#yeah i think this is the worst book i've read all year so far
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kikuism · 4 months ago
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girl i still can't get over how bad the night ends with fire was
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earlgreytea68 · 3 months ago
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Do you have any book recommendations you might want to share? Anytime you happen to mention one I usually look it up!
Awwww I love this! This makes me happy!
I am really so picky when it comes to books, is something I've realized recently. Also, I think as I've gotten older, I've gotten more demisexual, but I'm so annoyed by all these books I read where people make the worst decisions but they "can't help it" because of lust, I'm just like, sigh, you don't even know that person! And what you do know of them is boring! I just finished this book whose entire plot hinged on all these people having affairs with the most inappropriate people but it's okay because, you know, they just couldn't resist, and I was just like, godddddddddd. Also, I just feel like I read so many books where every single one of the characters is annoying, and often this is done on purpose, but I don't like it any more when it's done on purpose.
This is all to say, I haven't read any excellent books recently. Probably the best book I've read recently was the Prince Harry memoir, that was excellent, I couldn't get over that.
I've read so, so many highly praised, recently published books over the past year but by far the best written books I read this year were Virginia Woolf's "Orlando" and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." I realize it is hardly fair to judge all the books I've read by the standards of two of the greatest writers of English of all time, so I'm trying not to, but anyway, yeah. I would especially recommend "Orlando," I loved it.
My all-time favorite book is "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There." I read these books every couple of years and they remain both hilarious and also the most accurate descriptions of adulthood imo. Like, I read these books and the characters Alice has to interact with and the situations she finds herself in, I'm just like, yup, been there, done that. I know maybe this sounds ridiculous AND YET, IT'S TRUE.
Other books I love and would recommend, randomly off the top of my head: "Piranesi" is incredible. I would have died for the narrator of this book, but luckily I didn't have to.
"To Say Nothing of the Dog" is this clever, rollicking, time-travel adventure that is hilarious and so is the poem it takes its name from, "Three Men in a Boat."
I've been reading the Murderbot series and I like it a lot, although I wouldn't say it's one of my all-time favorite books or anything. But it's enjoyable and the writer seems to actually like and care about her characters.
I read "The Daughter of Time" because I found it literally in a bargain bin of paperbacks at a yard sale and it's so good. I was thinking about it because I was at the Tower of London recently. It really stuck with me.
In non-fiction world, Matthew Desmond's book "Evicted" is absolutely searing and everyone in America should read it.
And I read the Michael Lewis book about Sam Bankman-Fried, "Going Infinite," and that was another absolutely fascinating read.
So there are some off the top of my head :-)
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detectivebambam · 8 months ago
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For the choosing violence thing.
I curious about your thoughts on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24, and 25
(Your thoughts make my day tbh)
lol i gotchu pinky
the character everyone gets wrong: Dan. she's not a badass. i mean she is, but she's not. she's a scared little girl who had to raise herself and has no idea what she's doing at any given time and i love her for it
why andrew would never top or bottom: actually he does both, and tends to enjoy it. kind of an agressive top but Neil likes it, and sometimes likes to follow orders when he bottoms 🫣 i think they do anything and everything with each other. Neil could be dominant or submissive at any given time, which gives Andrew space to learn about what he actually enjoys. He finds that as long as it involves Neil, he doesn't mind
worst tumblr take I've seen: that Andrew was a misogynist because he doesn't like being manipulated, and "manipulation is a woman's weapon" like how is THAT not misogynistic be so real
why did you block that annoying person?: kept saying that Kevin abused Riko as much as Riko abused Kevin. don't know how far they had to reach into the depths of their asshole to find that one, i just hope they didn't get stuck
i don't have discord
which ship fans are the most annoying: y'all are going to absolutely murder me for this but kevaaron. 1) where did it come from? 2) what's wrong with Katie?? 3) no hate ship what u want but also, i can ship what i want? and it's fine it's literally fine
what character did you start to hate because of fanon: i hate to say it but Thea. i adored her when I read the books originally, but after 4 years of exclusively fanon content i didn't like her. but i did a reread recently and adore her again so it's all good
common fandom opinion everyone is wrong about: Andrew being a sex god. Neil is his first consensual sexual partner. like yeah he knows how to suck dick like a dying man, which he learned in juvie (when he was 13-16?) but in terms of sex? he doesn't know what he's doing and he's probably really scared and nervous
worst part of canon: kevin and thea turning their daughter into a mini Raven 😔
worst part of fanon: Renee erasure 😔😔
fandom related words you've filtered: as of currently? anything tsc related because I don't have access to it yet and people aren't tagging properly. but I also have Rinee (rixo x renee) blocked because,,, what do you actually mean
unpopular character you like and why people should like them: Aaron. yeah he's an asshole and a little homophobic but he was raised that way and he's getting better
worst blorboification: if this means what i think it means, fucking riko. like wdym "he serves cunt" he needs to serve time
answered prev
answered prev
you can't understand why this is popular: kevaaron, any riko ship, riko himself, ichirou x neil, andreil breaking up in fics ?
there should be more of this: fic: oral fixation. sexual or non sexual idc but let's Freud these bitches. fanart: ANDREW WITH LONG HAIR PLS PLS PLS
it's criminal that y'all have been sleeping on: STUART HATFORD. LITERALLY NEXT TO WYMACK ON THE FATHER FIGURE SCALE. I LOVE HIM
you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like: i don't feel guilt I'm Presbyterian
part of canon you found boring: anytime they were in class like wdym
part of canon you think is overhyped: this one is going to get me in trouble so i wanna start off by saying that yes, Riko was a victim of abuse. I'm not disputing that at all. but the part where he got beat by Tetsuji and "was more blood and bruise than skin", while being horrible, was also because of Kevin leaving due to Riko breaking his hand. Tetsuji lost one of his biggest investments because of Riko's petty ego
fav part of canon that everyone ignores: Stuart Hatford man
ship you've unwillingly come around to: Kandreil lol. i didn't like it at first but idk the more fanfic i see I'm like yeah that could be cute
topic that brings up the most rancid discourse: picture this, if you will: Nora Sakavic says something about her own damn characters. yeah that's all
common fandom complaint you're sick of hearing: "it's poorly written" it's not. if you can get over the first chapter of The Raven King, the rest is actually written very well and it's so so beautiful and depicts traumatized characters in a way I haven't seen before that is very refreshing
ty for the ask pinky ily
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thewolvesof1998 · 11 months ago
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Created by @mostlyinthemorning
Day 12 pt. 1
Okay, so I thought I would do something special for the last day, here is a list of all of my favourite fics from all of my mutuals (I've read like 95% of these and others are highly anticipated!) I'm going to have to do this in two parts!
Lets Go to Bed by Wildgirl93 @wildlife4life  
Eddie just wanted to cuddle with his boyfriend and take a nap. Chimney just wanted a quiet place to sleep and steal Buck's bed just for a short time to do so. And Buck was just finishing his shower.
to you i'm just a man (to me you're all i am) by Underhung_Aura @eddiebabygirldiaz
Buck is fucking tired of living with his parents. He’s nearly thirty years old for Christ’s sake, and he is sick to death of being at their beck and call, of having to bend to their every whim, of being constantly scrutinized while also being constantly ignored. For his entire life he has been buried beneath their thumbs, his weak, aching, fragile body pushed further and further into the ground until dry soil and broken twigs flood his mouth, left to rot with the mark of their fingerprints burned so deeply into him that there’s no way of removing them. OR Buck is the son of the president of the United States and is finally moving out of the White House. His new home comes with new neighbors, Eddie and Christopher Diaz, who quickly become the center of Buck's world. But despite being out from under his parent's thumb, Buck's life is messy and complicated and ruled by the fact that he is the First Son which means he is always under the watchful eyes of his bodyguards. None of that stops him from pursuing a life with the Diaz boys, but there are many complications, some of which he isn't even aware of. Yet.
Your heart or mine? Yours every time by Spotsandsocks @spotsandsocks
Buck and Eddie get trapped in an elevator, which would be fine except Buck’s skipped a few meals recently and he’s a little hungry. He’s also not exactly told his best friend everything about himself so the secret he’s been keeping is about to be revealed at the worst possible time in the worst possible way. Buck can handle it though and if it comes to it he knows what he has to do to keep Eddie safe. Eddie however has his own thoughts on the subject and sometimes secrets aren’t as secret as you think. A soft concerned voice and a hand on his arm jerks him back to here and now, “Hey you ok? You’re breathing funny.” It’s the touch that does it, it’s both too much and nowhere near enough. Eddie looking at him like that, touching him gently, it’s too close to what he wants, and he wants a lot. He wants far too much from this man and he can’t have any of it. Unable to stop himself Buck jerks away, the movement far too fast and abrupt not to cause more concern in his friend. “Buck” Eddie’s hands are held up in a gesture designed to soothe and comfort, all it does is show Buck his pulse point.
we are a fresh page on the desk (filling in the blanks as we go) by heartbeatdiaz @loserdiaz
"Interesting read?" Buck asks and when Eddie shoots him a confused look, he nods towards the book in his lap. "Leave The Light On?" "Oh! Yeah, it's one of my favorite books." Eddie smiles, shy and charming. "I've read the series like, a thousand times." "Really? Huh?" Buck feels his heart thump erratically inside of him. Holy shit, holy shit. Eddie Diaz read his books.  Honestly, how is Buck supposed to act normal after such revelation? "I'm actually flying to an audition right now. Hopefully to be part of the movie for the book." Eddie says and then frowns. "Oh shit, I don't know if I should've told you that." "It's okay." He leans forward and grins, squinting one of his eyes and shrugging. "Your secret's safe with me.' or; Buck's a best seller author under a pen name, Eddie is an actor auditioning for the movie adaptation of his books, and somewhere along the way, they fall in love.
Castles Crumbling Downby jesuisici33 @jesuisici33
Eddie sits down on the bench, laying his head back against the cold stone wall. With his eyes closed and arms crossed, he hopes it fools the guards into thinking Eddie is more calm than he really is. That they can’t tell how much his heart is pounding or how his skin itches to start punching things. Again. Just like how they found him when his hood fell off and people let out cries that the Princess Assassin is here amongst them. OR: i had a tumblr prompt in my ask box and when i watched nimona things finally clicked.
you been looking for love (let me show you how it's done) by wikiangela @wikiangela 
“Are you-” he frowns, the confusion somehow winning with the urge to just lean in and kiss him so thoroughly he’ll forget about any other kiss he might’ve shared with any dates. “Are you doing all this on purpose?” “Doing what?” Eddie tilts his head, licks his lips, and – Buck’s almost a hundred percent sure – drops his gaze to Buck’s lips for a second. “Eddie.” Buck takes a deep breath, and wants so badly to kiss the smirk off of Eddie’s face. “Please.” “What for?” “You’re driving me insane.” he whispers, nails digging into his palms to prevent himself from reaching out. But Eddie’s thigh is pressed against his, and somehow his hand is on Buck’s knee now, and Eddie’s looking at him in such a way, that it makes Buck hot all over – or, hotter, his palms are sweating, actually. “And I feel like you are doing it on purpose.” or, Eddie is a tease, Buck is horny and jealous of Eddie dating, and a regular evening takes an unexpected turn.
so you've got the looks but have you got the touch? by BekkaChaos @bekkachaos
The 118 team spend a night out to celebrate Maddie and Chim’s engagement and wind up at Karaoke. They take turns singing and Buck thinks Eddie is so predictable and tells him so, only for him to throw a complete Louisville curveball and surprise him. But that doesn’t impress Buck. Not much.
Don’t spoil him because you feeling guilty (just love him how you really mean it) by disasterbuckdiaz @disasterbuckdiaz
“First of all, if I remember right, two months ago you were too old to have plushies,” Eddie points, looking at his son. He even portrays how Chris said it to him, which causes Chris to roll his eyes in response. “Don't roll your eyes, Christopher Diaz. Secondly, we agreed that since I'm buying you the fancy console you dreamed of, you don't ask for anything else for a whole month, do you?” Christopher sighs but nods in agreement. Eddie can't help but smile at how cute his son looks and raises his head to share this moment with Buck, who is not standing next to them. Eddie almost starts to panic when he sees Buck at the checkout. He returns a minute later and hands the penguin to Chris, who lights up brighter than the sun. or, 5 times Eddie tries to understand why Buck spoils Chris more than ever after his coma, and 1 time Buck tells him why
come close, let me be home by Daffi_990_ao3 @daffi-990
“Looking good out there, Buckley” Eddie says as he hands him a beer. Buck accepts the bottle and takes a seat beside him, popping the cap off to take a drink. “Any chance we’ll see you bust some moves on the dance floor, Diaz?” “Maybe, if I have the right partner”. Eddie’s looking right and him and Buck can feel a blush creeping its way across his cheeks. It’s shit like this that has him thinking maybe this thing between them isn’t just one sided. Buck takes another pull of beer, keeping eye contact with Eddie and watching how the other man tracks the bob of his adams apple as he swallows. “The night is still young and full of possibilities.” Buck replies, and he swears he sees Eddie’s eyes sparkle OR Buck and Eddie slow dance at Maddie and Chim’s wedding
merle said mama tried, but the prison still won by oklahoma @malewifediaz
“You’ve made bail, Diaz.” Eddie stands, wipes his sweaty hands off on his jeans, and clears his throat. “This isn’t even a real jail, Dwight,” he says, stepping through the makeshift cell door held open for him, and looks over at his rescuer. “Hi, Buck.” - Eddie goes to (mall) jail.
The Bridge by escapethroughreading @chaoticgremlinwholikescheese
"Dad? I think Buck isn't okay." "Why would you say that, mijo?" "I use 'find my friends' to keep an eye on him sometimes. Since he doesn't come over anymore. You know the bridge we drive over to get to school? Buck's been there for two hours. The weather's really bad. He shouldn't be out there."
i like the summer rain (i like the sounds you make) by fleetinghearts @shitouttabuck 
Death comes for Eddie in the form of a small fluffy bunny. Several small fluffy bunnies, actually. He’s not being hyperbolic, okay? This is how he goes. Hen and Chim can take their Drama Queen Diaz eye rolls and shove it. He’s having a perfectly reasonable reaction to the sight before him. And if the classic bright white light everyone talks about is more accurately a kind of warm glow dotted with sparkles and floating cartoon hearts in his current experience? Well, that’s between him and his God. or, it's truly tragic that eddie diaz isn't kissing buck buckley, especially when everything he does makes him so damn kissable The one with all the nicknames by buddiefication (pumpkincreamcoldbrew) @911onabc Eddie has never been overly fond of pet names. He uses them on Buck a lot, though. OR: 5 times Eddie calls Buck a platonic nickname + 1 time he doesn’t.
Feels Like Magic by 42hrb @exhuastedpigeon
“You used too much magic again,” Buck’s voice was quiet as he spoke, but he knew Eddie heard him. “You’re alive,” Eddie’s eyes were closed, but Buck knew the look Eddie would be giving him if they had been open. It was the same look Eddie had given him when he had said ‘because, Evan, you think you’re expendable but you’re not’. It was a look that made Buck feel truly and completely seen in a way he never had before. “There’s no such thing as too much if it saves you.” “Go to sleep,” Buck said, because if he left himself say anything else he’d be telling Eddie he loved him and he didn’t think in the bunk room at two in the morning after an exhausting call was the right moment, but then again, Buck was pretty sure he’d be taking that secret to his grave. -- An urban fantasy AU where most things are the same, except there's magic and supernatural creatures!
now go stand in the corner and think about what you did by eddiediaztho @spagheddiediaz
Buck was the most forgiving person Eddie knew. In fact, Eddie was pretty sure that Buck was the most forgiving person that anyone knew. He had forgiven Maddie for leaving him when he needed her the most. He had forgiven his parents for their years and years of emotional neglect (amongst other things.) Hell, he had even forgiven that psychopath that blew up the fire truck that almost cost him his career and his life. Which is why Eddie was beside himself that he was going on hour twelve of the cold shoulder from his best friend.
you can see it with the lights out by yourcatfishfriend @your-catfish-friend 
Eddie has Halloween plans: stay home and mope because Chris is trick-or-treating with his friends instead of his dad. Buck interrupts to introduce Eddie to the joys of Adult Halloween, and Eddie realizes a few things.
i could get used to having you around by HungryHungryHippo @hippolotamus
Even so, there’s a certain intimacy in knowing Buck is comfortable there, cooking a meal with Eddie’s kid and saying - in different words - come home to us. The thought tugs at his heart, and within seconds, Eddie tosses his phone aside before throwing his truck in reverse. He thinks he might hear music when he approaches the front door. Inside, it’s difficult to decide what he notices first. Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now playing through the Bluetooth speaker, the aromatic blend of spices emanating from the kitchen, or the way his heart skips a beat when he sees Buck standing next to Christopher, laughing and stirring something on the stovetop. “What a homecoming,” Eddie praises. He’s 87% certain there’s a dopey, lovesick grin on his face. Chris and Buck both stop what they’re doing to turn and look. Buck smiles warmly, like someone much more important than Eddie’s just arrived.
Too busy being yours to fall for someone new by LadyDorian05 @ladydorian05 
Natalia helps Buck pick a couch for his apartment, but when the wrong one gets delivered he starts to think maybe it's some kind of cosmic sign from the universe. Determined to not let his best friend mope to death, Eddie decides it's time that he helps Buck find a couch so that he can stop associating a piece of furniture with the success or failure of his romantic relationships. And he does, Buck finds the one.
Flickers of Fate by steadfastsaturnsrings @steadfastsaturnsrings
"Did-Did the man who helped me pull out the dead solider survive?" Eddie mumbled, "He-He....said he was right behind me but then disappeared...Is he okay?" "There was no other man, Diaz, You were the last one out of the helicopter. You pulled out that solider all by yourself" The official standing over him responded, looking at Eddie curiously. Eddie opened his eyes again, trying to sit up. "Easy, Easy Diaz" The official soothed, putting his hand on Eddie's chest so he would lay back down
Paradise Blue by king_buckley @king-buckley
When Evan Buckley ran away from his problems to a resort in Italy, he never thought that the enigmatic bartender would have quite the impact on his life that he did. alt title - i went to italy and fell in love with the bartender and had to make a bartender!eddie au
tagging: @hippolotamus @exhuastedpigeon @steadfastsaturnsrings @monsterrae1 @pirrusstuff @spotsandsocks @buddierights @jamespearce9-1-1
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sweaterkittensahoy · 11 months ago
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Hello! I have a bit of an embarrassing question to ask you, and you don't have to respond if it's too uncomfortable a topic to discuss. I've been struggling with my family's annual re-watch of Harry Potter this year (something I can’t avoid without upsetting and/or offending my parents), and it's made me think a lot about fandom and my place in it, though I haven’t been active with HP for many years. I had, recently, and briefly, considered doing a podfic of one of the fics I most loved when I was still in fandom, and have since concluded that no matter how far removed from the source material (as an early Marauders fic with M/M and significant deviations from the source material) it just isn’t appropriate anymore.
As to the other fics (written, not pod’ed) still existent on my account, I haven’t quite decided what to do about them yet. I guess my question is: how did you come to the decision to orphan your HP fics, rather than delete them; and would you still make the same decision now, as her tailspin into fascism has worsened?
I'd orphan again, no question.
We are deeply fucking unfortunate that the Rowling situation is one of the worst cases of "I don't think death of the author (the concept, not actual death) will fix this for me."
And, so, I had to decide for myself how I felt about being connected even tangentially to that fucking asshole. And I realized I wanted no connection at all.
But.
And this is the important part.
But. There are people who find comfort and enjoyment in MY stories from HER book series. Yeah, I'm using characters she created, but I'm putting them into different stories than she ever did. I wrote a series about Percy during the war where he was running a safehouse, and I wrote it because I was mad at how little actual war made it into the final book. And people like it BECAUSE it's a much more honest look at war (and that it's Percy/Oliver, but duh).
It turned out, for me, that the answer wasn't to delete everything I'd written and take stories away from people because the originator is a fucking asshole. The answer was to complete the death of the author. Me. By taking my name off my stories.
I assume my stories are still getting read and enjoyed. I hope so, at least. But more importantly to me, I didn't take away something I created to be shared because the original creator is a bad person.
I can't control what Rowling does. I can't control all the people who continue to justify why they continue to give her money while saying out of the other side of their mouth that they know she's a bad person, but Harry Potter means sooooo much to them, so they're just sort of stuck (no, you just want official merch).
