn, Lauren,” I heard my roommate’s voice. I glanced at the time and realised just how late it was. “What’s gotten you so mad?”

She took a seat opposite from me, eyes falling on the diary, but she didn’t say anything.

I sighed, placing my laptop on the side of me. “I’m just trying to research something, but I can’t find anything useful.”

“What are you looking for?”

I contemplated about telling her about the journal, but I’m pretty sure she would’ve thought that I was crazy. I even thought of myself as being bonkers but I didn’t want to admit it.

“It’s just school stuff,” I said, hoping she’ll drop the topic.

Renee nodded and reached for the journal. She ran her finger along the sun charm, intrigued. “This is a really cool looking journal. Where did you get it?”

“At an antique shop not to far from here,” I told her.

She nodded. “I feel as though I’ve seen something like this once, not too long ago, actually.”

“Wait, really?” I asked curious to know if this was just another book, with no special powers to it.

“Yeah,” Renee said. “But the thing is, her book had a moon charm on it, rather than the sun.” She tapped at the charm, shrugging. “I asked her where she got it, because it was pretty cool, but she said some strange woman gave it to her.”

Strange woman?

Okay, fall the fuck back. What was going on here?

“The girl was really beautiful though,” my roommate said as though I had asked that minor detail. “She had the most beautiful grey eyes, I’ve ever seen.”

Grey?

I was always fascinated with grey eyes for some reason. They always reminded me of the moon, and though they say the moon isn’t actually grey, it looks grey to me. If you look at it during the day, it would look like a tinge of white surrounded by the blue sky. But at night, it looks like a bright yellow.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed heavily. “Well, that’s all a bit… strange.” I muttered under my breath, too soft for Renee to even hear.

“Anyway, I’m going to take a shower,” Renee handed me back my journal and walked away.

☾☀︎

I stared down at the journal in my lap, not knowing the power that this mere book possessed. It possessed the power to change my life, literally.

☾☀︎

I kept staring at it. I wasn’t sure if my eyes were fucking with me, or the sun charm was actually glowing.

“What the fuck?” I grabbed my glasses and slipped it on quickly, because I couldn’t believe my eyes. The charm only got brighter. I reached out hesitantly to touch the charm and pulled away once I felt a tingling sensation run through my body.

Okay, I was officially terrified.

☾☀︎

But, the thing is, I didn’t know there was someone else sitting behind this journal as well, flipping through the pages. I didn’t know that when the charm I had…glowed, the person’s charm was glowing as well.

What I didn’t know, was that the person who possessed a similar journal to mine, was going to become a significant person in my life.

My soulmate if you will.

And I think, if you asked me years later, I probably would’ve told you that I was scared.

Sometimes you go through something and it hurts and you don’t know if things will ever be okay after that. I’ve said it countless times before, I was completely over Elena, but the breakup made me feel as though no one was ever going to want me.

But then, the days went by, and I didn’t feel like crying and I wondered if it meant that I was fine. I thought that maybe, I was just ignoring my feelings, bottling everything up, and that maybe they might come back out of nowhere.

But then, there was one day, I was riding the bus, on my way home, bopping my head along to my favourite song and humming along to to words, only to realise that I was happy.

Not necessarily happy with my life, but happy with who I am, right this moment.

Maybe, Elena didn’t break my heart as bad as I thought.

Maybe it made me stronger and maybe I can survive possibly anything.

Maybe, meeting someone new was going to make everything okay again.

☾☀︎

I watched as the glow of charm faded away. A bit too spooked out, I grabbed the journal and shoved it under my bed.

I think, that was enough of Aphrodite for one day.

[theclaravoyant]

have you done a post about which Greek godly parents the aos cast would have? If not... do you have opinions?

I actually have not done one yet! I thought I had, and I just spent way too long looking for it (the plus side - I’ve now started clara’s edit tag, clara’s vid tag, and clara’s playlist tag) BUT ANYWAY here’s a short version of what I think (and I might make some longer/more detailed posts when I get more time...

Daisy Johnson as Daughter of HadesThis is the one I have the most feelings about!! From earthquake powers like PJO’s Nico, to her position as a major character and therefore child of a major god, to her (and especially her powers’) association with death, and feeling like she’s a curse & brings death to the people around her. In terms of a plot; she was unclaimed for a looooooong time (& was beginning to think maybe she was a daughter of Hermes after all; crafty, an underdog, a bit of a thief and a hacker / messenger), then she would be claimed, and goes ‘omg I’m a monster’, but then goes through a journey discovering that she and her powers can actually be something beautiful and/or heroic.