I can control my own decision and be happy with it. If someone finds comfort in those stories I wrote, they'll be on AO3 whenever they need them. And setting them free from me and my complicated feelings on all of it was the right decision. I hope they're enjoyed, and I'm glad I left them to be found.
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coneyislandbabey · 2 years ago
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(put me out, put me out) put me out of misery. -> e.roundtree
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WARNINGS: none!
SYNOPSIS: The push and pull between you and Eddie Roundtree was never-ending. No matter how hard you tried to push him away, you always came back together.  word count: 1,762
NOTES: This is part (5/8) of the beast of burden series! Part 4 can be found here. Sorry i've been MIA lately guys, been having a hard go of it but! Hopefully will be back to posting more regularly now.
Los Angeles, 1973 
If you sat back and analyzed the last few months, you could almost come to the conclusion that everything was normal. Back to the normal of before, even. Before being, of course, before yours and Eddie’s absolute blowout of a fight and all the far-flung mess that bubbled up and refused to simmer down in its wake, like a gangrenous wound. You had finally apologized to each other, promising to work hard at repairing your relationship, and you really did. The hurdle that seemed impossible to overcome months ago was long behind you, and your friendship with Eddie was strong and solid again. 
And yet. Things weren’t quite the same, were they? There was an ugly, obtuse stain on your relationship. No matter how good things continued to get, you couldn’t ignore it. It lingered, overwhelming and cloying if you ever stopped to think about it. You wanted nothing more than to leave it fully in the past, and that desire seemed to only bring it further into the present. Life was funny like that. 
Still, you were grateful to have him back in your life. Eddie had been your best friend for years, and the months where he wasn’t were the worst you’d ever experienced. You never wanted that again. If the whole mess had taught you anything, it’s that you never wanted to have to live without Eddie Roundtree in your life. If you had to endure some weird feelings to keep him around, then so be it. 
Practice was wrapping up for the day, and exhausted, you went to pack your bass up for the day. All you wanted to do was go back to your room, put on your pajamas, and have a cigarette while you read your current book in bed. And then sleep for like twelve hours before having to get up and go to the gig tomorrow evening. 
“Hey, (y/n), you and Eddie both said something about wanting to tweak the bass and rhythm guitar lines on a few songs, right?” Billy asked, coming to stand in front of you with his arms crossed. 
You stood from where your guitar case was resting and nodded. “Yeah, we did. Why?”
“You need to stay and do that tonight. It has to be done with that for the gig tomorrow,” Billy said, and stalked off without giving any explanation before you could answer. You suppressed the urge to roll your eyes, pressing your lips into a thin line. You wanted to take one of Warren’s drumsticks and throw it at the back of Billy’s head, but instead you bent down and unzipped your guitar case yet again, lifting your bass out of it. You lifted your head and met eyes with Eddie, who was wearing a matching pissed off expression to your own. You joined him over on the other side of the room as everyone else filed out to enjoy their evenings. 
“He makes me feel violent,” you commented lightly once the door was closed, and Eddie’s face brightened with his laughter. 
“You have no idea how relatable that sentence is.”
“I have a little idea,” you shrugged, recalling all the times you’d listened to Eddie (rightfully) rant about the way Billy treated him. “So, what do you wanna work on first?”
“You wanted me to listen to your base line for Have Love Will Travel, right? Let’s start with that,” Eddie suggested and you nodded, settling yourself down onto the floor for what would likely be a long night. Much longer than you were planning, at least. Eddie sat down next to you, his guitar on the floor on the other side of him, his full attention on you. 
If you were playing the new bass line for anyone else, you would have been nervous, but Eddie had listened to everything you wrote and suggested the last few months, and you listened to everything he came up with as well. Working as a team, always backing each other up, Billy was less likely to immediately shoot either of your ideas down. It had made the work dynamic a little easier for both of you, especially Eddie, who Billy was always harder on than anyone else. 
Situating your bass on your lap, you closed your eyes and began to play. You’d been tweaking the Have Love Will Travel bass line on your own for a few weeks– the song was missing a certain punch and you were sure you could bring it yourself. Finally, you felt confident that you’d gotten it right. You would know for sure, if Eddie agreed with you once he’d heard it. You sang along softly with the bass, losing yourself in the song, completely sure that it sounded better this way. 
When you finished playing you opened your eyes, glancing Eddie’s way to find his eyes were still on you. His gaze was soft, brown eyes bright like copper in the dim yellow lighting of the room. His smile was small– a real, genuine smile, not his usual smirk. You blinked at him, feeling something old and familiar squirm in your stomach. 
“What’d you think?” you asked, voice as soft as his gaze. 
“It’s a hundred times better than before,” he said, smile growing by degrees. “Really, the song has been missing something the whole time, and I think you found it.”
You bumped shoulders with him, looking down at the bass in your lap to hide the blush creeping across your cheeks at his praise. You had always trusted Eddie to be honest with you about whether something was working or not, which made his compliments mean that much more than if they were coming from anyone else. Really, anything Eddie said meant so much more just for coming out of his mouth. 
“Good,” you nodded. “You think it’s ready to play for the others?” 
“Yeah, but you didn’t need me to tell you that,” he nodded immediately. 
“Maybe,” you shrugged. “But I like to hear it from you.” You snapped your mouth shut, suppressing a gasp of surprise at your own words. Ever since you and Eddie made up, you’d been so careful not to say things like, well, things you would have said to him before. How many years had it been since you realized you were in love with Eddie Roundtree? You didn’t know anymore, it felt like you always had been. But none of that changed the fact that what you had told him that fateful night in New York City was still true. You couldn’t put love before your career, before your art. You would do anything for Eddie, and that included bottling up any confusing or complex feelings you had towards him. Anytime they bubbled up to the surface, you stamped them down with an unbridled ferocity. 
I like to hear it from you. That could be friendly, couldn’t it? That could mean nothing more than ‘I trust your opinion and your ears, and when you think something is good, I know it’s good’. Maybe for anybody else besides you and Eddie, it could be taken at the surface level, but you both knew better. I like to hear it from you meant a million different things between the two of you. It meant I trust you more than anyone else and I crave your approval like an addict craves their next fix and every time I create something, the first person I want to share it with is you and really, I am always thinking of you. All of these, of course, are just different ways to say I love you. 
“What did you want to work on next?” you asked quickly, trying to brush over the moment. You fiddled with the strap of your bass, hanging limp in your lap. 
“(y/n),” Eddie said, his voice soft. You chanced a look over at him, and saw that his eyes had grown impossibly softer. There was something else there, too, something you’d caught in his gaze when he didn’t realize you noticed him looking at you. Something liquid and bittersweet floating just beneath the surface. 
“Eddie,” you answered. Measured. Hesitant. Every muscle in your body was tense, taut, ready for a fight. Any time things grew serious between the two of you, you got scared, scared that Eddie would decide your friendship actually wasn’t worth the heartache you’d caused each other, scared that you would get into another fight and he would be gone from your life for good. You’d rather a lifetime of dancing around your feelings than for that to happen. You met his eyes and he must have registered the fear in yours, because a small, encouraging smile graced his face, and he leaned over ever so slightly to bump his shoulder against yours. 
“I know a lot has changed,” he started, the words coming slow as he worked to make sure they were the right ones, “But I still– I’ll always feel the same about you. Doesn’t matter what’s going on between us, you’ve always been my favorite person. You know that?” 
A small, relieved laugh escaped you, and you could feel Eddie’s shoulders drop minutely in relief. “I know, Ed. Even when things were bad, I still knew, somehow. Maybe because I still loved you just as much, and somewhere inside, I knew you had to love me the same.”
“I did love you the same. Still do. Just, uh, you know. I just want you to know.” When you looked up at him, Eddie’s cheeks were dusted red, his gaze somewhere on the other side of the room. You would never be able to convey the relief his words brought you; after the fight, after everything that followed, you were sure Eddie couldn’t love you anymore. You hoped, in some selfish way, that he still could, even though you couldn’t give him what he wanted. You knew he would always care for you as a friend, but you’d thought anything else would have been squashed by everything that had transpired. You hadn’t realized just how much that idea crushed you until you realized it wasn’t true. 
“I know I can’t…” you trailed off, swallowing back the sudden wave of emotions welling up in you. “I know I can’t give you what you need, but for whatever it’s worth, I still do love you the same. I still do, and I always will.” 
“That’s worth everything,” Eddie said, his tone suggesting that you should know that, obviously. “How ‘bout we work on Susie Q?”
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pitter-patt-art · 3 months ago
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Ace Attorney AU August oops-august-has-been-over-for-a-week Update!!
Hiiiii well okay first and most importantly of all! Happy investigations collection day everyone!!!! My copy is supposed to arrive by 10pm although I'm not sure I'll be playing it right away, but, hey, once it arrives I'll have in my possession at least one physical copy of every game in the series (2 for aai1, woohoo)!!! *Coughs* uh except all of the OG Trilogy which instead I own like 2 times over digitally (3 in T&T's case, thanks Wii) lmao. Ah well.
NOW the actual post. Yeah it's not August anymore but I've been recuperating or w/e so shhh, better late than never!
Overall I wrote over 50k words (actually in August itself) and posted 5 fics (with many more in progress), which is honestly just, wild???? That is so cool. Apparently the way to overcome writer's block is just overcommit to a month-long prompt list, who knew!
Here is my post about the first 17 days/AUs! And over here's my Ao3 series for these! Below the cut I'll wrap up the last 14 days of AUs, some thoughts, etc!
I am setting the goal for myself to actually finish writing these before the end of the year even if they're not technically "AU-gust" qualified anymore by the time I get to them sooo ...wish me luck!! In the meantime I am proud of myself for (tbh completely unnecessarily and to my detriment lmao) coming up with actually a full 31 solid AUs based on the prompts that I feel inspired by.
This post is gonna be a bit more rambly than the last one because I definitely did more of my writing last month the first 2 weeks rather than the last 2, but nevertheless--
Onto the remaining AUs!
18 - Space Travel
So, I actually started a draft at the airport before my vacation where I got wayyyy too sidetracked getting detailed about this one and thus ended up not being able to finish the post before takeoff lmao. I'm not sure whether it's annoying or interesting to include all of that here, but it's my post so fuck it, here's August 21st patt to tell you aaall about it so I don't have to: The Martian AU (I've only seen the movie and not read the book but i *did* literally just re-watch it because this thought crossed my mind lol. (Hello! It's future me popping in to say: fun fact, rewatching this movie literally ended up being the reason I knew a bar trivia answer last week lmao. Huzzah for the powers of Ace Attorney refreshing my movie quote knowledge.) Be glad this one occurred to me because my first inclination was to lean into the dark past of my vld phase (I'm super joking I had a lot of fun with it before the last few seasons haha sorry idk what to tell you friends) and see how much I'd retained if i tried to make that work but the martian sounded more fun in the end). Apparently my Thing™ is a) poisoning Phoenix and b) putting Apollo in an insane situation in which he's completely on his own--which all things considered is probably far meaner lol. I think Phoenix is to blame for creating his own problem here for choosing to eat the stupid necklace but I fully blame Capcom for all the BS Apollo has gone through after AA4 (bc...the stuff IN that game is. coincidentally also Phoenix's blame to claim. lol). That said I'm part of the problem teehee. Apollo can be Some Guy from the real world who gets isekai'ed and he can also be Mark Watney :P (sorry bud I love you but you have just the Worst case of unavoidable main character syndrome). ((Which is QUITE funny actually because I'll never get over Capcom calling 4,5,6 the """"Apollo Justice Trilogy"""" (it's really not and it's frankly insulting they're trying to say it is.) Like he's. Y’know. The main character in exactly one of those games...... so.)) What was I talking about? Lmao oh yeah so Apollo is left on Mars (not sure he actually has much in the way of Botanist™ vibes but the indomitable, never-say-die, highly sarcastic vibes.... ye haha that's my boy right there). Omg wait sorry I'm writing this and realizing this whole thing actually fits the 18th AND yesterday's (the 20th) prompt as well. Whoops.
Clay as the captain (let him do something, says I)
Trucy as I think the pilot ONLY because I am literally constantly on the lookout to make a Wright Flying Brothers joke, sorry
Klavier aaaas. Uh. So the German astronaut in the film is the chemist and navigator and I know Klav's not necessarily supposed to be actually German canonically but there IS something funny about it
Athena as the flight surgeon and EVA specialist (for a couple reasons but mostly so she can be a doctor lol. I imagine she also can be there for psych stuff too, like, it's a long ass space voyage, that does shit to your brain)
Kay as the SysOp and reactor tech, tbh mostly because for some reason i really have a thing for hacker/programmer Kay, i guess?
Ema I want to be there also lol so that would be exceeding the actual number of OG astronauts but eh it's my AU. The rest of these I'm just directly comparing to a crew member from the martian but I think some of the titles and tasks could be redistributed a little to allow an extra person as a treat for me.
Originally i kind of wanted Sebastian (....SIGH. or...Eustace. (I fear even though it's AAIC release day today, I truly may die on this hill forever, falling on my sword of devotion and gratitude to the fan translation team... That said, while I think Eustace is, like, a Deeply Fine name, I have to say that Excelsius is a fucking knockout name lmfao, that one took me out. Anyway, ahem: "I wanted Seb/Eustace...")) to be there too but I think that's getting into too many cooks territory just specifically bc I'd have too many voices to play with lmfao. So instead I think he's the operator who works the satellite and realizes Apollo is alive, I think he'd fit that well. NOT THAT that needs to be. Included. In the AU. I have...so much self control.
Anyway I have too many thoughts about it, it's a problem, ironically I think I would prefer to focus on the crew and not Apollo himself, so that would at least make it more than just a rehashing of the movie/book. (Or, the movie at least. Does the book spend more time with them? I should read the book.) ...I did, Of Course, also came up with a funny, pseudo-future-science-y way to do a Sibling Reveal in this one, so there's that, too, haha. OKAY AND, SCENE. Snatching my mic back from myself. I'm actually so devoted to the Martian AU now hahaha, I really didn't think I'd let that happen to myself but here we are... You'll see in a bit, but I for-better-or-worse do truly have an extended universe going on for it now, eheh... (Help.)
19 - Spies
Franmaya?? Franziska POV??? Here's the deal: I cannot BELIEVE I got this many days into the month and STILL hadn't come up with a franmaya-centric AU, it's terrible. Also I need a Maya POV if I want to hit my self-set, self-indulgent goal of having POV of every "main" character I can (did I exactly accomplish this no but that's perfectly fine obviously haha it was just a side achievement I had my eye on). So to that end, I ended up with something here that I'm not COMPLETELY sure I won't end up changing when I sit down to actually work on it, but in short: semi The Princess Bride vibes but with spies instead of pirates! Or uh! So um okay full disclosure lol I got all excited about an AU of this kind and then like an hour into daydreaming it into existence I realized I was heavily relying on / leaning into ASSASSIN territory rather than SPY. Which are notably different things. (Wait lol should I blame Spy x Family?? Totally Endo-sensei's fault and not at all mine, boom, take that.) ...And not to go even harder into sxf territory, whoops, but my idea was something along the lines of like, since Kurain School Channeling changes spirit mediums' appearance entirely, I was going to have Maya be something of an expert in disguise, and Franziska I was almost more or less going to let retain her actual position of international prosecutor with Interpol, although perhaps I'd lean more into a James Bond-esque intelligence agency sort of thing than what we see them do in-game, I'm not sure. Maya gets "killed" for real in 2-4 except she actually just becomes an international assassin(?) apprentice. Does this make sense? Probably not lol. But is it a little funny and a little sad? Yes, yes it is, and that's always my sweet spot as a writer. The only problem with this premise is I can't stop myself from considering what Phoenix would do / be doing in the background, because the problem with Maya "dying"-only-being-secretly-alive leaves at least twofold problems in justifying why Nick hasn't gone full conspiracy theory board stop-at-nothing-to-find-her, in that a) If she's not dead, Pearl can't channel her, and knowing Pearl I have to imagine that would be her first move to try tbh, and b) even if that weren't an issue, if the police were never able to track down Maya's body at all, I fully believe Nick would still throw himself at the problem until he's able to find answers irregardless, so. This ain't about him though!! So we'll just all have to deal with knowing he's taking reaaally really bad care of himself while he single-mindedly tries to figure out what's going on ahaha...ha. He's most absolutely the drowning child in the facebook post meme. Don't worry about him.
20 - Crossover/Fusion
Soooo. Okay. First may I say, I'm not the most crossover-fic-y person in the world neither as a reader nor writer. HOWEVER. Unfortunately. My one undying weakness has proven to be Ace Attorney x Legally Blonde (and more specifically Legally Blonde the Musical, the best version, though I do love Reese Witherspoon's performance ofc it's iconic but the musical is just MWAH ugh. One of my all-time favorite musicals and definitely the one I've listened to the most esp the past couple years hahaha.) The problem is, I've joked about so many slight variations / one very Long Intensive specific AA/LBtM crossover AU ideas, that trying to limit myself to a one-shot I could conceivably finish within a day proved too much for my decision paralysis and I didn't end up writing any of them lmao. Alas. Mostly, I just think it would be funny to see the characters interact in something of a vacuum just for fun, the problem is just that I happen to be uniquely terrible at not thinking through a Crack AU until I can, ahem, "crack" it, so to speak, to make it actually justifiably function. So in theory all I want to write for this day is some combination of like, Elle and Phoenix interacting and Miles and Emmett interacting, or the four of them having a conversation that goes something like "omg wait me too!! i also went from a creative undergrad degree directly into law to chase after some guy!! what are the odds teehee" while Emmett and Miles watch in horror, and also alternatively Emmett and Phoenix mostly bemusedly watching Elle and Miles geek out over like, fancy ass high class (pink) clothing like "uh yeah i have no idea what any of those words mean. she bought me this suit and i honestly wouldn't even be able to find the store again. oh no way he bought you yours too?? man, wild." Etc. (If anyone's interested in really watching me suffer and spiral: my longer and more intensive idea for an AU with them is to have them be tackling parallel cases where either of them (Elle and Phoenix) has specific knowledge that is helpful to defending the others' client, and they get like place-swapped through dimensional shenanigans somehow also related to the cases. And Phoenix has to abide by, like, nominally-accurate US trial law (I know he wouldn't really be licensed shhhh) -- by which I mean Emmett is sitting as his co-council and exercising the most restraint possible to keep from bashing his head into the table every two seconds. And Elle has to abide by guilty-until-proven-innocent Japanifornia trial law ("wait WHAT omg what do you MEAN the prosecution can just, like, not submit their evidence before the trial???? wait what do you MEAN we should just TAKE THAT that is EVIDENCE AT A CRIME SCENE--"). On the bright side, Elle gets to experience being one of the most normally-dressed people in a courtroom and not at all being looked down upon for her general vibes and wardrobe (like tell me she wouldn't fit right in in the ace attorney universe and seem completely ordinary), and Phoenix gets to experience a real jury (take that jurist system trial that Capcom would like to never ever talk about again) and also the judge going "so, Prospective Juror No. 103, do you understand that the defense in this criminal trial does not need to say a single word in order to be doing their job? the burden of proof lies entirely on the prosecution the entire time and the defense and defendant could choose to remain silent every day of trial and that would be completely within their rights, do you understand that? are you okay with that?" etc etc, shout out to my jury service a couple month ago and the kinds of questions a real life California judge asks jurors that would seriously blow the minds of every single character in Ace Attorney lmfao can you imagine? Anyway.) So yeah idk. Also something something, spirit mediums and the whole Greek Chorus bit from the musical... "School Spirit"... much to think about in crack AU land hahaha.)
21 - Absurd Tragedy
To be honest with you, this is the entire series lmao, so much so that I had trouble even thinking of an AU to be "alternate" in any way here, hahaha. What I sort-of landed on and have vague outline notes about in my doc is (not to make another excellent-musical-adaptation-of-an-already-top-tier-movie-which-is-itself-a-highly-unfaithful-adaptation-of-a-fairly-obscure-book reference) a Shrek the Musical "I Think I Got You Beat"-style debate about whose canonical absurd tragic circumstances are the worst, lmfao. Granted, this then turned into a "wait what if I use said argument as an absurd way in which to make Apollo and Trucy have a siblings realization completely on their own, which both compounds the fact they've both already lived such tragedy to begin with but also could touch on Phoenix knowing about it and not telling them about it", and uhhhhh lmfao a debate specifically between them is OBVIOUSLY not the romantic flirting banter of the song between Shrek and Fiona lmfao but like still, the general premise, just in a sibling bickering coat of paint instead. Also was toying with it being an Athena POV just to sell home / for the additional absurdity of the experience of "you've gone over to your friend's house to hang out and suddenly they're obnoxiously arguing with their sibling and their parents are nowhere to be seen and you're not exactly sure what you're supposed to do with yourself except awkwardly wait for them to be done" lmfao. Which I've most absolutely experienced from both ends multiple times hahaha. The alternative option for this prompt is just for me to write an excessively long essay debating and attempting to personally rank the main cast's level of absurd tragedy compared to each other, lol.