-

The others I haven’t thought about as much and I really have a lot of work to do so I should probably not get too much into it right now but feel free to ask me more:

Fitz - I’m pretty happy with the fandom’s general idea that he’s a son of Hephaesteus, a crafter/creator tbh. I also think Poseidon could work? but that’s more of an association of him with a) water and b) water symbolism, from storms to calm and truth and all that.

Jemma - Athena is a good one, and one of my fave goddesses, but I also like her as Asclepius (which I believe @buckysbears) or, my personal fave, as a daughter of Nemesis. I really like the idea that Jemma seems to have two such strong sides; one of kindness and healing, and one of really intense protectiveness and vengefulness. Nemesis gets a bad name, but really it’s all about balance and I think that’s something interesting to explore with Jemma.

Bobbi - Athena, especially because of her stuff in 2x16, she seems to care a lot about the balance between law and justice and how to achieve that, and since Athena is goddess of wisdom and civilisation amongst other things I think it’s a really good one for her.

Hunter - Hermes. A trouble-maker and a thief, witty and cunning, but kind in his heart and willing to take in others and show them the love that has been neglected. A believer in people, as well as a trickster.

Trip - Apollo. Not just because he is a human ray of sunshine but because he is also the god of music and poetry so he literally brings the noise and the funk whereever he goes. He also has a positive, gentle and healing personality whilst being bright and cheerful and inspiring.

Lincoln - son of Asclepius, goddess of medicine & healing; not just because he’s a doctor but because I believe his “purpose” was, in a more general sense, to heal (& not to die, but that’s a rant for another time)

Mack - hmm, maybe Athena, as the goddess of reason, or Hera, goddess of family, or Soteria for salvation & deliverance, or Eleos, mercy & compassion.

Elena - hmmm, Dike for justice or Eleos for mercy & compassion

[katoktm3]

Nicolae Ceaușescu

Toured parliament on this beautiful breezy sunny day. So many things to write about… I am overwhelmed with information. I am the tourist that is always up front with the tour guide… so I can hear and it gives me extra time to ask questions while others take photos and catch up… yes, I am that person….

So the tour guide..must be late 30’s was 8 when the dictator of Romania was overthrown in the revolution…1989. He was in power for almost 50 years….from 1965… I really don’t know a lot about communism, so to hear her stories was fascinating…and she is still so angry. For example… the gov controlled all the heat to every home. It would be the middle of winter, below zero and the gov would shut off heat. She said it was often warmer outside than in.

I can’t even guess how to spell the dictators name and I don’t have wifi right now. So, I think his first name was Nicholas…and his wife Elena travelled all over the world and saw the richest pAlaces.. then came back to build the largest administrative building in the world..each room modeled after a different palace they had visited. The magnitude of this place is astounding. Anyway in the late 70’s there was a huge earthquake and the only area not effected was where he decided to build.. so thousands of families had to leave thier land and home in literally 24 hours. And in 1983 he started building. Thinking it could be done in 2 years he had all of Romania working 24 hours a day 7 days a week to finish. Every material inside is Romanian… marble, crystal, rugs, silk, art, etc. he wanted to show off to the world how Romanian was self sufficient. As an aside…I can’t believe all this was happening when I was in college! It did not take two years.

My tour guide told how gross she thinks silkworms are still today. When she was in grade school, everyday, the students would gather mulberry leaves and have to feed worms. She did not understand why they spent so much time doing this. Then the teachers would have to harvest the silk and send it to weavers… silkworms aren’t native to Romania so it was the job of schools to grow the worms!!!

Ok I know I go on and on and I still am.. but before the building was done, the people revolted and he and Elena went to trial, were convicted of crimes against humanity, and were immediately put before a firing squad that day! He never saw the completion of his dream and the people saw it as a symbol of corruption…so what to do? Demolish or finish? They decided to finish it.. but it is so massive and ornate that it wasn’t completed until 2005!!!