22 - Orphan
I wrote 324 words (slash one physical lined page in my actual notebook) of this while I was on vacation, lol. AU where Miles invites Phoenix to go watch one of Gregory's trials (or Phoenix invites himself, or Gregory invites him while Miles tries to hold the landline phone away from him, lol) and I mean of course the trial he goes to is The Trial (like, Jeffre... AW CRAP wait I don't actually know what Jeff Master's or Kate Hall's official names are lmfao uhhh. Well you know what don't worry about that. Happy AAIC day once again..? Lol. Anyway, the concluding day of Gregory's last trial, obviously, ignore the defendant's name.) Like, basically, here's my thought. AU where Phoenix is also there, and not only does that mean he knows what happened to Miles and Gregory but also, like, it's Phoenix. Tell me even at 9 he wouldn't be insisting on taking care of the poor kid who just lost everything and has nowhere in the world to go. Tell me he's not like, begging his parents they need to help him, lol. I think really this is just sort of an AU to explore one of my several personal headcanons for what Phoenix's parents are like, because I've spent a lot of time on a different version of them (coughs for the last AU on this list...coughs) but I also have a version of them which I find fun / funny where they're like, kinda hippy-dippy and like very hands-off (tbh almost all of my hc's about the Greater Wrights is they're very hands off, just in different ways) but in more of a "we want our child to experience the beauty and wonder of the world on his own time and not influence him or set rigid standards to conform to" kind of philosophy. Anyway my point is they like adopt/foster Miles somehow before Manfred can actually get his hands on him (he's still too busy dealing with the fresh bullet wound I guess?) This is just a gen au of course, not only because they're 9 lol but also the logistics of being adoptive/foster siblings gets weird quick lmao, but mostly I just find it interesting to think about what might have happened if Miles was in an environment where people paid more attention and cared more (and weren't explicitly influencing and manipulating him to exasperate the problem on purpose), because I have to imagine examining his nightmares a little more closely a little more quickly might have led someone (say, Phoenix who was also there in this AU) to find something slightly off about it or like start putting pieces together quicker, idk. I, uh, I'm not gonna lie to you, I don't actually remember how I intended to end this one hahaha ;; I started it but I was on vacation and neglected to outline / summarize the rest of my ideas the day of, so I guess I'll just have to see where my mind takes me when I get back to it.
23 - Musician
So my FIRST thought for this day was to use it as an excuse to finish my First Ever Ace Attorney Fic, which has been in WIP stasis for...uh.... 6. Years. i--SIX????? Shit. lmfao. yeah uh. I guess I created the first version of the doc (on my OneNote, god) back in 2018. So. Yeah. Hm. Omfg. This fic has partially existed since before Phoenix Disbarment Day. That is so. Wow. Damn. Y'all we're so close to aa4 time (2026) what the hell??? Ahem. Pianist Phoenix. That's. My point lmao. I know the original thing that sparked me loving this concept was actually some tumblr post I saw apparently a LONG long time ago, hahaha, and I know there's no way I'll find it with tumblr's abysmal search function, but just know it was not a completely original idea of mine when I say i fucking LOVE the headcanon that, you know what actually Phoenix CAN play the piano, he just chooses to do it as shittily as possible because that's kind of what he's like post-disbarment and he'd absolutely get a kick out of fucking with people like that even if they have no way to know they're being fucked with. It's like, he's no virtuoso or anything, but he can passably play the piano! He's just being an ass on purpose! It kills me every time lol. I won't say I think that's necessarily true in canon so ofc it's not like an end-all-be-all hc for me or anything but it's just sooooo funny to me that I like to break it out any time I possibly can. Look me in the eyes and tell me he wouldn't. Honestly, look me in the eyes and tell me if he actually put his mind to it in any meaningful way he wouldn't be able to get decent quickly regardless, considering the fact he became an accomplished lawyer on more-or-less a total whim. This to say: that was my intention, to finish this fic I've had brewing that was about Phoenix actually being able to play the piano and hiding it for a really long time but eventually being found out by Miles by chance. Except then I sat down on the plane and started writing a Pearl POV instead? In which she finds out about more or less the same exact concept but from Iris--also by chance, but less actually catching him playing and more being asked, "Oh, does he still play? He was always good at that." And then bc it's Pearl (Pearl I love you), of COURSE she goes and confronts him about it. Pearl might be the single most confrontational character in these games tbh which is SO FUNNY to me. Like I'm kind of exaggerating obviously but also am I? I know she has psyche-locks you have to break through multiple times throughout the series but stiiiill. Everyone else is so repressed and weird about anything remotely vulnerable, I stg. Props to Maya for making sure Pearl turned out pretty okay I guess, lmao. Anyhow yeah that's sort of the AU I ended up with. Pearl POV where she and Iris know they're sisters (don't get me started on this I have so many thoughts about the amount of information I'm positive Maya and Pearl are NEVER given skjflj) and Pearl visits Iris in prison regularly and on one such visit maybe she mentions Nick's job at Borscht and Iris makes a totally innocuous comment to the effect that Pearl learns he actually knows how to play the piano and she goes to get mad at him about it because he's definitely been pretending he can't and Pearl's pretty sure he's told neither Maya nor Trucy the truth and that cannot be left to stand.
24 - Pretend Hate
Okay, this exists in a similar realm to the Orphan prompt, except instead of Phoenix being there for the trial or the Wrights taking Miles in before Manfred can, it's more just AU where Miles doesn't actually cut all contact and he and Phoenix successfully end up exchanging correspondence (in semi-secret) during the time they're separated (i.e. they remain friends and close during the 15 years they're separated in canon). "Semi-secret" because they--esp Miles--somehow hide who exactly it is they're talking / writing to all the time but don't necessarily hide the fact they are doing that. Like, a fake cultural / language exchange program or something? I feel like there could be a world where Manfred really doesn't give a shit what Miles is up to as long as he's being molded into "someone Gregory Edgeworth would hate" (I don't think he would lol but that's another AU) and becoming a model von Karma protege prosecutor and such. He obviously goes to lengths to cut Miles off from everything he's familiar with in that he takes him to Germany, but I've always thought it's way more on Miles feeling guilty and blaming himself and thinking he's unworthy / pushing people away being the reason why they never talked before aa1 despite Phoenix's "attempts to contact him," whatever those may be specifically. And, yeah, I've watched that one episode of the anime but tbh I don't really use anime canon for almost anything besides maybe some of the fun visuals, haha, so I'm kind of disregarding that anyway. ANYWAY. My point is. The "pretend hate" part is that--sometime over the course of exchanging correspondence, Phoenix starts thinking something's weird and gets it in his head to "investigate" himself, since he's still in LA / has access to the scene of the crime and stuff, and then as a combo of him just plugging away at it until he has enough (circumstantial) evidence to be like "Miles I think you're wrong about this" and also a younger, slightly less repressed, slightly less in Manfred's pocket Miles actually being somehow willing to consider alternatives a little--they're able to put their heads together and eventually come to the (correct) conclusion ahead of time, before the 15-year statute of limitations, that it was almost certainly Manfred who did it. And then they work together to figure out how they can possibly PROVE that but they haven't thought of anything foolproof by the time aa1 events start rolling around (or at the very least, the 5-years-ago sections of aa3? It might make more sense if it's as soon as Miles returns to Japanifornia, and also I think Phoenix has way less reason to fall for Dahlia/Iris so hard if Miles is around and *coughs* available lmfao. Anyhow). So, in the hopes it'll keep Manfred from getting suspicious of Miles, they publicly pretend to hate each other, putting on a show of more of the canon attitude Miles esp. has before 1-4, but behind the scenes they're actually working together trying to think of a way they can definitely get a conviction to stick that Manfred won't be able to worm out of. And that's the AU! Idk, in terms of additional thoughts, I couldn't decide what to do / what would happen to Mia in this AU either, which doesn't super matter but did give me pause. So she might live, idk, depends the exact timeline. I do also think a scene where--Dahlia still hits on Phoenix in the reading room/courthouse library but he's like, actively there waiting for one of Miles' trials to conclude for a covert meeting, so when Miles gets there and is like "What are you messing with over there?" Phoenix is like "Oh, hey, check out this weird bottle some girl just gave me because apparently she fell in love at first sight, haha, isn't that so funny--" and then Miles recognizes it from the Fawles trial and they catch Dahlia earlier or something, idk. Or alternatively Phoenix was AT that trial so HE recognizes it. Or maybe it's funniest if he was there but doesn't recognize it until Miles does lmao, this is not the point of this AU but I can't stop myself from considering this part of it.
25 - Scientists
So THIS is the day I sort of alluded to earlier, many many words of post ago, where I got so invested in my The Martian AU that I started accidentally worldbuilding about it. What I've started and have about 400 words of (slash one notebook page, again from the plane after my vacation), is like, AU where it's NASA instead of law and I can make Phoenix go "What, like it's hard?" only it's about literally rocket science this time hahaha. Basically for this fic I just thought, well what if Phoenix just shows up as a flight tech or engineer or something (idk I don't really know that much about real life astronautics) as Miles is preparing for some space mission or something and he's just like WHAT are YOU doing HERE. I know I know I made Apollo literally be the titular martian and yes he ALSO has a (or tbh probably has a WORSE) canonical debilitating fear of heights, so, shhh, but I do like the idea that Phoenix is like, oh, who, me? In the flying metal death trap? No fucking thank you, I will be down here watching and talking directly to you through a headset or something. You cannot escape me however i can at least escape the building I'm in. No interest in seeing the Earth from above, thanks. Actually iirc Miles also doesn't love heights but meh whatever I'm fairly certain Phoenix talks about it the earliest in the series so there you go. Anyway, this would all be a mission prior to whatever mission it is that Apollo & Co. go on to Mars for the first part of the AU, so I guess you could consider it a prequel? And probably a fairly shippy one. I have other reasons for which it's fun for me if wrightworth is at least together if not outright married before the events of the "The Martian" part of the AU, so this one would be, like, about how exactly that went down.
26 - Victorian Era
Okay, once again, this just. IS. Literally. Dai Gyakuten Saiban / The Great Ace Attorney. Lol. That said, I've always loved the fanart I've seen of like Ryuunosuke and Phoenix (and respective Co.'s) interacting, or like, one or the other ending up in the other time period somehow, so I thought it'd probably be fun to try my hat at that. I feel like I've neglected the tgaa characters anyway, considering I actually somehow managed to reference PLvPW already, which is obviously significantly more of a spinoff and also just largely non-canonical, lmao. Also tgaa is just SO GOOD, augh. I'd love to have the multi-witness cross examinations from both of those games back sometime again, and I had so much fun with the jury in tgaa too, excellent mechanic. What was I talking about? So, I never completely decided on a concrete direction to take this, but even before AU-gust had started I'd already been toying with the idea of an AU where maybe Maya or Pearl channels a character from tgaa specifically because some documentary or special or something comes out talking about the real-life Herlock Sholmes (as opposed to the Totally Fictional "Sherlock Holmes" who Phoenix references in that one trilogy line, because I really think that's the funniest possible explanation for the discrepancy) and they're arguing over how that cannot possibly be a real person and no one was named that and etc etc and then to prove once and for all one way or the other Hurley is channeled and also for bonus joke content "recognizes" Phoenix at first (idk pretend his eyesight got worse in his older age, I know Phoenix and Ryuunosuke look, tbh, less alike than Ryuu and Apollo do, lmao, but again that's another AU) and then I get to play with Phoenix's mom's maiden name is Naruhodou and his middle name is Ryuuichi or such to that effect, because that is also a favorite headcanon of mine (not in small part because I can project my own life onto him by making him half-Japanese from SoCal, lol). So that's an idea I'd had that was already decently fleshed out and the ONLY problem is that if I'm having characters actually be channeled then there's a very real limiting factor of how many spirit mediums exist, and also that means Maya and/or Pearl don't get to interact with them, which for the sake of not overwriting would be good but for the sake of my love of a chaotic group conversation would be bad. But, uh, hopefully I do manage to hold myself to a less broad cast of characters, ideally, instead of bringing a bunch of them over to the other time period to see how they'd deal with that and interact en masse. Ha. Haha.
27. Younger / De-Aged
So here's another AU I'd already had idle thoughts about before AU-gust had even started! I...will get into this later, TRUST I will, lmfao, but I do have an extremely involved AU already in which Time Travel of the "regression" type is involved, i.e., they have their memories of the "future" but are thrown back into the past including their own younger bodies however-many-years-ago. So I've got that type of thing covered, I promise I do, haha. And additionally, I've actually already written them "younger" for my colorless AU way back on day 2, so I did think perhaps I'd just continue that one and say it was for this prompt (a smart person thing to do. this is the objectively correct option). On the other hand. I find pre-DL6 Phoenix and Miles reacting to how their lives actually turned out in the end HILARIOUS. Tell me it's not funny. And tell me it's not, like, some sort of depressing-yet-ultimately-hopeful for the older/current them to look at their child selves and be like Kid, Oh, You're Going To Go Through Some Shit, but also reflect on how they did make it and things turned out okay and life goes on etc etc. My problem with this kind of thing is that it's hard to come up with a justification for and that's not a problem in itself but it is a problem in me not knowing how i'm going to end a fic, which often gets me decision-paralysis-ed into not being able to start it in the first place, which did in fact happen to me here, haha. I think ideally I'd just do a quick "wait, was that a dream?" kind of thing where they (Miles and Nick) have a short conversation with themselves, but... Uh-oh, what, did you think that was all I had? You clearly don't know me at all. OTHER au option where young Phoenix is in the future/present and rather than himself and Miles it's the Wright Anything Agency who like, idk, find him roaming the streets of LA (fun fact! I actually came up with this AU one day while I was quite literally roaming the streets of LA myself at like 3am-ish. Do with that what you will). He is of course wearing a hat or beanie or something at first because come on, that's way more fun, and no matter how much Trucy, Apollo, and Athena are like "hm idk something about this kid seems familiar" I just don't think my first thought upon seeing some vaguely familiar kid alone on the street would be, like, "Oh, that's obviously a child version of my father/coworker/boss!" So. I'm not really sure that one has an end point either, though, so the same problem still stands, haha. The bad, someone get a spray bottle to spritz me, option of this is, obviously, to combine the two, so it's like the WAA find him first and then are like UHHHHH we need an adult (never mind actual adult-age-ness between them) and somehow end up getting Miles there too, but idk. I... should not. Overcomplicate. I shouldn't. Even, even if...august is over...so theoretically there's no longer any sort of On-Time component since it's late either way........ definitely not.
28 - Caretaker
Here are my exact notes / entire doc for this day. Ahem. And I quote: i brought up the lighthouse keeper thing but i dont know where that would be going exactly maybe this is a thing i could do franmaya for??? since i still havent gotten there? actually lol that as a lighthouse thing is funny. ghost romance? my three tropes rattle End quote. Anyway, shout-out to my friend hailstorm for being the one there to brainstorm "lighthouse keeper" with at the self-same bar trivia that I mentioned previously, lmao. I actually think that was even the same exact day as the The Martian quote was a relevant answer to a question. So yeah, even though I already kind of have franmaya planned for the spies day, that's both kind of sort of a darker AU overall and--WELP well, okay, so, i do, you know, recognize maybe a ghost romance isn't, uh, necessarily the fluffiest kind of AU lmao. Don't mind that. My point is, I love the vibes of a lighthouse keeper AU, and I generally like ghost romance as a trope, so that does feel like a viable option. Honestly, I kind of separately wanted an excuse to practice writing miego also, so maybe the Feys are just all chillin' in this lighthouse for...Some Reason, and that's side-plot relevant somehow, idk. I know Franziska and Godot exist in the same place for a minute in 3-5, but I honestly can't really remember them interacting? I think she'd fucking HATE him though lmfao. He'd think she's funny but I actually think she'd be too reactive for his most preferred teasing/fucking-with-people dynamics, haha. Regardless, if he is there at all, it's a very minor B plot, I think, 'cause this ain't about him, lol.
29 - Forced into Hiding
Achtung, baby, 2566 words of this are written! Lol. So uh, yeah. In short, AU where Klavier gets hounded by fans on the street while he's also having just a bad personal day, and the closest and best place he can think to hide from them is at the WAA. I, um, actually hadn't realized I'd written quite this much of this, haha, it was supposed to be short and fairly silly but then it turned into Klavier having a little bit of a panic attack maybe and getting consoled by Apollo, sure, of course, but then also having to deal with and experience some amount of closure / reach some kind of understanding with the Wrights, also. It's kind of part Klav character study, kind of part complaint against freaking Capcom for neglecting him (boo, I love him, stop ignoring him, or, yknow, worse, whatever the heck turnabout academy was supposed to do for him, which honestly almost felt like a step back to be quite honest). Okay, also, taking a slightly closer look at what I've already written, the REASON I'd thought I'd written way less than this is definitely because he hasn't even GOTTEN to the Agency yet, never mind spoken with any of its members, lmao. That would do it. In any case, I like the idea of Klavier having a bit of a vulnerable moment, and I also like the idea of him and Phoenix actually, like, talking for real, instead of, once again, whatever Turnabout Academy and DD was meant to tell me, which seems to be less than nothing. I kind of like the fact that it gave him a law mentor? I mean, she was very dead, but I have a very meaningful Use for her in later-to-be-announced-AUs-I-keep-teasing, haha. I of course considered other people and times when people in AA might be forced into hiding, but this felt like a silly but also meaningful way to do that without it just being an exploration of Miles and his not-suicide note (which wasn't exactly "forced" anyhow, he did that all on his own) or like, Zak Gramarye (who also completely did that to himself but w/e). Making it about Klavier completely escapes the bounds of canon, because canon is a weenie about talking about any of his actual feelings EVER, so screw you Capcom, I'm doing it for you. Don't worry about it. Trucy commiserating with him about still Loving someone, perhaps the very closest person biologically related to you you've ever known and depended on in your life, who not only did you very big harm personally but explicitly used you in a very real and participatory way to perpetuate the harm elsewhere and all the complexities about Feelings For And About Them Therein, and Phoenix somehow having enough self-awareness to recognize that shutting down completely and isolating yourself away doesn't actually do you any good even when you're at your lowest, and recognizing that Klavier doesn't exactly have a "Trucy" to be a focal point to draw him out of that, and that therefore he needs to be a bit more open to his peers. (Insert joke about "Well, I'm really definitely not suggesting you go adopt an entire child, that's really probably, uh, not the way to go, actually, but, you know. Everyone needs people, that just makes us human." Etc.)
30 - The Beginning of the World
So, hm, as it turns out, I got extremely sidetracked this day thinking about the next day on the docket. Whoops! Unfortunately this ultimately means my ideas for this day as of now are relatively uninspired: I had the thought that I could explore the beginning of Troupe Gramarye, which is its own sort of world, or else, maybe something about the beginning of the series itself but from the somewhat unconventional POV of a one Mr. Larry Butz. Yes, that's a bit self-serving in that it lends toward trying to complete a list of "main, recurring characters' POVs" that I've had as a sidequest all month, but, still. That said, just exploring actual canon through Larry's POV isn't exactly what I'd classify as an "AU" necessarily, so I feel like something would need to be different here. Okay, wait--not to draw inspiration a dang week late to the party, BUT. Now that I'm typing this up, I'm thinking, okay, maybe, what if. The "Beginning" of the series, technically speaking, is basically the fact that Phoenix gets put on (class) trial for stealing Miles' lunch money--which notably only happened because Larry himself picked it up when it fell on the floor. So, perhaps, what about an AU where he doesn't do that? I mean, I guess it would just turn the entire world of AA into something of a terrible series of tragedies with no real closure about them, lol, rip, but it could possibly be interesting? I dunno! (And, yes, I know DL-6 itself is more or less the basis of the series, if we're being ticky-tacky, but Phoenix wouldn't have been involved without meeting Miles, and that somewhat necessitates the class trial, and without him none of canon would get resolved, so. I will say, I do love going back to the earliest points to see how and how much you can make canon deviate or stay the same--reasonably speaking--via minor tweaks and butterfly effect and all that, so this could be interesting, although I once again must say I think it really just means a bunch of innocent people, Miles included, are going to be put away and possibly executed over murders that weren't their faults, lol. Hm. Much to consider.)
31 - Two(+) of the Above:
Beginning of the World + Younger/De-Aged + Canon Divergence (+ Feat. Jokers: Guardian, Everybody Lives)
With all of this, the ONLY prompts I've actually missed on this list become Animagus which I swapped for the Wings joker, and the last joker of the four, Thriller, which was never exactly a priority of mine because I'm not sure I'd write that sort of thing particularly well, so! Wild! Completionists everywhere almost rejoice, haha. SOOOOO. For the eagle-eyed readers out there, I'll bet you're just dying to know what this one AU I've been teasing all post could Possibly be to warrant such a build-up, right? (...Right?) The answer is the at-ow! (Phonetically, lol. I've been calling it that instead of out loud saying all the letters in AATTAU out loud every time.) My friend Ben can attest to the fact that this behemoth AU (her word which I'm stealing) has been in the works for, uhhhh... months?
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MONTHS. AHAHA. Ha. That. Sure says March! It sure does! And it is not lying. Lmfao. (Ignore the time, I was working overnight then--my beloved work schedule whomst I miss dearly--so that's a perfectly reasonable discord-ing hour for March-me.) Also, once again, I'm choosing to blame Ben for my extensive AU problems, she sent me a very cute time loop AA fic that utterly destroyed my entire mind because it got the mere idea of "Time-based AU" caught in my endless void-idea-hole. So. Here's the real rub. The literal reason I started doing this AU-gust challenge in the freaking first place was that I was absolutely Desperate to find a way to overcome my writer's block. And one of the (admittedly many) reasons I wanted to do this was because I have been ITCHING to write this stupid behemoth AU for real. I have a massive outline doc already, I have a whole slew of scenes planned, I have lots of character archage, I have sooo many things I want to say and explore about them all you have No Idea. It's extremely self-indulgent and absolutely my personal magnum opus for all my very specific favorite AA headcanons and ideas and thoughts. And obviously, it worked! I did indeed overcome my writer's block! And I had so much fun doing it!! And I'll admit, from the very beginning, I had been eyeing that "Everybody Lives" joker prompt, because...that's it! That's basically the point of the AATTAU (Ace Attorney Time Travel Alternate Universe, if that wasn't clear, haha). I don't want to let myself get TOO into it, because Oh Boy, I sure will! If you let me! Haha. But basically the premise is EXACTLY what I stated in that very first discord message I could find about it. Maybe not so much "time travel" technically speaking than it is "gaining memories of everything that happened in canon right as the DL-6 earthquake happens", so it's more regression than actual time travel since they're in their own younger bodies and everything, but still. It's basically my excuse to treat canon like it did happen and YET allow for everybody to survive and for the very fun cocktail of traumas and joys that come from remembering what happened but having the chance for something different (and all the effort that goes into making something different happen in the first place).
Now, as far as AU-gust goes. I was obviously not about to even pretend I could remotely start this during August itself or justify connecting any of it to the series and the prompts I'd already written for it, lol, but I also couldn't get the idea out of my head, so I got it in my head I really wanted to end the month with SOMETHING that somehow tied into my AATTAU, if only to motivate myself to actually get on it and start writing out instead of solely outlining everything that's been in the works all these months. So to that end, I saw the "Everybody Lives" and the "Beginning of the World" prompts, and an idea came to me. I'd been dancing around the justification aspect of this AU for most of the time I've had it because let's be honest, it's just a very self-indulgent idea and it does not NEED "justification" to serve the purpose I want it to serve and be what I want it to be. But the AU-gust prompts gave me some actual inspiration and an Idea as to a way to solidify my unnecessary "justification" but in a way that it doesn't need to be directly part of the final product of the AATTAU (like, I could make it a separate one-shot and either just link it to and from the AATTAU fic itself, or if it all ends up being a series, then I could just include it in the series but it wouldn't be necessary to read to understand what's going on. And so, I present! The Ami Fey one-shot special I came up with just to fit these prompts :3 ...And by "i present" i mean, uh, I wrote 4k words of it on the 31st and didn't even come close to what I wanted to cover, because I suck at being concise. Lmfao. (Shocker.) Basically, I used Ami Fey as a semi-self-insert kind of godlike figure to reason out a semi-plausible way to make the concept I want to explore happen, happen. And I had a lot of fun, but I do still have a bunch to finish, but either way, I'm very pleased to have a (somewhat silly but ultimately fun for me) reasoning as to the gears ticking behind the scenes of my idea! To be somewhat less vague, the whole AU is predicated on the idea that, Phoenix and/or Miles (who remember from the beginning / from December 28th, 2001) meeting the other characters at-or-after the time they originally met in canon are able to recall their memories of the "original" (i.e. canon) timeline. I've used some magatama shenanigans to have some fun with this, and I'm now using Ami Fey and magatama shenanigans to explain how and why this is A Thing, even if it isn't necessarily the objectively most logically sound argument I've ever made. It's still a good one, in my book, and more importantly I like it, so that's all that really matters.
To briefly explain the "two" (by which I mean 5?) of the "above" I'm using here:
Beginning of the World: This fic specifically would show the beginning of the "world" of this AU specifically! Woohoo! Go Ami Fey, creating a whole new set of problems for our beloved little Guys to go through, hahaha. I think I may have based her character a little too much on Maya mischievousness, but, oh well. Let's just say that's where she gets it from.
Younger/De-Aged: As I've already kind of expressed, the premise of this AU is mostly just them being their own younger selves except they also have the memories of all of canon (and maybe a year or two after the fact, I need to confirm a couple dates).
Canon Divergence: I feel like this is decently self-explanatory, but then again maybe it's a bit cheesy to include this here, since it basically diverges from nearly the first major event of canon (DL-6), but that's not the only time things go almost-canonically but diverge a bit in some way, so I think it really does fit here.
Guardian: This one is a bit multi-fold. It somewhat refers to the way I'm making Gregory Edgeworth the de facto guardian (as in, legal guardian) of mostly everyone I possibly can because I love him and he would be great at it. But also, guardian in that, Mr. Savior Complex Phoenix Wright himself has literally all of the information at his disposal to try to "save" the potential Happy Lives of literally every person he loves, and, well. He does a pretty good job about it; not without cost, haha, but I feel like I can definitely call him a "guardian" of others in this AU. And, as for specifically the one-shot Ami fic, she is essentially the guardian of the entire Fey lineage, in this AU at least, so that also totally fits and is most immediately relevant.
Everybody Lives: I think this one is pretty self-explanatory at this point, lol. But for the one-shot: Ami is essentially trying to secure an "everybody lives" scenario, even if it hasn't been achieved yet, so it's more an aspiration at that point, but ultimately it is indeed successful. Now, "living" does not mean, like, "totally healthy" (mentally or physically), so there's lots more to it, but in short, yes, they live.
And......that's basically a wrap on that!
I mean, it isn't actually at all, since I still have to finish 26/31 fics, lmfao, but as far as the idea generation stage goes, and the use of the AU-gust prompts, that's what's up in my world! Somewhere out there maybe there's an AU of my actual real life where i finished more of these on time, but i'm still pretty pumped by all the work that's already been made on making so many AA fics a reality for me. I've come a long way since starting that first AA fic in 2018...!!
I still have all the aforementioned 26 fics to finish obviously, and I also have AU continuations planned for at the very least, day 2's colorless prompt and day 3's dark academia prompt (let alone day 31's, lol, but that's its own monster entirely), but I'm optimistic!
Thankfully I actually finished using nano to word track for me before they, you know, doubled down on AI and called everyone "abelist" (???) for not supporting it, which, uh. Well. But for my own posterity and if anyone's curious, here's what my word counts looked like throughout the month of AU-gust--admittedly including some planning and outlining:
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It ended up being 51,377 words total in August on these AU prompts alone!
I feel like I wanted to say something poignant and meaningful at the end here, but it's almost 9:30 and I work at 4am tomorrow, so I'm going to go ahead and wrap this post up here, haha. If you read all of this, thank you very much for joining me on my little journey!
Once again, here is the Ao3 series where I'll post anything more that gets done, so if you'd like to see how any of these AUs turn out, feel free to keep an eye on that!
And here is the previous post with the 1st half+ of the AUs if you missed it and are interested now!
My copy arrived literally as I was writing this up so I've spent the last several prompts of this post listening to the AAIC soundtrack in the music collection, and, oh man, it's seriously so surreal this exists??? I might be an old fogey who has and will for an indeterminate amount of time continue to have trouble letting go of the fan translation names I've lived with for the past decade or whatever, but it's seriously so awesome the entire series is finally available internationally!! Let's hope for my sake AA7 doesn't come out before I finish any of my AATTAU, because that would really throw a bit of a wrench in my decision-making process, lol.
Bye for now!
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taibhsearachd · 2 years ago
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So I'm thinking about how much I discovered I love math problems as enrichment, and how badly I did in every math class in middle and high school and I realized...
They'd teach us whatever we needed to learn, do timed problems (which I don't do well on, because I'm always more focused on the timer than the problem in front of me), assign us homework that we could work on before class time was over and then get mad when I finished it before all my classmates, before the class was over, and started to read a book because I was fucking done. They'd always assign me extra problems, because math class should be spent doing math, so what I learned was that I shouldn't fucking try, because being real good at math would be punished. I started finishing far ahead of everyone else in tests, and then waiting until someone else turned their test in before I turned mine in, because I didn't want to appear so smart they'd punish me for it.
I'm so good at math, it's a fun brain exercise for me, but these assholes convinced me I'm terrible at it because they told me that when I did good at it, I get extra work, just to make things fair.
This is borne out by the semesters that I've actually invoked accommodations vs those I didn't... in a normal class setting, my math tests are garbage, often failing. When I have extra time and an empty room to talk to, pace around, work through shit... I've never gotten less than an A. As a person whose math scores were always terrible in school and SATS... I actually like and enjoy math. But the way it's taught, the way people who are good at it are punished by being made to do more of it so it feels like a punishment... man, those same teachers could have encouraged me to see math as a fun puzzle and given me higher level problems, but they just gave me more of the same shit I already knew. That's the failure point. That's where they fucked up.
Man, I was just punished for doing well at math. Oh, you finished the problems we gave you? Do more of them. (I'm already bored, ADHD brain hates this, it hurts. Also, no one else has to do this. I'm outraged but don't know how to express it. ...yeah that's basically my last year of high school. It was one of the worst years of my life.)
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halothenthehorns · 3 months ago
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Chapter 17: PIGS FLY
A belated happy birthday to Percy and anniversary to Percabeth. I would have liked to have finished this book by now, it was the original goal in mind, but work's been murder on me and I've been lucky to keep my updating consistent as is.
Almost done with one whole series though! Like, just take a moment and bask at how far this has come already, and still with tons to go! I'm so excited I feel like I could fly!
PJOPJOPJOPJO
"Pigs fly?" Magnus read blankly, imagining a cop car sailing through the air as the next weapon of choice for a monster.
"You fly?!" Alex yelped, before she sat back in her seat with an actual look of embarrassment for once. "Sorry, reflex."
"How often does someone say the words, pigs fly to you, that you have a reflex for that?" Thalia asked in concern.
"More than you'd think," she chuckled.
Back at the Plaza, Thalia pulled me aside.
Percy threw his hands up to cover his face.
Thalia just stared at him, unimpressed.
"Sorry, reflex," he smirked as he slowly dropped his hands.
"Mock me all you like," Alex sniffed, "at least I know how to throw hands the right way."
"What did Prometheus show you?"
Reluctantly, I told her about the vision of May Castellan's house. Thalia rubbed her thigh like she was remembering the old wound.
Thalia ground up her teeth and resisted the urge to do the same thing now. That burn mark on her leg had vanished when she'd come out of the tree. She remembered standing in the mirror and seeing her skin smooth from every old scar.
She'd been pissed at her father for that. His blessing that had molded her into another person, somehow years older yet not nearly as much as she should have been with the passing of time.
"That was a bad night," she admitted. "Annabeth was so little, I don't think she really understood what she saw. She just knew Luke was upset."
"Kids absorb more than you think they do Thals," Annabeth said softly.
"Yeah, I got that the second time around," Thalia nodded. She'd done nothing to protect Annabeth from that, but a part of her was relieved for it. It made the following weeks of Luke's anger and Annabeth not questioning it make retroactive sense, rather than just thinking the kid was blindly going along with this new rash behavior.
I looked out the hotel windows at Central Park. Small fires were still burning in the north, but otherwise the city seemed unnaturally peaceful. "Do you know what happened to May Castellan? I mean—"
"I know what you mean," Thalia said. "I never saw her have an, um, episode, but Luke told me about the glowing eyes, the strange things she would say. He made me promise never to tell.
"I see that worked out great for you," only Annabeth could have told her that without making her feel like she should be devoured by her own wolves.
"Yeah, my life's been pretty swell since then," Thalia nodded, only half mocking.
What caused it, I have no idea. If Luke knew, he never told me."
"Hermes knew," I said. "Something caused May to see parts of Luke's future, and Hermes understood what would happen—how Luke would turn into Kronos."
Thalia frowned. "You can't be sure of that. Remember Prometheus was manipulating what you saw, Percy, showing you what happened in the worst possible light.
Percy glanced from Thalia to the book and back several times. She wasn't wrong. The most disturbing part of that to him, in the large array of options he had, was the moment he'd just shared with her. Of course Prometheus could have conjured that whole thing from thin air, or just that face-melting moment where the Titan had flopped what had really been on the god of messangers face and nothing else.
Either way, he had nothing to decide but the miserable feeling of what he was supposed to do with the outcome, a god's mess. As usual.
Hermes did love Luke. I could tell just by looking at his face.
She'd seen it in the brief time Jupiter had been wooing her mother. Like all of Zeus's flings so irresistible to whatever wrath Hera might bring upon them for it, he had loved Beryl for that brief time. Bringing her gifts and smiling at her. He'd looked down at Jason in his crib with that same proud, and worried face Hermes had given Luke. Zeus- Jupiter she now realized, had loved his son, and known what was in store for his fate too. Could it really be called love to stand by and do it all, outcome be damned?
And Hermes was there that night because he was checking up on May, taking care of her. He wasn't all bad."
Magnus nodded in silent agreement he probably was the reason she still had food in the house and managed any sort of home care.
"It's still not right," I insisted. "Luke was just a little kid. Hermes never helped him, never stopped him from running away."
Thalia shouldered her bow. Again it struck me how much stronger she looked now that she'd stopped aging. You could almost see a silvery glow around her—the blessing of Artemis.
Thalia smiled with a sense of pride, that Percy, the strongest male hero she knew, thought that of her. That someone so clueless easily acknowledged how well she fit into the place she'd chosen for herself.
Gods did that just make the headache continue to split her in half about leaving Jason behind a second time when she got back. A part of her wanted to ask Percy's advice on this, and Annabeth's, but a smaller part of her thought she should ask Jason first considering he was the motive of her considering giving this up, while the rest of her was still telling those annoying little siblings to shut up and they didn't need her anymore and she'd made a vow and she was happy with this life! Wholly Zeus her head hurt!
"Percy," she said, "you can't start feeling sorry for Luke.
"When can he start then?" Annabeth was not even slightly proud of the way her voice shook with anger but unable to stop it. "I'd personally love a timetable for when that's allowed!"
"Don't be smart with me," Thalia frowned. "We were in the middle of a war Annabeth, you know as well as I do he needed to stay focused on the matter at hand-"
"His 'feeling sorry' is what saved-" her shout was cut off by Percy's. The whine in the back of his throat, the way he grabbed a fistful of hair and closed his eyes against the pain.
"Sorry, sorry," they both murmured, throwing each other one last distasteful look before silently agreeing to let it go while the rest of them slowly exhaled.
Percy slowly let his eyes flutter back open as he looked miserably between the pair in self-loathing. He was really tired of being the person standing in the way of Annabeth's old life. This was obviously something she long needed to talk to Thalia about, and his stupid brain couldn't handle it!
We all have tough things to deal with. All demigods do. Our parents are hardly ever around. But Luke made bad choices. Nobody forced him to do that. In fact—"
She glanced down the hall to make sure we were alone. "I'm worried about Annabeth. If she has to face Luke in battle, I don't know if she can do it. She's always had a soft spot for him."
Annabeth gave her sister a scathing look that would have sent anyone else running out of the room, possibly through one of the walls and finishing those off. "I can handle myself fine thank you!"
Thalia grinned back, but it wasn't the supportive gesture she'd once used guiding her arm to practice their techniques. It felt mocking. Like she was about to reach over and pat her on the head as a love-sick Aphoridte kid.
Blood rose to my face. "She'll do fine."
"Thank you!" Annabeth gestured to him so hard she whacked him in the face. Neither girl noticed. Percy was left to rub his lip he was positive would have been a little swollen if not for his curse.
Nobody bothered pointing out to her Percy wanted her to be fine. Percy hated Annabeth's puppy crush on Luke more than anyone, and that was probably a little more denial talking than faith in her consecutive inabilities in previous situations to 'do fine.'
But they all valued their tongues staying safely in their mouths to much to tell her that.
Magnus swallowed in mild fear to keep going, but the awkward silence just kept growing, and Thalia looked away first. An indulgent elder watching Annabeth fondly fumble with no idea when she'd get the hang of it but confident she would. The kind of look he'd assume would be on Artemis's face watching a girl get her heart broke, because she should have seen it coming.
"I don't know. After that night, after we left his mom's house? Luke was never the same. He got reckless and moody, like he had something to prove. By the time Grover found us and tried to get us to camp . . . well, part of the reason we had so much trouble was because Luke wouldn't be careful. He wanted to pick a fight with every monster we crossed.
"When I tell you we heard rumors of a cyclops den passing through and how fast he started marking every building for its possible lair," Thalia trailed off with a superior laugh.
Annabeth flushed with anger. She'd helped Luke every step of the way, feeling important as they analyzed possible locations. She'd seen it as another lesson she'd took to heart. Gods, Thalia's anger at him had somehow gotten worse over the years to be mocking this now! "You could have just left us there then if that's how you felt!" She scowled. Thalia had followed them into every building, silent and shield drawn.
Thalia spluttered, a tinge of red in her face. Anger, or embarrassment at realizing how much she'd actually hurt her little sister with this attitude they weren't sure as she only managed to say, "I would never-"
"Knock it off you two," Percy said sharply, pressing his knuckles tight into his temple and massaging the spot the only sign of this affecting him. "We've got how much of this crap left? I really wanted to finish this today, please-" his voice broke too. In exhaustion, but a little more emphasis on that plea too. He cared about both of them and this was just getting more miserable to watch with each hurtful comment.
"Okay," Annabeth promised, taking his hand gently from his forehead and holding it in her own again.
"Yeah, sorry Perce," Thalia agreed, but she pulled her knife out and began jabbing at her pants again in simmering frustration. This was far from over, and she had no delusions this fight had an endgame. She didn't see how the two of them would ever resolve past this. Annabeth was probably secretly grateful she was out of her life most of the time now because of it.
Annabeth didn't see that as a problem. Luke was her hero. 
Was her hero, Annabeth fought to swallow those words, that idea that had passed. Faded with some time. She didn't even believe in the ideal of heroes anymore, someone who always did the right thing for all the right reasons. There was no Greek Hero who got a happy retirement with zero regrets in life. Her tight hold on Percy's hand went white-knuckled. He just laced their fingers together without question.
She only understood that his parents had made him sad, and she got very defensive of him. She still is defensive. All I'm saying . . . don't you fall into the same trap. Luke has given himself to Kronos now. We can't afford to be soft on him."
Annabeth swallowed a very large and bitter pill as she did admit to herself all of that was true. She'd only come to the conclusion of all of that for herself this morning.
She wanted to finish vindictively reminding her that giving Luke a chance had been what saved them all, that Thalia acting like Luke was a lost cause right along with everyone else in her life hadn't mattered in the end, but she instead squeezed Percy's hand and took a calming breath. Percy was right. She needed to talk to her later to resolve this. Throwing each other's past into Percy's wasn't helping anyone.
I looked out at the fires in Harlem, wondering how many sleeping mortals were in danger right now because of Luke's bad choices.
"You're right," I said.
"Sweet music to my ears," her laughter sounded very forced, but she spoke to him normally enough, the tease lacing her voice as usual with one of her closest friends.
"Hey Will, you got a guitar around man?" Percy smiled in revenge. "I'd be happy to keep singing for her if that's what she wants?"