Now the answer to why Michael Jackson is so revered over here… after WWII the Romanian people prayed that USA and Britain would protect them from falling into communist hands…but no such luck…hard times aheAd… then, 4 years after they became a democracy they were aloud to join NATO … my guide said people were so elated that it was like “Jesus came down from the sky”. They loved western ways so much that when McDonald’s and Michael Jackson both came the same year… it was craziness…they are now both symbolic of the struggle! Actually MJ was the first to ever appear on the"dictators balcony" overlooking the square. He walked out and waved.. it is now named Michael Jackson Balcony!!!!

A final note. I asked her if she noticed an immediate change after communism fell..nope…she said the 90’s were all chaos as people didn’t understand that a government and society had to have a set of rules to follow. She said it wasn’t until around 2003 or so that things were structured and growth started. This explains why my friend at school said he was in Romania about 15 years ago and he told me it was lawless and wild…her fear now is that the younger generation is fearing terrorism in Europe so much that many groups are forming both way left and way right that feel a military regime would keep them safer. My tour guide looked so sad as she kept saying “they just don’t understand what it means to have freedom and rights” she said she is a black swan, and was always afraid to speak until given the freedom to do so.

Alright so much more I could add but I will get off the Communist podium and move on. But all of this happening while I was worried about what dress I would wear to a sorority formal. Pretty eye-opening

To think everyone here who is 25 years younger than me and above have lived under a dictatorship that they can remember!

Just found a hidden coffee shop..thanks Pinterist… the owners family has been brewing coffees since 1533… he is some famous coffee book author.

Btw. Smoking is alive and well here in Romania. Karen line should be arriving within the half hour. I wanted to get all this down before I forgot it. Will check in later. We are having dinner at the oldest restaurant in town very famous restaurant. Famous for beer!

Sent from my iPhone

[biofunmy]

Reimagining Old Friends at the National Theater in London

LONDON — Shall we all speed-read together? I mean, as in consume hundreds and hundreds of pages as fast as the human eye permits.

We’ll let our attention alight briefly on names of characters, central plot points and major thematic statements, via a text that has been helpfully illuminated with neon marker. And all those pesky auxiliary words used to summon nuance and detail will runtogetherlikethis into an inky cloud.

Such is the experience of watching “My Brilliant Friend,” the breathlessly paced, two-part stage interpretation of Elena Ferrante’s “Neapolitan Novels” at the National Theater. Adapted by April De Angelis and directed by Melly Still, this production compresses the acclaimed four-volume portrait of two women who come of age in mid-20th-century Naples into less than five hours of galloping onstage synopsis.

Though I haven’t seen any of the Italian television version shown on HBO (eight episodes so far, with a projected 24 more to come), I eagerly devoured each of Ferrante’s books as soon as they were published in English, so I was generally able to follow what was going on in De Angelis’s version.

But heaven help the innocent theatergoer who meets Ferrante’s characters for the first time in this production by the National Theater and the Rose Theater Kingston. After watching both parts of the show in successive performances, I saw fellow audience members stumbling out with glazed eyes and what-was-that-all-about expressions. “Well, it might make a good movie,” I heard one of them say to another.

“My Brilliant Friend” was one of three new theatrical adaptations I recently caught at the National, each of which inevitably inspired reflections on their differences from the works that inspired them and the perils and pleasures of recontextualizing the familiar. Less than 10 hours after arriving in London, I was plunged into the churning, fantastical waters of “The Ocean at the End of the Lane,” based on Neil Gaiman’s popular 2013 novel about a British boy’s encounter with cosmic forces of evil, which I had read on the plane from New York.

Two days later, I spent time with a set of unhappy women I have been enthralled and irritated by since I was 12. They would be the title characters of Chekhov’s “Three Sisters,” who have been reimagined by the playwright Inua Ellams as residents of the civil-war-torn Nigeria of the late 1960s.

Curiously, of these three productions, “My Brilliant Friend” was both the most faithful, in literal terms, to its source material and the furthest from what makes its prototype so seductive. The play manages to cover most of the entire five-decade course of Ferrante’s plot, while dexterously signaling political and social changes in Italy via period pop songs and video projections.

There are more than three dozen individual characters listed in the program, which doesn’t account for the many other figures who show up to flesh out scenes depicting weddings, riots and natural disasters. They are portrayed by a cast of 24 humans and several winsome puppets, who all tirelessly dash up and down the four steep staircases that dominate Soutra Gilmour’s otherwise minimalist set, while the revolving stage of the Olivier Theater turns. And turns. And turns.