Thalia gave him a look of horror and betrayal. She had really hurt Annabeth, he might have gone through with it too.
"No Percy, I cannot pull a musical instrument out of my ass," he chuckled.
"Darn, have to hit pause on it for now then," he shrugged, giving an oh-so-innocent and playful smile back to Thalia while she hastily waved Magnus on. He only reluctantly did so because he didn't want to draw Oceanus back in here if Alex suggested they just go see if the fridge could produce that next.
Thalia patted my shoulder. "I'm going to check on the Hunters, then get some more sleep before nightfall. You should crash too."
"The last thing I need is more dreams."
"I know, believe me." Her dark expression made me wonder what she'd been dreaming about.
Jason had watched the entire exchange between the trio with sorrow for being useless and able to offer nothing of help, even if he wanted to. He was jealous of how Percy mediated the pair. He really wanted to know if Thalia was having nightmares about what he was going through on the opposite side of the country and his war, but that was ridiculous. She'd promised she didn't even know he was alive and he believed her.
She felt the burning sensation of his eyes on her and gave him an exhausted smile. She wanted to do something right around here. "Saw Artimes in battle, and it was going poorly," she said with a catch in her voice. "One was a vision of my- our mom, that drunken night she hit a tree. She was muttering about Zeus, and of course I couldn't do anything to stop her, but every part of me wished I could reach out and grab that steering wheel from her hand. I saw a girl fighting with her aunt and deciding to run away from home right into a monster, but of course I couldn't head out and explain to her what she was heading towards like I usually would have, my fight was there. Whole bunch of stuff Jase, that just made me miserable and exhausted as I woke up."
The god's design, or perhaps a latent curse of being a half-blood they could blame on their parents. Their dreams, their abilities, everything that made them unable to be sound asleep on that sidewalk too, but instead owning up to their moral obligation to fight.
Jason nodded in understanding and didn't press her for more.
His thirst for knowledge obviously not quenched, but he turned away, Thalia was surprised to feel someone else get her attention. Annabeth had released Percy, and gently took her hand, squeezing, offering her an apologetic smile. Her nightmares had been going no better, and she'd woken up crying in pain from her shoulder.
Thalia instantly smiled and squeezed back apologetically, and just like they had for years now, Luke settled back where he always did, locked in a safe tight box out of the way in the corner of their mind.
It was a common demigod problem: the more dangerous our situation became, the worse and more frequent our dreams got.
"Seriously, who is the god of dreams, and where's the nearest pitchfork," Alex said in complete commiseration for them, and wanting to have a word about not keeping her mother out of her own.
Annabeth and Nico exchanged awkward looks before deciding it might be best just to not answer her right now. Thalia opened her mouth, clearly having woken up on the chaotic side of the bed with no reservations, and Annabeth kicked her in the shin as her blessing of a cousin quickly moved on. They all knew Will had the best sense alive to not even entertain answering her, Percy thought in relief.
Jason, of course, was just pouting he didn't get the name of another god to add to his collection. They suspected he spent every night falling asleep trying to memorize mythomagic cards anyways.
"But Percy, there's no telling when you'll get another chance for rest. It's going to be a long night—maybe our last night."
"Hells yeah Thalia," Percy nodded and offered her a high-five. "Last night on earth and we spend it living the dream."
She laughed and high-fived him right back across Annabeth's face. She sighed with a long resigned look, wondering what it was like to have normal friends. Frankly, nobody in camp could even be considered. The closest she might ever get was Magnus.
I didn't like it, but I knew she was right. I nodded wearily and gave her Pandora's jar. "Do me a favor. Lock this in the hotel vault, will you? I think I'm allergic to pithos."
"Something not to be taken lightly moving forward young man," Alex said primly. "Well have to get you an epi pen, and perhaps restrict you to homecooked meals where we can better control your future culinary intake."
"I said pithos, not pistachios," Percy rolled his eyes.
"That's worse! You can't go antiquing with me!" She pouted.
Percy looked mildly concerned what antiquing was and really didn't want to ask further questions.
Thalia smiled. "You got it."
I found the nearest bed and passed out. But of course sleep only brought more nightmares.
I saw the undersea palace of my father. The enemy army was closer now, entrenched only a few hundred yards outside the palace. The fortress walls were completely destroyed. The temple my dad had used as his headquarters was burning with Greek fire.
There was a not so small part of Percy that still wished he'd stayed down there. Avoided this prophecy, the Styx, and proved to Triton and Ampthtirte why he was his father's son and fought to keep that from happening. If he could have just saved one undersea life it would have been worth it to stay behind.
I zoomed in on the armory, where my brother and some other Cyclopes were on lunch break, eating from huge jars of Skippy extra-chunky peanut butter (and don't ask me how it tasted underwater, because I don't want to know).
"Everything's tasted normal down here actually, it probably does to them too," Magnus offered.
"I want to know how big that jar was multiple cyclopses were eating from the same one," Jason said, imagining one with approximately the same weight and height as him.
"Think bigger," Percy promised. The storage rooms for those things must house a sea witch too.
As I watched, the outer wall of the armory exploded. A Cyclops warrior stumbled inside, collapsing on the lunch table. Tyson knelt down to help, but it was too late. The Cyclops dissolved into sea silt.
Percy felt his heart freeze in place. He'd never wanted to know what would ever happen to Tyson if he got hurt!
Annabeth laced her fingers through his, brushing her thumb across the back of his hand. His lungs were starting to hurt, he still hadn't taken a breath, his eyes solely on the book, but he knew it was her. And not because it would take someone cutting off Thalia's hand to force this. He'd just know her touch anywhere.
Enemy giants moved toward the breach, and Tyson picked up the fallen warrior's club. He yelled something to his fellow blacksmiths—probably "For Poseidon!"—but with his mouth full of peanut butter it sounded like "PUH PTEH BUN!" His brethren all grabbed hammers and chisels, yelled, "PEANUT BUTTER!" and charged behind Tyson into battle.
Then the scene shifted.
"Tyson-" Percy sounded terrified. His little brother had proven to be indestructible on more than one occasion, but all he could see in his eyes were those scars on his back from the sphynx. He could be hurt. He could be next.
Annabeth squeezed his hand again and he finally took in a much-needed breath, then another, as he shook his head and tossed that fear into the nearest volcano where it could blow itself up too. Tyson was smart, and strong, and if his dad wouldn't give him a chance he'd take this opportunity to show them all.
I was with Ethan Nakamura at the enemy camp.
"Nope, no, go back to Tyson," Magnus groaned at the words out of his mouth. He was half tempted to hand the book to Alex. She was so awesome at managing a level of hateful cadence that sat right on the edge of mocking joy to keep them all invested and in the right mood. He just kept picturing this backstabber's knife pulling away from Annabeth covered in blood over and over and he probably sounded like a whiny toddler.
He took a glance at his cousin real quick before he asked just to see her not bleeding and not turning green, to see her smiling at him. Encouraging, but not demanding he keep going right this second. He was suddenly really jealous of all her half-siblings in her cabin as he took a ragged breath but kept reading at his own pace.
What I saw made me shiver, partly because the army was so huge, partly because I recognized the place.
We were in the backwoods of New Jersey, on a crumbling road lined with run-down businesses and tattered billboard signs. A trampled fence ringed a big yard full of cement statuary. The sign above the warehouse was hard to read because it was in red cursive, but I knew what it said: AUNTY EM'S GARDEN GNOME EMPORIUM.
"Oh the good old days when Percy and Annabeth ran away from the circus and Grover was tagging along calling you guys idiots," Jason nodded.
"The first monster we ever killed together," Percy agreed as he gave her a kiss on the temple.
"The second time I had to save your butt," she grinned.
"The third time you-"
"Nope, no, we're not sitting around watching you two flirt, again," Magnus groused before reading on loudly.
I hadn't thought about the place in years.
"I'm pretty sure Grover thinks about it every once in a while," Jason muttered. The place he'd found out where his Uncle Ferdinand had died had seemed important to him at the time.
It was clearly abandoned. The statues were broken and spray-painted with graffiti. A cement satyr—Grover's Uncle Ferdinand—had lost his arm.
"Please tell me you don't mention that to Grover," Jason winced.
"Why would that ever come up?" Percy asked in mild concern. He certainly didn't go up to him after every nightmare and give him the details.
Part of the warehouse roof had caved in. A big yellow sign pasted on the door read: CONDEMNED.
"Where's Clarisse with her wrecking ball," Will agreed.
"I only wish she'd been off doing this secret mission. I actually would have told her about this nightmare if I believed for even a second she would," Percy nodded.
Hundreds of tents and fires surrounded the property. Mostly I saw monsters, but there were some human mercenaries in combat fatigues and demigods in armor, too. A purple-and-black banner hung outside the emporium, guarded by two huge blue Hyperboreans.
Ethan was crouched at the nearest campfire.
Percy scowled, his blood boiling at once. He wished this was a 'normal' kind of nightmare and he was about to watch a monster chase this guy around before eating him. By the tone of Magnus's voice, Percy was pretty sure he wouldn't even be that freaked out by the nastiest monster Percy could pick either.
A couple of other demigods sat with him, sharpening their swords. The doors of the warehouse opened, and Prometheus stepped out.
"Nakamura," he called. "The master would like to speak to you."
Ethan stood up warily. "Something wrong?"
Prometheus smiled. "You'll have to ask him."
One of the other demigods snickered. "Nice knowing you."
"Was it though?" Thalia asked blandly.
"Can't say I've enjoyed the experience," Percy huffed. Imagining this guy with friends though, maybe a mortal family somewhere out there agitated his mind. What else had Ethan given up besides his eye to get where he was?
Ethan readjusted his sword belt and headed into the warehouse.
Except for the hole in the roof, the place was just as I remembered. Statues of terrified people stood frozen in midscream.
"Got to wonder if the Hyperboreans are a fan of her work," Jason shivered.
"Or if they're possibly responsible for the iceberg that sank the Titanic," Alex nodded.
"That was a stretch," Annabeth frowned.
"I don't put anything past Canadians, I don't cut them slack," Alex sniffed.
In the snack bar area, the picnic tables had been moved aside. Right between the soda dispenser and pretzel warmer stood a golden throne. Kronos lounged on it, his scythe across his lap.
Percy looked a little miffed because if he had a throne, that's where he'd want it placed too. Kronos shouldn't be having good ideas like that.
He wore jeans and a T-shirt, and with his brooding expression he looked almost human—like the younger version of Luke I'd seen in the vision, pleading with Hermes to tell him his fate. Then Luke saw Ethan, and his face contorted into a very inhuman smile. His golden eyes glowed.
"Asked, and answered," Nico murmured. Luke had postulated about how proud he was being at the heart of all this, but he didn't think that young Luke yelling at Hermes would have done the same.
"Well, Nakamura. What did you think of the diplomatic mission?"
Ethan hesitated. "I'm sure Lord Prometheus is better suited to speak—"
"But I asked you."
Ethan's good eye darted back and forth, noting the guards that stood around Kronos.
Will looked so sad to hear that. He couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of willingly being somewhere where you feared for your life talking to your leader. Who would put themselves through that?
"I . . . I don't think Jackson will surrender. Ever."
Kronos nodded. "Anything else you wanted to tell me?"
"N-no, sir.
"You look nervous, Ethan."
"No, sir. It's just . . . I heard this was the lair of —"
"Medusa? Yes, quite true. Lovely place, eh? Unfortunately, Medusa hasn't re-formed since Jackson killed her, so you needn't worry about joining her collection.
Jason looked blankly around the room. "How does he know that? How on earth does he know it was Percy who killed her? Does his half-blood scent linger every time he kills a monster?"
Percy grinned. "I imagine him and Medusa in Tartarus bitching about me, personally. All the monsters I send down there have a hate club, and I'm on buttons."
Annabeth sighed and face palmed how proud he clearly was of that idea. She didn't bother wasting her breath explaining the darkest part of the world had no time for such light-heartedness. She did picture a few balloons with the camp half-blood logo being popped in celebration and grinned to herself for a second at Joe Bob only being allowed to throw tiny darts instead of more flaming cannonballs.
Besides, there are much more dangerous forces in this room."
Kronos looked over at a Laistrygonian giant who was munching noisily on some french fries. Kronos waved his hand and the giant froze. A french fry hung suspended in midair halfway between his hand and his mouth.
"Whew," Jason mock wiped sweat from his brow, "for a moment there I thought Kronos meant the ice giant and I was afraid he'd lost his ego!"
"Where is that on the body? I'll stab it, no questions asked," Percy sighed.
Thalia leaned around Annabeth and tried to jab Percy in the part of his skull she was pretty confident was close enough before she swatted her away with a distasteful look for the joke at both boys.
"Why turn them to stone," Kronos asked, "when you can freeze time itself?"
His golden eyes bored into Ethan's face. "Now, tell me one more thing. What happened last night on the Williamsburg Bridge?"
Will would have rather heard about Kronos getting stabbed in the throat than that continuing to be brought up. It really did hurt fresh every time.
Ethan trembled. Beads of perspiration were popping up on his forehead. "I . . . I don't know, sir."
"Yes, you do." Kronos rose from his seat. "When you attacked Jackson, something happened. Something was not quite right. The girl, Annabeth, jumped in your way."
"She wanted to save him."
"But he is invulnerable," Kronos said quietly. "You saw that yourself."
"I can't explain it. Maybe she forgot."
"I can't get Annabeth to forget the one time I burnt the popcorn," Percy scoffed. It didn't feel great to be on the same page as Kronos about something, but the fact was he could all to easily hear the disdain for that idea before Kronos even spoke it.
"And look what happened, now you believe me about proper timers on the microwave instead of just mashing that 30 second button," Annabeth nodded approvingly.
"She forgot," Kronos said. "Yes, that must've been it. Oh dear, I forgot my friend is invulnerable and took a knife for him. Oops. Tell me, Ethan, where were you aiming when you stabbed at Jackson?"
And there it was. Of course Kronos hadn't missed a beat, the Titan was probably a great dancer! He would likely leave the rest of his army to burn and drag Ethan out by his foot still demanding the answer to this.
Ethan frowned. He clasped his hand as if he were holding a blade, and mimed a thrust. "I'm not sure, sir. It all happened so fast. I wasn't aiming for any spot in particular."
"Is he, protecting you?" Magnus's voice was a painful combination of hope and dread. Did the guy have even a sliver of regret for all the suffering he'd caused? Or was this some secret vendetta and he was planning on killing Percy for himself?
"I honestly don't think he knew," Percy shook his head, even with a confused stare of his own. "No offense Magnus, but I've said it before, the heat of battle makes it so you don't think about every move." He tapped the side of his temple instead of gesturing at the books for some strange reason to make his point.
Magnus nodded in a way he understood what Percy meant, even if he had no factual idea what Percy was talking about outside of these books.
Kronos's fingers tapped the blade of his scythe. "I see," he said in a chilly tone. "If your memory improves, I will expect—"
Suddenly the Titan lord winced. The giant in the corner unfroze and the french fry fell into his mouth.
Kronos stumbled backward and sank into his throne.
"Woah," Alex said, sitting up instantly with completely undivided attention.
Magnus really didn't need the extra pressure of all of her attention on him, the way Annabeth had tensed up and his own common sense were more than enough, but his voice still went a little shaky for a few sentences despite his internal scolding.
"My lord?" Ethan started forward.
"I—" The voice was weak, but just for a moment it was Luke's. Then Kronos's expression hardened.
He raised his hand and flexed his fingers slowly as if forcing them to obey.
Annabeth felt herself go numb, like her mind was actively trying to detach itself to save her from feeling the full brunt of pain that should have caused.
Even through that, she felt Percy's arm tighten around her, his hand coming up to brush her hair. It didn't feel fair, that comfort and safety she felt. While her sister crossed her arms and scowled at the book like Magnus or Percy's own dream was trying to trick her. That she got this and the eventual peace of mind Luke wasn't suffering anymore under this torture if she could just hang on until then.
And she would.
It only hurt so much, hearing it fresh through Percy's memories because it only confirmed for her what she'd known all along. How much Luke had wanted to change, wanted to fight this. It was a good kind of hurt, even knowing it had all been in vain.
"It is nothing," he said, his voice steely and cold again. "A minor discomfort."
Ethan moistened his lips. "He's still fighting you, isn't he? Luke—"
"Is that, common knowledge," Jason asked with deep interest. "Or- huh. I always wondered what happened after you guys left that mountaintop, and Ethan was the only one there besides those Telkahines to witness if Luke and Kronos were having some sort of-"
"Enough Jason," Thalia's voice sounded harsh. It probably had something to do with the fact that everything hurt.
"Nonsense," Kronos spat. "Repeat that lie, and I will cut out your tongue. The boy's soul has been crushed. 
Annabeth knew the feeling. Her soul might as well have been crushed under that sky. She'd been walking around with a faulty, unstable structure of a soul for a long time since as she learned to do repairs there.
I am simply adjusting to the limits of this form. It requires rest. It is annoying, but no more than a temporary inconvenience."
"I'll show him a temporary inconvenience," Alex scowled. "Shove my fist so far down his throat and then hope he's allergic to nuts as I pull back out-"
Will gave a slight cough, which was the flimsiest reprimand possible, but Alex was great at taking a hint like that.
"As . . . as you say, my lord."
"You!" Kronos pointed his scythe at a dracaena with green armor and a green crown. "Queen Sess, is it?"
"There's a queen of those things?" Will asked in disgust, resisting the urge to wrap his arms around his stomach to hide their favorite target of ripping people's guts.
"Not for long," Nico promised. He'd put this thing's head on a plate just for making Will look like that.
"Yesssss, my lord."
"Is our little surprise ready to be unleashed?"
"Why he gotta be vague even in dreamland?" Magnus frowned. "Who's he mincing words for?!"
"He does know Percy and plenty of half-bloods are likely seeing this," Annabeth reminded gently. "It does suck to see him being cautious." Her dreams had mostly been filled with painful flashes she could never focus on long enough, a torture in itself. Chiron trying to convince his brethren to help, her mother attempting to reason with the other gods on how best to cripple Typhoon and being ignored, that sort of thing.
The dracaena queen bared her fangs. "Oh, yessss, my lord. Quite a lovely sssssurprissse."
"I don't believe her," Percy scowled, wondering what was going to happen when a pig and a snake got crossed and imagining some horrible flying monstrosity somehow that shot venom and had tusks and could kill him twenty different ways instead of the usual ten.
"Excellent," Kronos said. "Tell my brother Hyperion to move our main force south into Central Park. The half-bloods will be in such disarray they will not be able to defend themselves. Go now, Ethan. Work on improving your memory. We will talk again when we have taken Manhattan."
"Oh, so, never," Nico said with interest. "Always nice to know how long you can put a conversation off for."
"Nico over here finding all the secrets to enjoy life today," Alex chuckled.
"I like to think we're all getting something out of this," Nico shrugged with a little smirk.
Ethan bowed, and my dreams shifted one last time.
"Did you have a gut feeling it was one last time?" Jason asked, his voice instantly falling into rambling territory again as he smiled. "Actually, your dreams have been coming in threes lately! I wonder if it's because of your heightened battle fatigue, or perhaps the curse increased your extra sense that allows this as well, or-"
"I'm going to get a pillow and smother him," Percy decided.
"Do it gently," Thalia sighed, "I'm not banking on him coming back from the dead a second time."
Jason closed his mouth and looked around to make sure there weren't actually any pillows to be used against him in here. The only ones available were the couch cushions, but he wasn't going to bet his precious air that Percy wouldn't rip those out from under his butt to try.
I saw the Big House at camp, but it was a different era. The house was painted red instead of blue.
Alex spluttered on a laugh and Magnus couldn't help but join in.
"How often do they repaint that?" Will asked in his own delight. "Is it due for another? Because I vote orange!"
"You're going to make kids blind when the sun hits that thing," Nico sighed.
"I was going to ask you guys that," Alex caught her breath back and grinned at Annabeth as her last hope. "Where do I vote to make it tie-die rainbow?!"
"I'll be sure to bring it up with Chiron when we get back," Annabeth chuckled.
The campers down at the volleyball pit had early '90s hairstyles, which were probably good for keeping monsters away.
Which only increased the laughter another fold with everybody joining in.
"I need a photo of Chiron with an afro," Thalia wheezed. "I won't even use it for blackmail, I swear!"
"I guarantee the Aphrodite cabin had a whole closet dedicated to butterfly clips," Annabeth nodded.
"Every girl was rocking The Rachel, and every guy had frosted tips, I needed no further evidence why camp survived up to Thalia's tree," Percy nodded.
Chiron stood by the porch, talking to Hermes and a woman holding a baby. Chiron's hair was shorter and darker. Hermes wore his usual jogging suit with his winged high-tops. The woman was tall and pretty. She had blond hair, shining eyes and a friendly smile. The baby in her arms squirmed in his blue blanket like Camp Half-Blood was the last place he wanted to be.
"Has anybody dropped off a baby there like at a firehouse?" Magnus asked in concern.
"Not that I know of," Will frowned, his mind boggling who would raise the tot. Chiron seemed like the only viable option, and he was now picturing him in archery class with a second quiver and that blue blanket sticking out.
"It's an honor to have you here," Chiron told the woman, though he sounded nervous. "It's been a long time since a mortal was allowed at camp."
"Don't encourage her," Hermes grumbled. "May, you can't do this."
"Obviously about to do something a god told her not to do," Alex said with a pained smile. "Damn Percy, I know you hate to hear it, but you were destined to be just like Luke. In all the good ways, anyways."
Annabeth gave her a distasteful look. It sounded like kind words but still somehow insulted Luke.
"Yeah, yeah," Percy sighed. It still gave him vertigo how much May Castellan reminded him of his mom. Posideon had wanted to send him to camp and she'd refused. Hermes was over here telling May not to do something, and things obviously hadn't turned out well for her.
With a shock, I realized I was seeing May Castellan. She looked nothing like the old woman I'd met.
She seemed full of life—the kind of person who could smile and make everyone around her feel good.
Yep, just keep drawing those parallels universe, Percy wanted to scream and slam the book shut. He couldn't get enough of them!
"Oh, don't worry so much," May said, rocking the baby. "You need an Oracle, don't you? The old one's been dead for, what, twenty years?"
"Longer," Chiron said gravely.
Hermes raised his arms in exasperation. "I didn't tell you that story so you could apply.
"Why, did he tell her the story?" Magnus asked in concern. It didn't seem like a random funfact a god would drop.
"Also, he called it a story?" Jason arched a brow in fascination. "Either he doesn't know Hades did it, or damn, they're really more detached than even I thought and it's getting beyond depressing."
Annabeth and Thalia exchanged depressed looks.
To their surprise, Percy answered. "Yeah, honestly guys, none of that surprises me. My mom probably asked my dad something about clear sight too, maybe the gods explain it if they're lucky, and we know the gods don't know when curses get thrown around every time, otherwise Hades would have been able to find Deaduls from that bird brand thing Athena gave him."
Both boys nodded, they got way to wrapped up in the moment sometimes.
It's dangerous. Chiron, tell her."
"It is," Chiron warned.
"And that's why Chiron's lived all these years," Will nodded wisely.
"Does he take every order given to him by the gods? Dude needs some more fun in his life," Alex sniffed.
"He escaped his family of constant fun, I think he likes being a little more settled and calm at camp," Nico reminded. He could appreciate the old soul who just wanted to be left alone for hours on end, a feeling he'd been deprived of for days. Even in company he'd grown to like. He'd never even had a social battery before all this and it was way over-taxed.
"For many years, I have forbidden anyone from trying. We don't know exactly what's happened. Humanity seems to have lost the ability to host the Oracle."
"That's somehow worse than the original curse," Thalia said in disgust. "I can't believe Hades never warned anybody what he did, even to brag about it!"
"And have Apollo's wrath rain upon him and start a mini-civil war?" Will sighed. "No, Hades would probably be pleased if he ever found out another immortal's lover fell prey to this curse after what was done to his."
Nico smiled in surprise at Will acknowledging his dad's cunning side, and even more at Thaila conceding the point.
"We've been through that," May said. "And I know I can do it. Hermes, this is my chance to do something good. I've been given the gift of sight for a reason."
'Not this reason' bile rose painfully in the back of Annabeth's throat. She hated Zeus so much in this moment it didn't even feel like it should all be contained inside her. This was his fault for trying to prevent the prophecy by outlawing children as if he wouldn't break that the moment he felt like it. He'd taken it out on other gods because he feared of history repeating itself like he'd overthrown Kronos. So of course he'd inevitably created his own downfall in this domino of effects that Luke and Percy completed.
I wanted to yell at May Castellan to stop. I knew what was about to happen. I finally understood how her life had been destroyed. But I couldn't move or speak.
"You think Luke ever had this dream?" Will asked, his voice rough with emotion for this poor family. "Think Kronos showed it to him?" He'd almost wish it for him, to give the guy some kind of closure on what happened to his mother, but surely this had only added fuel to the flame of his hatred.
Annabeth and Thalia exchanged miserable looks because, they didn't know. And that always hurt worse.
Hermes looked more hurt than worried. "You couldn't marry if you became the Oracle," he complained. "You couldn't see me anymore."
That was a weirdly selfish but kind of sweet complaint, Alex thought in surprise. It continued to intrigue her how many times the gods kept saying this was the mortal they wanted to love and cherish forever, when she'd never fathomed before all this a god would bother to have a child without a selfish motivation of breaking them free of a prison.
May put her hand on his arm. "I can't have you forever, can I? You'll move on soon. You're immortal."
He started to protest, but she put her hand on his chest. "You know it's true! Don't try to spare my feelings. Besides, we have a wonderful child. I can still raise Luke if I'm the Oracle, right?"
"No," Magnus said bluntly, but a gentleness to his voice. A doctor with to much experience giving someone months to live. No, she could not do it, and they all wished she hadn't tried.
Chiron coughed. "Yes, but in all fairness, I don't know how that will affect the spirit of the Oracle. A woman who has already borne a child—as far as I know, this has never been done before. If the spirit does not take—"
"It will," May insisted.
No, I wanted to shout. It won't.
Percy shivered, and Annabeth put her arms around him to hold him tight. He rested his head on hers for a moment as he felt the chains of this dream melt. Some part of him still felt what Luke must have every day for a time. How evil all of this felt, even just the act of showing him this knowing he couldn't do a thing to stop it, the worst torture to put him through.
But he took a breath and got a whiff of her lemon scent and knew the gods couldn't be all bad, not so long as they could go through this together.
May Castellan kissed her baby and handed the bundle to Hermes. "I'll be right back."
She gave them one last confident smile and climbed the steps.
Magnus asked dully, "can I take this moment as proof; that confidence cannot take you over the finish line?"
"Sure, but it doesn't mean don't do it scared either," Alex shrugged.
Which really kind of freaked the others out for a moment as they realized they had no idea what Alex was willing to do without caring about the consequences.
Chiron and Hermes paced in silence. The baby squirmed.
A green glow lit the windows of the house. The campers stopped playing volleyball and stared up at the attic. A cold wind rushed through the strawberry fields.
Hermes must've felt it too. He cried, "No! NO!"
He shoved the baby into Chiron's arms and ran for the porch. Before he reached the door, the sunny afternoon was shattered by May Castellan's terrified scream.
I got up so fast I banged my head on somebody's shield.
"Got to make you wonder how the rest of that day went," Nico said bluntly. His father had dumped him in a river and then a hotel to get away from it. How long had baby Luke been left in Chiron's lap while May continued screaming to this day in different spirits? How long until someone remembered to collect the baby and then think of no better option but to leave him with her? Who kept restocking all the ingredients in that house just to watch them go bad?
"I imagine that day went not well and kept stretching for the next twenty-something years," Percy said miserably. A part of him still wanted to yell at Hestia and Prometheus and whatever other god decided to keep showing him this crap! Why was it whenever he needed answers he was told to wait, but he kept getting all of Luke's miserable life beamed into his head lately?!
"Ow!"
"Sorry, Percy." Annabeth was standing over me. "I was just about to wake you."
"With a shield to the face?" Jason didn't sound disapproving exactly, to Percy's dismay, more just curious how that would have gone. Percy was already imagining her banging on it like a gong too.
"No, that was just bad luck, his specialty," she shrugged.
She just got dubious looks from the others, though more for the fact of why she was holding anything when she should have been on bed rest.
Not that a single one of them was insane enough to think to tell her that, not if they wanted to keep their jaws from being dislocated.
I rubbed my head, trying to clear the disturbing visions. Suddenly a lot of things made sense to me: May Castellan had tried to become the Oracle. She hadn't known about Hades's curse preventing the spirit of Delphi from taking another host. Neither had Chiron or Hermes. They hadn't realized that by trying to take the job, May would be driven mad, plagued with fits in which her eyes would glow green and she would have shattered glimpses of her child's future.
Alex repressed hard the disturbing question swimming to mind of what would happen to the next person who tried. Chiron had said he'd forbidden anyone from trying before May Castellan. Had the girl, that cursed Oracle, warned him of the curse placed upon her? And what of the next girl...the one who kept having dreams of Percy and Luke and all this prophecy...
But Rachel had been fine. In this room chilling with Percy. So that had all worked itself out fine.
Unless she'd just been having one of her good days.
"Percy?" Annabeth asked. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," I lied.
Annabeth gave him a look that very plainly said she'd like to hit him in the face with that shield again, on purpose.
He just grinned back, mildly apologetic, and she rolled her eyes and moved on.
"What . . . what are you doing in armor? You should be resting."
"Oh, I'm fine," she said, though she still looked pale. She was barely moving her right arm.
"Because that's the definition of fine," Will said with a grimace. He still had not managed to duplicate himself into twenty other versions to keep an eye on every kid in camp though, plus a few extra to enjoy leisure and fun since this happened, so really, he had no one to blame on this happening but himself.
"It's Percy's definition of fine," Annabeth sniffed while her boyfriend gave her a miserable smile.
"And we all know we should take Percy's grasp on the English dictionary as biblical," Jason said with pure sarcasm.
"Open to interpretation, exactly," Annabeth nodded in appreciation.
"Gods, they've already come up with their own secret language, we're doomed," Thalia groaned while Percy nodded in agreement.
"That nectar and ambrosia fixed me up."
"Uh-huh. You can't seriously go out and fight."
She offered me her good hand and helped me up. My head was pounding.
"Takes one to know one," Annabeth said with pride. She'd know Percy's headache face anywhere. He had so much tension in his jaw it could snap another bridge.
Outside, the sky was purple and red.
"You're going to need every person you have," she said. "I just looked in my shield. There's an army—"
"Heading south into Central Park," I said. "Yeah, I know."
I told her part of my dreams. I left out the vision of May Castellan, because it was too disturbing to talk about. I also left out Ethan's speculation about Luke fighting Kronos inside his body. I didn't want to get Annabeth's hopes up.
Their light banter shifted instantly to a gap between them falling from nowhere. Not large, either could jump over it if they wished, they just leaned back anyway to give each other space from that.
"Do you think Ethan suspects about your weak spot?" she asked.
"I don't know," I admitted. "He didn't tell Kronos anything, but if he figures it out—"
"We can't let him."
"I'll bonk him on the head harder next time," I suggested.
Jason gave a breathy laugh as he closed his mouth back and Percy shot him a smirk of understanding. Some advice was universal.
"Any idea what surprise Kronos was talking about?"
She shook her head. "I didn't see anything in the shield, but I don't like surprises."
"Agreed."
"No surprise birthday parties, got it," Alex nodded seriously, she did not need a sword at her throat for some sparklers thank you, no matter how tempting the idea sounded just to test both of their reflexes.
"So," she said, "are you going to argue about me coming along?"
"Nah. You'd just beat me up."
Percy laughed right along with everybody else. He'd always love this feeling and do anything he could to get back to it, no matter how many fights he had to remember for this.
She managed a laugh, which was good to hear. I grabbed my sword, and we went to rally the troops.
Thalia and the head counselors were waiting for us at the Reservoir. The lights of the city were blinking on at twilight. I guess a lot of them were on automatic timers. Streetlamps glowed around the shore of the lake, making the water and trees look even spookier.
"They're coming," Thalia confirmed, pointing north with a silver arrow. "One of my scouts just reported they've crossed the Harlem River. There was no way to hold them back. The army . . ." She shrugged. "It's huge."
"Because that's a shrugging kind of statement," Magnus frowned.
"Oh I'm sorry, let me try again," Thalia rolled her eyes, cleared her throat, and said, "the army, it's huge!" Then she gasped dramatically and mock sobbed.
"Thank you," Magnus nodded.
"See, I think the Hunters and Campers would respect you more for that, everybody loves the emotional one who cries at everything," Alex mockingly agreed.
"I know sarcasm when I hear it Alex, and I don't care," Magnus crossed his arms, fully aware she was the only person he could ever pretend defiance at and it still somehow looked dainty in his own mind.
"We'll hold them at the park," I said. "Grover, you ready?"
He nodded. "As ready as we'll ever be. If my nature spirits can stop them anywhere, this is the place."
"Yes, we will!" said another voice. A very old, fat satyr pushed through the crowd, stumbling over his own spear. He was dressed in wood-bark armor that only covered half of his belly.
"Leneus?" I said.
"I note the question mark behind his name," Magnus laughed in surprise. "Now you're questioning if you remember it right, or just that he's there? I'm at both!"
"Nah, just the second, I could never forget that grass stain in his fur," Percy smirked.
"Don't act so surprised," he huffed. "I am a leader of the Council, and you did tell me to find Grover. Well, I found him, and I'm not going to let a mere outcast lead the satyrs without my help!"
"He's...almost got you there Percy," Nico looked so bewildered at how close the old goat was to being right on some level.
"Yeah, I almost have a gut feeling about how this is going to go now, but that might just be him rubbing off on me," Percy said.
Behind Leneus's back, Grover made gagging motions, but the old satyr grinned like he was the savior of the day.
Which caused another round of laughter throughout the room.
"Oh, it's been far to long since we got to hear Grover being as rotten as you Perce," Will managed.
"You just haven't heard the best of him," Percy grinned. Grover had threatened to eat more than one of Mrs. Dodd's assignments back in the day, even if he'd never managed to say it to her face.
"Never fear! We'll show those Titans!"
I didn't know whether to laugh or be angry, but I managed to keep a straight face. "Um . . . yeah.
"Herculean effort right there," Annabeth nodded in admiration.
Percy grinned, it was the first time hearing his name hadn't annoyed him in a while. Now if only she somehow had that way with saying Luke's name.
Well, Grover, you won't be alone. Annabeth and the Athena cabin will make their stand here. And me, and . . . Thalia?"
Jason found it an odd moment of hesitation for Percy. Obviously he knew he couldn't order her to help, but he thought Percy had enough confidence in their friendship he could just ask her without thinking twice. He certainly would have assumed it of them.
She patted me on the shoulder. "Say no more. The Hunters are ready."
I looked at the other counselors. "That leaves the rest of you with a job just as important. You have to guard the other entrances to Manhattan. You know how tricky Kronos is. He'll hope to distract us with this big army and sneak another force in somewhere else. It's up to you to make sure that doesn't happen. Has each cabin chosen a bridge or tunnel?"
The counselors nodded grimly.
Annabeth still remembered the array of looks on their faces as she wondered if she'd see them all again. The edges of revenge had some wear and tear on Jake's sharp face, Drew had looked fierce and tried to stand taller than anyone. The Stolls had been standing next to each other, as usual, but there had been something grim in their smiles that made her blood chill. Katie had looked like she was fighting back tears as she adjusted her bag, and she hadn't even seen Will there. Maybe he'd been delegating from his tent, maybe one of the other Apollo kids had assumed battle command and they were sharing. Pollux had stood apart from everyone. Eyes downcast, gripping a canteen. She knew he'd gone with the Demeter cabin. She knew he'd helped in every way he could.
She knew none of it had felt like enough.
"Then let's do it," I said. "Good hunting, everybody!"
We heard the army before we saw it.
The noise was like a cannon barrage combined with a football stadium crowd—like every Patriots fan in New England was charging us with bazookas.
"I feel like that's one of those normal nightmares you've never bothered to mention," Alex grinned. That was a little to specific for Percy to have no reference.
"I'm not a big enough sports fan to care what colors they were wearing," Percy shrugged.
At the north end of the reservoir, the enemy vanguard broke through the woods—a warrior in golden armor leading a battalion of Laistrygonian giants with huge bronze axes. Hundreds of other monsters poured out behind them.
"Positions!" Annabeth yelled.
Her cabinmates scrambled. The idea was to make the enemy army break around the reservoir. To get to us, they'd have to follow the trails, which meant they'd be marching in narrow columns on either side of the water.
At first, the plan seemed to work.
Jason nodded without surprise. Annabeth would of course come up with a strong strategy for the beginning and Percy would help conclude this with one of his on-the-fly insane ideas. He just wished he'd gotten to hear the in-between, the planning stages. Gods he wished he could sit on this book and ignore everybody else trying to stop him from picking apart her brain. Maybe he could guilt Thalia into distracting them for a bit when this book was done and have some fun over a sheaf of charting paper with Annabeth if he was lucky.
The enemy divided and streamed toward us along the shore. When they were halfway across, our defenses kicked in. The jogging trail erupted in Greek fire, incinerating many of the monsters instantly. Others flailed around, engulfed in green flames. Athena campers threw grappling hooks around the largest giants and pulled them to the ground.
In the woods on the right, the Hunters sent a volley of silver arrows into the enemy line, destroying twenty or thirty dracaenae, but more marched behind them. A bolt of lightning crackled out of the sky and fried a Laistrygonian giant to ashes, and I knew Thalia must be doing her daughter of Zeus thing.
"Please do pause and share your powers of deduction there Sherlock," Thalia rolled her eyes at him pointing out something so minor.
"You weren't using them on me, so I knew it was you and not your dad," Percy shrugged. He had like, a fifty-fifty shot of being right anyways.
"Ah, thank you, proceed." She grinned.
Grover raised his pipes and played a quick tune. A roar went up from the woods on both sides as every tree, rock, and bush seemed to sprout a spirit. Dryads and satyrs raised their clubs and charged. The trees wrapped around the monsters, strangling them. Grass grew around the feet of the enemy archers. Stones flew up and hit dracaenae in the faces.
Magnus decided he had a lot of mixed feelings about that he needed to sit with for a while. Nature had always meant kindness to him, as he remembered his mother weaving through the trees and smiling every day no matter the sky above. He never felt to cold or to hot sleeping under the shade of leaves in parks every night.
This description, this long-shattered world view was still something he was trying to adjust to no matter how many days later. The fact that something so deeply ingrained in the good of his life had a violent side that could fight back, if for a good cause.
The enemy slogged forward. Giants smashed through the trees, and naiads faded as their life sources were destroyed. Hellhounds lunged at the timber wolves, knocking them aside. Enemy archers returned fire, and a Hunter fell from a high branch.
One of many moments Thalia wasn't proud of. That she couldn't stop and check on every girl to make sure they still had breath, that she couldn't have taken her friend's place in that spot but instead tried to make up for it by being everywhere on the ground, the central target.
"Percy!" Annabeth grabbed my arm and pointed at the reservoir.
Which Magnus was grateful for as he tried to pull himself out of his own mind. This kind of violence he hated to be immersed in, that he'd be running out of so fast nobody would have time to call him a coward.
The Titan in the gold armor wasn't waiting for his forces to advance around the sides. He was charging toward us, walking straight over the top of the lake.
Percy huffed and made a grumpy, annoyed little frown. Nico was pretty confident it was because a Titan had tried that before it had crossed Percy's mind to attempt.
A Greek firebomb exploded right on top of him, but he raised his palm and sucked the flames out of the air.
"He can't do that to the sun, right?" Magnus asked with dread in every syllable why this guy hadn't just turned around and caused this planet's destruction already.
"Probably," Percy shrugged without much concern, "but where would be the fun in that?"
"Hyperion," Annabeth said in awe. "The lord of light. Titan of the east."
"Bad?" I guessed.
"Next to Atlas, he's the greatest Titan warrior. In the old days, four Titans controlled the four corners of the world. Hyperion was the east—the most powerful. He was the father of Helios, the first sun god."
"Bad," Jason repeated, just in case Percy had missed any of that. Better to keep it on his level.
"Yes, thank you," Percy's grin was fuelled with adrenaline that made Jason's skin crawl. "Guess who's going to need the lesson the sun also has to set, and I'm not even going to put on stupid ram's horns."
"Pity, I bet Grover would have fashioned you some if you asked," Alex said.
"I'll keep him busy," I promised.
"Percy, even you can't—"
"Just keep our forces together."
We'd set up at the reservoir for good reason. I concentrated on the water and felt its power surging through me.
Nico sighed, really wishing he could get some more kind of deep dive experience out of that answer. He'd love to know Percy's process and how he might be able to replicate that without exhausting himself trying to do something similar like walk across a shadowy abyss.