So very much happens in the course of human events here that when an earthquake hits Naples, it feels neither more nor less convulsive than the more soap opera-ish plot turns that have been occurring all along. At the center of this off-the-charts Richter scale tumult are two enduring female frenemies, and fortunately they are portrayed here, from childhood into late middle age, by Niamh Cusack and Catherine McCormack.

Cusack is Lenù Greco, the bookish one who studies hard and escapes from their old, squalid Neapolitan neighborhood to become a celebrated novelist. McCormack is the willful and wayward Lila Cerullo, a person of infinite intelligence and perversity to match.

Both actresses are great fun to watch, especially McCormack, who has the showier part. But with reversals of feeling and fortune happening so abruptly, it’s hard to make much sense of this central relationship. Delivered in theatrical shorthand, finer shades of ambivalence in Ferrante’s prose become baldfaced contradictions.

“Three Sisters” is nearly as replete with historical detail and eventfulness as “My Brilliant Friend.” The script by Ellams (who wrote the wonderful “Barber Shop Chronicles”) provides equivalents for each of Chekhov’s original characters, starting with the wistful, provincial siblings of the title.

They are embodied with commanding grace by Sarah Niles, Natalie Simpson and Racheal Ofori. It’s Lagos, instead of Moscow, that’s now the unreachable destination of their dreams.

Ellams’s title characters are hemmed in by newly insurmountable obstacles when war erupts between Nigeria and the breakaway republic of Biafra, where they reside. Chekhov’s discussions about the meaning — and meaninglessness — of life have accordingly been expanded to embrace subjects like the evils of British neocolonialism and the erasure of cultural history.

In this version, the women’s new and unloved sister-in-law (an entertainingly overripe Ronke Adekoluejo) isn’t just a pushy parvenu; she’s Yoruban and may even be an enemy spy. And every so often, a spectral figure in ceremonial garb — a sort of spirit of place incarnate — shows up to roam Katrina Lindsay’s expansive indoor-outdoor set and chant forebodingly in the Nigerian language of Ibo.

It is to the credit of Ellams and the director Nadia Fall that so much historical and atmospheric detail is folded into “Three Sisters” without undue congestion. But the bigger picture provided here tends to make the sisters’ relentless worries — domestic, romantic and existential — feel kind of incidental.

When the threesome started moaning per usual after the local town market had been bombed, with devastating casualties, I found myself thinking of what Humphrey Bogart told Ingrid Bergman at the end of “Casablanca”: “The problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.”

Of course, when you’re still a child — like the reluctant hero of Gaiman’s “Ocean” — nothing seems more important than your own private fears. Gaiman’s book ingeniously gives a cosmic dimension to such solipsism, as a 7-year-old boy in rural England finds his quiet existence rattled by life-consuming, supernal forces of darkness.

Joel Horwood’s stage adaptation of Gaiman’s novel, directed by Katy Rudd, ages up its unnamed central character, who is now 12 and played by the very good Samuel Blenkin (and by Justin Salinger as the man he becomes). The play also diverges from the novel in making its young hero motherless.

Our hero’s allies in his battle against darkness are a mysteriously wise girl named Lettie Hempstock (Marli Siu, charming) and her earthy but otherworldly ma (Carlyss Peer) and grandma (Josie Walker). His mortal enemy is his dad’s perky new lodger (Pippa Nixon, having a great time), who sheds human form to become one really scary evil fairy known as Skarthach. (Despite placing a pubescent lad in mostly female company, sex never rears its inconvenient head here.)

This creature and the ungodly darkness from which she emerges are brought to nastily lyrical life by an expert team that includes Fly Davis (set), Samuel Wyer (costumes and puppets), Paule Constable (lighting) and the genius movement director Steven Hoggett. As such, “Ocean” is a pretty entertaining spook house.

What makes Gaiman’s book so arresting, though, is its summoning of the awful sense we have as young children that our darkest fantasies may be real. In externalizing those internal feelings, and making its hero an adolescent, Horwood’s play feels safer and more predictable, more in the mold of a conventional young adult adventure fantasy.

I completed my marathon of stage adaptations at the National with the impression that in such ventures, something is perhaps always lost in translation. All the productions did, though, make me savor afresh what I had enjoyed and admired about the pieces that inspired them. I am now wondering, by the way, if it’s too soon to start rereading Ferrante’s Naples quartet.

Sahred From Source link Arts

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