The truth just seemed to be Percy had natural talent, something he couldn't study and practice and get better at.
I advanced toward Hyperion, running over the top of the water. Yeah, buddy. Two can play that game.
"Maybe even three if Tyson tried hard enough," Jason smirked.
"I wish," Percy agreed, while Thalia looked a little green at the implications of walking on water. The clearer she could see to the bottom, the more likely she'd rather just stay on shore and hope for the best.
Twenty feet away, Hyperion raised his sword. His eyes were just like I'd seen in my dream—as gold as Kronos's but brighter, like miniature suns.
"The sea god's brat," he mused. "You're the one who trapped Atlas beneath the sky again?"
"It wasn't hard," I said. "You Titans are about as bright as my gym socks."
"Are we still talking your Meriwether uniform?" Alex asked with interest. "With tie die shirts and shorts? I'm hoping they provided the vibrant socks as well. That's almost a compliment Percy."
"Note to self, compare Alex to my socks later," Percy nodded to himself.
"Oh you have no idea what you've done," Annabeth told her in misery. Alex, of course, just grinned at the challenge of the crazy kind of socks she'd try to get Percy into.
Hyperion snarled. "You want bright?"
His body ignited in a column of light and heat. I looked away, but I was still blinded.
Instinctively I raised Riptide—just in time. Hyperion's blade slammed against mine. The shock wave sent a ten-foot ring of water across the surface of the lake.
My eyes still burned. I had to shut off his light.
I concentrated on the tidal wave and forced it to reverse. Just before impact, I jumped upward on a jet of water.
"I'm getting Ares flashbacks," Magnus was blinking too like he was struggling to keep one god in mind. Percy had fought to many by now, they tended to blur together.
"Yeah, I walked so they could run or something like that," Percy grinned.
Magnus just shook his head and didn't bother to correct him. He was almost right that time. Besides, he liked the idea of the gods running from Percy on sight if they started to annoy him after a certain set number had been defeated. Maybe this would be it.
"AHHHHH!" The waves smashed into Hyperion and he went under, his light extinguished.
I landed on the lake's surface just as Hyperion struggled to his feet. His golden armor was dripping wet. His eyes no longer blazed, but they still looked murderous.
"You will burn, Jackson!" he roared.
"Been there, done that," Percy mock yawned, shifting his weight so much in his seat like he was on the ride of his life. "Try another volcano."
"Please do not," Annabeth grumbled, taking his hand again.
Our swords met again and the air charged with ozone.
"You two are probably single-handedly pushing that whole glacier melting problem into overdrive," Will sighed.
"I'll go up to Antarctica and freeze them over again on vacation," Percy said in mild apology. The whales complained all the time in the ocean about their migration patterns feeling off and he didn't want to make that worse.
Jason shivered, and the others chuckled like he was just playing up the joke, so he just smiled along and repressed deep the dark feeling he had about that joke.
The battle still raged around us. On the right flank, Annabeth was leading an assault with her siblings.
Magnus tried his best to swallow his concern and not blurt out if Annabeth was okay. If she was lagging behind, short of breath, if her arm felt like it was on fire and she'd rather rip it off just after a short burst of using it. She was obviously fine and didn't need her cousin-
"How were you doing?" Percy turned to her in concern. He'd seen her running around at the time so he at least knew she was still alive and he could keep his focus.
"I was fine seaweed brain," she grinned at him. "Very tired and hurting like everybody else, but still moving around."
"That's not the gold standard wise girl," Percy sighed, but didn't bother to argue the point further. She was alive, they weren't in the heat of battle right now, and it was just another argument with her he'd lose.
Magnus was studying the pair with relief. He might not have been the family she needed, but it was always good to see her with the one she'd chosen.
On the left flank, Grover and his nature spirits were regrouping, entangling the enemies with bushes and weeds.
"Enough games," Hyperion told me. "We fight on land."
I was about to make some clever comment, like "No," when the Titan yelled.
"Percy, what would we do without your witty comebacks? Your sass? Your, your pizzaz!" Alex laughed.
"Be very bored listening to this I'm sure," Percy chuckled.
A wall of force slammed me through the air—just like the trick Kronos had pulled on the bridge. I sailed backward about three hundred yards and smashed into the ground. If it hadn't been for my new invulnerability, I would've broken every bone in my body.
"You wouldn't have any bones in your body left," Jason observed like he'd personally pulled out every bone in someone's body before.
"Yeah," Percy groaned, he'd kind of wished for it at the time as he rubbed at the spot on his back.
I got to my feet, groaning. "I really hate it when you Titans do that."
"Are you the pig in this situation," Magnus frowned as he fidgeted with a few pages in nerves. He really hated all of these Titan fights!
"I probably smelled like bacon after that," Percy shrugged, but the feeling didn't sit right as he kept shifting his weight around.
Hyperion closed on me with blinding speed.
I concentrated on the water, drawing strength from it.
Hyperion attacked. He was powerful and fast, but he couldn't seem to land a blow. The ground around his feet kept erupting in flames, but I kept dousing it just as quickly.
"Stop it!" the Titan roared. "Stop that wind!"
"Oh, well, since he asked so nicely," Thalia scoffed. She could still vividly recall feeling that wind pulling at her clothes and making even her aim difficult to keep straight, and just somehow knowing in her bones it was Percy. He was over there causing mayhem. She was still so proud.
I wasn't sure what he meant. I was too busy fighting.
"I think Percy finally won the summary competition," Will sighed in dismay. "Sorry Nico."
"Eh, he beats me at everything cool, what's one more," he shrugged.
Percy just looked blankly at the two and clearly didn't think they were funny.
Hyperion stumbled like he was being pushed away. Water sprayed his face, stinging his eyes. The wind picked up, and Hyperion staggered backward.
"Percy!" Grover called in amazement. "How are you doing that?"
Doing what? I thought.
Then I looked down, and I realized I was standing in the middle of my own personal hurricane.
Magnus shook his head slowly from side to side as Percy once again broke all laws of sanity. If he hadn't met this guy in here, all doey-eyed and forgetful, he'd probably be the scariest freaking person Magnus had ever known. If he wasn't sitting there, juiced up smile on his face like he was on the best ride of his life while his cousin smiled with nothing but deep affection on her face for him, he would have thought this guy was a monster and run for his life, rather braving the depths of the ocean alone than wondering what he'd do.
Percy was just smiling like a friendly guy willing to offer directions to any pedestrian who happened to be lost in New York.
Clouds of water vapor swirled around me, winds so powerful they buffeted Hyperion and flattened the grass in a twenty-yard radius. Enemy warriors threw javelins at me, but the storm knocked them aside.
Alex threw back her head in delighted laughter at this controlled chaos. "Percy, you might be asexual, because you are not fucking around!"
Percy laughed along, a pure noise right from his belly as he felt the energy flowing through him so clearly. He could taste it on the back of his tongue, he felt like he could hold up the sky without breaking a sweat. This is how his dad must feel all the time when he wasn't withered away by a war.
"Sweet," I muttered. "But a little more!"
Lightning flickered around me. The clouds darkened and the rain swirled faster. I closed in on Hyperion and blew him off his feet.
"Ah, the do as I say, not as I do stance," Annabeth said in mild delight. She needed to make sure he stayed grounded and not to over-excited about this.
"He didn't even have it coming half as much as, others," Percy agreed with a wild smile. She grinned right back. She knew exactly what he hadn't said and the two just shared in this moment.
"Percy!" Grover called again. "Bring him over here!"
I slashed and jabbed, letting my reflexes take over, Hyperion could barely defend himself. His eyes kept trying to ignite, but the hurricane quenched his flames.
I couldn't keep up a storm like this forever, though. I could feel my powers weakening. With one last effort, I propelled Hyperion across the field, straight to where Grover was waiting.
"I will not be toyed with!" Hyperion bellowed.
"He's so right," Alex cooed in a poor, pitiful baby voice. "He deserves to have someone play imagination with him instead! Much more possibilities to go off of!"
"Please keep all gods and Titans and whatever adjacent beings away from her, please," Magnus groaned, eyes shut, well aware he was talking into the unknown and nothing was listening. It honestly was more for his sanity than worried Alex couldn't handle it too.
He managed to get to his feet again, but Grover put his reed pipes to his lips and began to play.
Leneus joined him. Around the grove, every satyr took up the song—an eerie melody, like a creek flowing over stones. The ground erupted at Hyperion's feet. Gnarled roots wrapped around his legs.
"What-" Magnus's voice cracked with stress right as he tried to read the next word too. Oh gods. It was really happening. He'd had the creepy thought before about Grover using nature to do this kind of crazy stuff, but he had no earthly clue what was about to come out of his mouth and that ground next and he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"Magnus," Annabeth said gently, as if to a startled pegasus colt who would take off the second she broke eye contact. "Do you need a pass?" She'd hate it if he was feeling overwhelmed by all this.
He hesitated. It would be the second time he'd done this. He was the only one who'd had to do this. But you know what? He was really tired of having his world thrown into his face. "Yeah," he sighed, passing the book to Alex. He just. Really couldn't with whatever Grover was about to do to a Titan. Even if it didn't work.
She took it without hesitation and kept reading like nothing happened. Magnus flashed his cousin a miserable smile of gratitude. He knew these guys. They weren't going to mock him for being to weak to handle this crap. He'd just needed a breath to step back.
"What's this?" he protested.
He tried to shake off the roots, but he was still weak. The roots thickened until he looked like he was wearing wooden boots.
"Stop this!" he shouted. "Your woodland magic is no match for a Titan!"
But the more he struggled, the faster the roots grew. They curled about his body, thickening and hardening into bark. His golden armor melted into the wood, becoming part of a large trunk.
Magnus was more grateful by the word he wasn't trying to gasp and splutter this out like he was having a stroke. He didn't know how he was ever supposed to go back up to the world and stare at a tree again without having a mental breakdown of what was inside it. A nature spirit? A Titan?!
The music continued. Hyperion's forces backed up in astonishment as their leader was absorbed. He stretched out his arms and they became branches, from which smaller branches shot out and grew leaves.
The tree grew taller and thicker, until only the Titan's face was visible in the middle of the trunk.
"You cannot imprison me!" he bellowed. "I am Hyperion! I am—"
The bark closed over his face.
Grover took his pipes from his mouth. "You are a very nice maple tree."
Magnus made a painful noise in the back of his throat like he was choking on a sob. He couldn't even eat pancakes again without being force-fed this moment by his brain!
The others just kind of sat there awkwardly with no clue what to say. Alex wished this was the weirdest thing she'd ever heard, but honestly, she was far more impressed. Maybe she'd have Grover teach her how to do this in secret though.
"Tell me about it man," Percy nodded in understanding, brushing the hair out of his eyes. It was only sweaty in his mind. At the time his hair had nearly been plastered to his scalp from being physically exhausted. Which was weird. Had the Styx opened up his pours extra wide so his now invincible muscles could sweat better- right later. "You think I ever saw this coming from the same skinny kid who used to get peanut butter and ketchup sandwiches stuck in his hair." He really appreciated Magnus at times like this, to remind himself his mom would probably be freaking out the same way if she ever heard all the crazy stuff he got up to and why he was doing this, to keep the rest of the world alive. Not just the adrenaline rush of beating up this jerk. That was just a bonus.
Magnus nodded and decided not to try verbalizing how insane this was. He really, really just wanted out of this place, to sit under a tree again until he had no choice but to relax and feel something was normal.
Several of the other satyrs passed out from exhaustion, but they'd done their job well. 
Jason would have prayed to any god he thought was bothering to listen for guidance on why he felt a connection to that, why he could taste those words on his own tongue, but he also felt not to deep down it would be a lost cause. More like a habit he wanted to fulfill, like fiddling with his coin or eating at a certain time every day. Something about the fight Percy just had with Hyperion had been so familiar, yet so disconnected...
And looking around the room he suddenly knew exactly why. He hadn't had backup. With whatever fight he'd once similarly endured. He'd likely been the driving force, just like Percy, but nobody had come to his aid to help him defeat that dude with Ram's horns.
He had no evidence for this, no real fact to back it up from his mind. Just his gut.
It made him feel a disconnect from what he was hearing like he hadn't felt since Dionysus was first shown sloshing it up around Camp.
The Titan lord was completely encased in an enormous maple. The trunk was at least twenty feet in diameter, with branches as tall as any in the park. The tree might've stood there for centuries.
Alex had to stop and catch her breath from excitement. Gods, the magic in their blood, the feats they could achieve, and none of them were prancing around with godly might to do it! She wished she could rip her pants off and run around in a field of satyrs!
The Titan's army started to retreat. A cheer went up from the Athena cabin, but our victory was short-lived.
Because just then Kronos unleashed his surprise.
"What, could possibly be worse, than that?" Magnus asked, voice cracking on every other word.
Alex gave him a sad look and decided not to ask if he wanted the book back. He'd clearly forgotten the chapter title. No flying pigs had shown up yet. She now expected an army of them, all possibly able to shoot laser eyes and likely with roosters steering them dropping golden eggs and maybe even a few mad cows too if Kronos got creative.
"REEEEET!"
The squeal echoed through upper Manhattan. Demigods and monsters alike froze in terror.
Grover shot me a panicked look. "Why does that sound like . . . It can't be!"
"Deja vu," Thalia shivered in remembrance. She'd smelled fresh pine in her nose and backed away in terror from a steep gorge, snow crunching under her boots only in her mind as she'd looked wildly around. She'd gotten a good whack across the face by a frost giant for her distraction that had sent her into the nearest tree.
I knew what he was thinking. Two years ago we'd gotten a "gift" from Pan—a huge boar that carried us across the Southwest (after it tried to kill us).
Nico tapped his chin for a moment before telling Will, "he's still doing it too. That just sums up a gods gift so well."
"Percy's out here making the rest of us look like we're all just along for the ride," Will chuckled. Annabeth and Thalia gave halfhearted laughs, leaving Jason and Alex to exchange a look and know they were missing something. Magnus was still having a mental meltdown about every tree he'd ever pass to realize they'd moved onto a new trama.
The boar had a similar squeal, but what we were hearing now seemed higher pitched, shriller, almost like . . . like if the boar had an angry girlfriend.
"I'm now imagining the Minotaur's angry boyfriend seeking revenge on you someday too though," Alex nodded to herself. "You've opened up a door here Perce you probably shouldn't have."
Percy swore to himself that if Alex continued this line of thought for one more word he'd take Magnus into another room and they'd have the most boring, normal conversation in the history of ever just for a real break from this insanity. They'd talk about drywall, their favorite colors! Any mundane topic he could think up! Mercifully, Annabeth stepped in and kept her focus where it needed to be while the two exchanged one last look, knowing this wasn't going to get better any time soon.
"REEEEEET!" A huge pink creature soared over the reservoir—a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade nightmare blimp with wings.
"The fact that this thing would look out of place next to Goku and Pikachu is kind of hurting my brain too though," Annabeth nodded.
"I'm pretty confident there is a pink pig anime somewhere out there actually, even if it isn't household name worthy," Percy shrugged.
"A sow!" Annabeth cried. "Take cover!"
The demigods scattered as the winged lady pig swooped down. Her wings were pink like a flamingo's, which matched her skin beautifully, but it was hard to think of her as cute when her hooves slammed into the ground, barely missing one of Annabeth's siblings. The pig stomped around and tore down half an acre of trees, belching a cloud of noxious gas. Then it took off again, circling around for another strike.
"Yep. That is a, flying pig alright," Will said with the slow confidence of a farmer on a hot day promising you didn't want to eat the beans.
"I'm just happy it really wasn't me, I was kind of worried I got turned into one," Percy nodded.
"Don't tell me that thing is from Greek mythology," I complained.
"Afraid so," Annabeth said. "The Clazmonian Sow. It terrorized Greek towns back in the day."
"Let me guess," I said. "Hercules beat it."
"Nope," Annabeth said. "As far as I know, no hero has ever beaten it."
"Awesome!" Alex cheered. "Percy's finally going to get immortalized for something cool!"
"Helping put a Titan in a tree wasn't cool?" Percy looked a little pouty. "I mean, I'm pretty sure Hercules didn't do that either."
"I'll put that on a t-shirt for you and Grover," Alex agreed, "but this! Someday some kids going to say, how did Percy beat this thing? That's cool!"
"Yeah," Percy found himself grinning in agreement without hesitation now. It did sound kind of cool when she put it that way. Maybe he should consider writing one of those kids books they were always mocking him about.
"Perfect," I muttered.
The Titan's army was recovering from its shock. I guess they realized the pig wasn't after them.
"Sounds about right," Jason nodded. Kronos wouldn't warn his own forces about his attacks.
We only had seconds before they were ready to fight, and our forces were still in a panic. Every time the sow belched, Grover's nature spirits yelped and faded back into their trees.
"That pig has to go." I grabbed a grappling hook from one of Annabeth's siblings. "I'll take care of it. You guys hold the rest of the enemy. Push them back!"
"But, Percy," Grover said, "what if we can't?"
I saw how tired he was. The magic had really drained him. Annabeth didn't look much better from fighting with a bad shoulder wound. I didn't know how the Hunters were doing, but the right flank of the enemy army was now between them and us.
I didn't want to leave my friends in such bad shape, but that sow was the biggest threat. It would destroy everything: buildings, trees, sleeping mortals. It had to be stopped.
"Retreat if you need to," I said. "Just slow them down. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Jason tried to shake off his lingering sense of his lost life and smile all the same at Percy always somehow saying the right thing. Those felt like the confident words of a leader, competently delegating. It was jarring, but always in a nice way to find himself making mental notes of Percy's prowess in battle.
Before I could change my mind, I swung the grappling hook like a lasso. When the sow came down for its next pass, I threw with all my strength. The hook wrapped around the base of the pig's wing. It squealed in rage and veered off, yanking the rope and me into the sky.
"Jeezus, and your arms weren't just taken along without you!" Magnus yelped, finally another coherent thought coming to mind and it was the usual, how was this guy alive?
Percy rotated his shoulder and grinned at Annabeth. "I mean, I wasn't going for sympathy pain, but-"
She smacked him and called him a seaweed brain. Alex took the silent opportunity to offer the book back to Magnus if he wanted it. He swallowed and did take it back.
He'd adjust, he kept telling himself. To every weird, insane, and crazy thing that kept happening in Annabeth and Percy's life. He'd keep walking through it until he came out the other side, again. He somehow made the best friends that way.
If you're heading downtown from Central Park, my advice is to take the subway. Flying pigs are faster, but way more dangerous.
"Even while on a death ride through his city we can't get this guy to say a bad thing about New York," Thalia said, her voice laced with misery for this sickening mental image she was being put through. Gods she wished she'd gone without details of this!
Jason swiftly jumped in as he gave Percy a stern look, "you'll only grow stronger if you admit your faults! Say the subway smells, say you saw new piles of trash in the street you'd never noticed before, something!"
Percy thought about it for a moment before deciding, "the pink feathers made it look like someone was celebrating Valentine's Day at a really strange time of year."
"I give up," Jason sighed.
"Never took you for a quitter," Percy chuckled.
"I know when to be reasonable and draw the line," he sniffed.
"Yes, yes, you're both awesome in your own special way," Thalia sighed to cut them off. She had a feeling they planned on going like that until she said otherwise, since she was the one to start this interruption and was least likely to want this to continue. The faster this pig got turned into pork chops, the better.
The sow soared past the Plaza Hotel, straight into the canyon of Fifth Avenue. My brilliant plan was to climb the rope and get on the pig's back. Unfortunately I was too busy swinging around dodging streetlamps and the sides of buildings.
"One of Percy's brilliant plans finally has a flaw in it?" Nico raised a brow in mock shock.
"Maybe I'm learning and growing from my mistakes in the past, adapt, overcome, um, something else smart," Percy said with an awkward smile. He knew full well what Nico was really not saying in that. He hoped the guy knew he'd really never try to involve someone else in his crazy plans again, he'd been happy swinging to his death alone away from the rest of his friends...until he remembered he'd left them to deal with an army- and gods why couldn't Kronos have just kidnapped him and settled this on Neptune or something! He probably deserved being slammed into at least a few of those buildings!
Another thing I learned: it's one thing to climb a rope in gym class. It's a completely different thing to climb a rope attached to a moving pig's wing while you're flying at a hundred miles an hour.
Thalia was rubbing her knuckles into her sternum to try and convince her heart to keep beating at a normal pace. No matter how hard she dug, it wasn't doing the trick. The sickening rush of nausea just kept growing more powerful at the idea of those buildings flashing by so fast, with nothing beneath her feet...
It was so weird for Percy to not hear her mocking him about being better at something. He scrambled in his mind, wishing he could say something to her that would somehow make this bearable, but this seemed like one of those times where silence might have been the better answer since he couldn't dare her out of laughing from this situation.
We zigzagged along several blocks and continued south on Park Avenue.
Boss! Hey, boss! Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Blackjack speeding along next to us, darting back and forth to avoid the pig's wings.
"Watch out!" I told him.
"For, you?" Magnus asked blankly. Why was the flying horse showing up next to the flying pig the least crazy thing in this particular chapter of Percy's life?
"For the sow Magnus," Percy said not unkindly. "I don't know if horses are color blind, and he's probably not used to having other traffic in the sky aside from pigeons."
"That's- Percy, color blind doesn't mean-" but he stopped in exasperation when Percy just started laughing and Magnus grinned as he realized Percy had gotten what he wanted.
Hop on! Blackjack whinnied. I can catch you . . . probably.
"Such instilling confidence," Will groaned. It really did seem a miracle more every page how he wasn't a ghost haunting camp.
That wasn't very reassuring. Grand Central lay dead ahead. Above the main entrance stood the giant statue of Hermes, which I guess hadn't been activated because it was so high up. I was flying right toward him at the speed of demigod-smashing.
"Stay alert!" I told Blackjack. "I've got an idea."
Oh, I hate your ideas.
"Don't we all," Magnus said like that should be a universal truth.
"Nope, just you," Alex said brightly. To his horror, Annabeth sheepishly nodded. The others all kind of shrugged. Magnus missed the days when the homeless people had made him feel normal.
I swung outward with all my might. Instead of smashing into the Hermes statue, I whipped around it, circling the rope under its arms. I thought this would tether the pig, but I'd underestimated the momentum of a thirty-ton sow in flight.
"I don't think my mom could make those calculations," Annabeth muttered.
Just as the pig wrenched the statue loose from its pedestal, I let go. Hermes went for a ride, taking my place as the pig's passenger, and I free-fell toward the street.
"There's a metaphor somewhere not to deep in there about how Hermes treats his kids and cabin and junk," Alex said mostly to herself.
"One deep dive at a time, lets finish first with Percy and why he's not locked up for everybody's safety," Magnus shook his head.
In that split second I thought about the days when my mom used to work at the Grand Central candy shop. I thought how bad it would be if I ended up as a grease spot on the pavement.
Then a shadow swooped under me, and thump—I was on Blackjack's back. It wasn't the most comfortable landing. In fact, when I yelled "OW!" my voice was an octave higher than usual.
"I sounded like Blackjack when we first met," Percy groaned,* resisting every temptation in the world to clutch at himself now in that remembered pain. "Wouldn't be surprised if he called me a mare."
"Oh sweet revenge," Alex chuckled, confirming to Percy at least she'd be passing this along to his friend for future payback.
Sorry, boss, Blackjack murmured.
"No problem," I squeaked. "Follow that pig!"
The porker had taken a right at East 42nd and was flying back toward Fifth Avenue. When it flew above the rooftops, I could see fires here and there around the city. It looked like my friends were having a rough time. Kronos was attacking on several fronts. But at the moment, I had my own problems.
The Hermes statue was still on its leash. It kept bonking into buildings and spinning around. The pig swooped over an office building, and Hermes plowed into a water tower on the roof, blasting water and wood everywhere.
Then something occurred to me.
"Then it occurred to you?" Annabeth looked around at him in newly minted concern. Jason really did want to study how she kept managing to do that a refreshing new way each time. "Launching yourself at the statue wasn't even part of the initial goal?"
"I got lucky," Percy shrugged.
Annabeth groaned and the two started bickering again over what should even count as a full plan. She clearly wasn't taking well to the fact that Percy had taken off without one even in mind. Jason would have stolen Percy's pen and started scribbling notes on his arm if he would have thought it would do any good, hearing the two speak their mind like this, but Thalia finally interrupted with the reminder she'd turn the two of them into flying goats that gravity wouldn't defy if they didn't shut their trap.
"Get closer," I told Blackjack.
He whinnied in protest.
"Just within shouting distance," I said. "I need to talk to the statue."
Now I'm sure you've lost it, boss, Blackjack said,
"Honestly a fair assumption," Annabeth sighed one last time. She couldn't believe she was agreeing with a horse, yet another creature of Posideon. Percy had way to much influence on her life.
but he did what I asked. When I was close enough to see the statue's face clearly, I yelled, "Hello, Hermes! Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-three. Kill Flying Pigs! Begin Activation!"
"What was so wrong with, defend city?" Annabeth couldn't stop herself arching a brow and demanding of him. "The pig was attacking the buildings of the city Percy."
"I was preoccupied!" He gestured at the book like she'd missed the enormous wild pink Pumba. "Being literal usually works best with me!"
"My wording was fine," she had to grumble anyways. No wonder she was still getting reports back from the city status were still running around! There was no logic to trace in them defending from flying pigs!
Immediately the statue moved its legs. It seemed confused to find that it was no longer on top of Grand Central Terminal. It was, instead, being given a sky-ride on the end of a rope by a large winged sow. It smashed through the side of a brick building, which I think made it a little mad. It shook its head and began to climb the rope.
Percy couldn't help another laugh. It wasn't him being smashed through buildings, it was Annabeth's genius plan to save his butt, it was Blackjack following him all these years like a loyal best friend that had gotten him this far. He really was just a piece of all this, and maybe that stupid prophecy constantly hanging over his head was just exaggerating everything.
I glanced down at the street. We were coming up on the main public library, with the big marble lions flanking the steps. Suddenly I had a weird thought: Could stone statues be automatons too? It seemed like a long shot, but . . .
"Faster!" I told Blackjack. "Get in front of the pig, Taunt him!"
Um, boss—
"Trust me," I said. "I can do this . . . probably."
Oh, sure. Mock the horse.
"Well we can't mock Percy right now when he's using the reflex part of his brain, arguably the best part," Alex said tragically.
"And I always said the food part of my brain was the most important," Percy chuckled.
Annabeth was to busy rolling her eyes and smiling to herself at the warm, loving feeling as she again reminded herself that he'd apparently remembered she existed before any food or reflex he might have had and probably wouldn't have butted into this one, but the two managed to taper themselves off from far to much practice of sniping and reading and repeating.
Blackjack burst through the air. He could fly pretty darned fast when he wanted to. He got in front of the pig, which now had a metal Hermes on its back.
Blackjack whinnied, You smell like ham! He kicked the pig in the snout with his back hooves and went into a steep dive. The pig screamed in rage and followed.
"Have I mentioned lately that Blackjack's the best?" Alex chuckled.
"No, you've been to busy praising Mrs. O'Leary," Percy said with a sly smile. "That's going to cost you a lot of donuts later dude."
"I'll take my punishment with dignity dudette," she chuckled.
Thalia was turning greener by the second and wished they'd stop mentioning food.
We barreled straight for the front steps of the library. Blackjack slowed down just enough for me to hop off, then he kept flying toward the main doors.
I yelled out, "Lions! Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-three. Kill Flying Pigs! Begin Activation!"
The lions stood up and looked at me. They probably thought I was teasing them. But just then:
"REEEEEET!"
The massive pink pork monster landed with a thud, cracking the sidewalk. The lions stared at it, not believing their luck, and pounced. At the same time, a very beat-up Hermes statue leaped onto the pig's head and started banging it mercilessly with a caduceus. Those lions had some nasty claws.
I drew Riptide, but there wasn't much for me to do. The pig disintegrated before my eyes. I almost felt sorry for it. I hoped it got to meet the boar of its dreams down in Tartarus.
"Percy over here rooting for true love in the face of all this," Will grinned in delight.
"Yeah, I might be a secret sucker for those Hallmark movies," Percy chuckled. He'd seen his mom and Paul watching one to many to not believe the two monsters wouldn't work out their happy ending.
When the monster had completely turned to dust, the lions and the Hermes statue looked around in confusion.
"You can defend Manhattan now," I told them, but they didn't seem to hear. They went charging down Park Avenue, and I imagined they would keep looking for flying pigs until someone deactivated them.
"Where's the nearest meat packing plant out there?" Magnus asked in concern. "I'm imagining something horrible happening to them worse than the usual process."
Alex lit up like her butt had caught fire as she launched off with, "or maybe they're still out there, chasing down their dream of one last adventure, one last flying pig to defeat! That Hermes statue longs for his own identity and name and rebrands himself Semore, and names the two lions-"
"And Alex is cut off from caffeine permanently," Percy said in exhaustion. "Do to me what you must now while I can heal in the ocean."
Alex scoffed. "Please, you'd need ten energy drinks to get on my level."
Hey, boss, said Blackjack. Can we take a donut break?
I wiped the sweat off my brow.
"Wait, you can still sweat?" Jason asked in fascination. "I'd have thought the Styx sealed your pours shut or something."
"I wouldn't even be a mammal anymore," Percy said in mild concern as he stared at his arm. "That's right, right?" He looked around back at Jason for confirmation from an old PE class he hadn't paid attention to. "Mammals have hair, make milk, sweat to cool off?"
"Sure, I'm not an expert but I'll confirm," Jason snorted.
"I wish, big guy, but the fight's still going on."
In fact, I could hear it getting closer. My friends needed help. I jumped on Blackjack, and we flew north toward the sound of explosions.
This time when Magnus handed the book to Alex, he really let himself look at her so he could meet her eyes in a smile. Just a small moment of thanks she took in stride with a wink as they moved on to the next catastrophe.
PJOPJOPJOPJO
* This is in reference to TheRichmaster, who made the detailed comment about how Percy probably mistook Blackjack for a mare on the Andromeda for his voice being so shrill. I'm sad RR didn't make a callback joke to that, make it an old retcon. He really could just make a book with some character's side quest fixing old mistakes like that and it would be a new hit.
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duhragonball · 11 months ago
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Dragon Ball Super Manga Ch.100
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Yes, Cheelai, we have finally reached the end of the 2023 Dragon Ball Apocrypha Liveblog, but in particular, we've also finally reached the end of the seemingly endless manga adaptation of the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie.
And yeah, this seems like an anticlimactic place to close out the year, but that's kind of how this entire liveblog has been, when you get down to it. I've had fun going through all this stuff, but there's a reason I'm referring to it all as "apocryphal". The Tournament of Power is a lot of fun, and the two DBS feature films are instant classics, but none of it really feels essential to Dragon Ball. From the OAVs to GT to Super, the main theme here is "Hey, remember Dragon Ball? Let's make more of that!" Everything ends up being a sequel or a callback or an easter-eggy kind of deal. And that's not the worst thing that can happen to a franchise, but it's probably fitting that we're closing out on the final chapter of a comic book adaptation of a movie that serves as a sequel to the Android arc that was a continuation of the Red Ribbon Army arc.
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Chapter 100 just retells the last several minutes of the Super Hero movie, and I already went over the film, so let's just concentrate on how the manga depicts it differently. We'll start with Gohan's right arm, which got some heat a few days ago when the previews came out.
I refuse to dogpile on Toyotaro, since he's a far better artist than I'll ever be, and I've genuinely enjoyed his art through this entire read-through, even when the writing has been bad. That said... yeah, Gohan's arm looks kind of weird. Maybe while Gohan was teaching himself the Special Beam Cannon, he learned how to do Piccolo's stretchy arm thing too.
I do think it's pretty dumb how chuds on Twitter will nitpick Toyotaro's art as though the original Dragon Ball manga was some kind of showcase of photorealistic anatomy. I've been a fan of this thing for a quarter-century now, and the key to loving Dragon Ball is to make peace with the fact that it's fundamentally goofy and stupid. Sometimes a guy's arm gets drawn longer than his other arm. Sometimes characters scream so loud that their jaws unhinge like when a snake swallows an egg whole. Bulma wasted a wish on the Dragon Balls to make her ass look hotter, because if she didn't, then Frieza would come back and use the wish to make himself taller. Goku grew his tail back by having a guy tug on his ass with a pair of pliers. This show was always a hot mess, so don't blame Toyotaro. It was like this when he got here.
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Anyway, Cell Max tries to block the Special Beam Cannon like he did in the movie, but Gohan has a harder time punching through, so in this version Goten and Trunks jump in to distract Cell and give Gohan a boost. In the movie, they were still Gotenks until after the fight ended, but in this version the battle must have taken a little longer, since they de-fused a little earlier.
Of course, this is just a way for Toyotaro to show off the Great Saiyaman X-1 and X-2 costumes one more time. It's kind of pointless, because all of the added Goten and Trunks scenes in this arc have been pointless. Also, Trunks' pose looks really awkward here. He looks like he got sawed in half, and both halves are still kind of flying forward in the same direction, but he's no longer connected.
I will say that I'm grateful for this final appearance of X-1 and X-2, because it gives me a chance to critique their outfits one last time. I hate the superhero undies they wear over their tights. They look baggy and puffy for some reason, which make it look like Goten and Trunks are wearing diapers. I'm pretty sure that's the exact opposite of what the boys were going for.
I mean, the outfits aren't that bad, but what irritates me is how Toyotaro keeps showing them off like this is the coolest thing going on in this story. The designs are presented like they somehow connect all these different things. Goten and Trunks were inspired by Cleangod, and they named their personas after Great Siayaman, and then Dr. Hedo saw them and supposedly based the Gammas' costumes off their look. Except X-1 and X-2 don't actually look anything like Great Saiyaman, or Cleangod, or the Gammas. It's just frustrating.
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Anyway, we get the same bit about cosmetic skin alteration from the movie, except Gotenks has already separated in this version, so Bulma can address Goten and Trunks separately.
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I also like this part after Pan shows off her flying ability. This segued into the credits of the movie, but here we see Gohan calling out for her to stay closer to the ground. It's pretty cute, since it kind of calls back to when Gohan was a timid child way back in the early days of DBZ. Now he's older and braver, but I bet when he sees Pan up so high in the air he thinks about how scared he was whenever he was up really high.
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Meanwhile, some Red Ribbon goons have survived the battle and appear to be slowly getting away. This is nice because I noticed these guys escorting Carmine to safety in one of the previous chapters, and I've always wondered if any of the Red Ribbon guys made it out of the base alive. Pan knocked Carmine out, so it seemed reasonable to assume that he was vaporized during the Cell Max battle. Actually, in the movie, it looked like the entire crater was flattened, but here it looks like the destruction stayed confined to that area.
Anyway, the implication is that Carmine will return to Red Pharmaceutical and try to figure out his next move, but it seems unlikely that he could be much of a threat. Magenta's dead, the base is destroyed, and a bunch of their soldiers either died or deserted in this battle. Remember, even with the base and all those soldiers, Magenta still wasn't ready to make a big move. Dr. Hedo's androids were supposed to be his game-changing weapon, and now Hedo's turned against the Red Ribbon, so what can Carmine possibly do from here?
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We get some additional material of the Goku/Vegeta fight in the movie. In the post-credits scene, they were practically moving in slow-motion and we only got to see the final blow. Here, we see Goku and Vegeta each land one last punch before the one that ends it all. These boys look all rowdy and badass and it's great.
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When Whis finally responds to Bulma's messages, we get this cute shot of everyone sleeping in the back of her aircraft. Gohan talks about taking her to the amusement park, which seems kind of random, but it occurred to me that this might be setting up some filler story for Chapter 101. Like Gohan and Pan go to the amusement park for the day, and Carmine tries to kill them or something to avenge the Red Ribbon Army. That probably wouldn't be a bad idea, although I really don't want that to happen, because it sounds similar to the "Hedo vs. Goten and Trunks" stuff we had in Chapters 88-90. Everyone thinks Toyotaro has been champing at the bit to get done with this arc so he can return to his Black Frieza business, but for all we know he's been enjoying this whole bit, and he'll blow the next six months on filler stories with Goten and Trunks goofing around with Sgt. Nutz.
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Anyway, this is the last page and this was the last little bit of the movie too, so Toyotaro has definitely run out of movie to adapt. Also, Bulma looks really cute on this page, so I wanted to add that to the record.
So that pretty much wraps things up, except for one minor detail. Where's the big twist?
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I ran across this last month when I was checking to see if Chapter 99 would wrap up the arc or not. CBR.com did an article entitled "Dragon Ball Super Chapter 100's 'Unbelievable' Twist to Lead to "'Crazy Developments'" The story stems from comments made by V-Jump editor Victory Uchida, who was hyping DBS chapters 99 and 100 while appearing in an unboxing video for some reason.
The video is in Japanese, so I can't just pull out direct quotes from the man, so maybe this was all some big misunderstanding. Maybe it was a mistranslation, maybe Uchida got confused and was referring to material that wouldn't see print until Chapter 101. Or maybe he was just doing a standard hype job for his publication without thinking about what was actually in the magazine. After all, how can Chapter 100 have an "unbelievable twist" when it's doing a shot-for-shot repeat of a year-old movie?
So I assumed this meant there would be some sort of epilogue scene in the final pages, designed to set up the next arc. Sort of like how the last chapter of the Tournament of Power arc had the scene where the Galactic Patrol kidnaps Majin Buu. But Chapter 100 had no such thing. No Black Frieza, no Cell Max suddenly turning the tables on Gohan to win the movie, no mysterious appearance from Purple Turles or Red Bojack. Not even a lousy cameo from Platinum Cooler.
Does this make Victory Uchida an unreliable source of information? Or has he simply been misunderstood? I feel like his ridiculous yellow wig/hat thing kind of holds the answer to that question.
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Anyway, the ultimate fate of Dragon Ball Super lies in Chapter 101 and beyond, but those stories will be printed in 2024, which means they fall outside the scope of this liveblog. So unless Toei or Shueisha has a new movie or anime coming out in the next eleven days, I'm done. This has been the 2023 Dragon Ball Apocrypha Liveblog. Good night, everybody!
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kinniie00 · 5 months ago
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HEY BUDDY :D !!! lion, maine coon, american shorthair, tiger, cougar, and fishing cat !!
HIIII!!! 👾
This is so many omg
Lion - I'm probably most proud of how far I've come over the last few years, I went through a lot and am still learning to live with some of it. It's definitely shaped a bit of who I am now, but I'd like to think I have grown from it and carried it with me rather than living in that dump forever :) AND MY FRIENDS IM SO SO SO PROUD OF THEM AND HOW MUCH THEY'VE DONE AND I WISH THE BEST FOR ALL OF YOU :((
Maine Coon - Honestly I'm not too sure how others would describe me, or even how to encapsulate my personality into one word--I'd like to say I'm energetic but I also have my moments of not being as much, I'm nice but I know I can be a bitch, I'm a lot of things but I'm really unsure of what word could describe me, plus I don't remember any good descriptive words rn :') (I'm so tired)
American Shorthair - I have many things that comfort me, id say my friends are my biggest comfort, as cheesy as it is. My friends remind me I'm not alone and have reasons to keep going, even when it feels impossible. I also often tend to latch onto games and streamers/YouTubers for comfort (a big one is hermitcraft!! :D), many of the people I watch now are people who practically raised me and I love them dearly. Another few smaller things that I find help comfort me are things like music, tea, or small things like animals (my cat!!!) or stuffed animals :3
Tiger - Another one that I'm not entirely sure how to answer :( "Being cute and being mine" -☀️ I think I went through the 5 stages of grief trying to come up with something that's all you're getting, oh yeah and my worst is probably the fact that I'm indecisive or like impulsive idk
Cougar - Hehehe fandoms 😇 Definitely undertale, fnaf, and sanders sides in the later years. I was (unfortunately) an aphmau kid back in 2015 but that was more watching her content and less fandom stuff. The undertale and fnaf ones definitely didn't ever stop, I got really into sans aus back during covid and relied on all three of those fandoms for comfort during the quarantine too. Sanders sides definitely helped me over the years before and during covid, it was definitely a rough time in my life as I was learning new things about myself and others around me, and it helped me so much with learning how to be me and accept myself as I am. As for a fandom I'm really active in now, id say the one I'm most active in is Hermitcraft (so surprising!!! 🙀) I got super into it back in season 6 when grian joined because I watched his content before he joined, and now I watch most of the hermits, I do tend to focus on a few each season while watching the occasional stream/video from the others though! I also listen to the imp & skizz podcast, and I find it rather comforting when I'm stressed, I love the hermits so much and they've definitely helped me so much without even knowing :) (and the fandom is so silly I love everyone)
Fishing Cat - I have so many I'm definitely going to forget some, I love learning new things and it's led to many hobbies that I do and will probably get back into in the future! :) I do crochet, it's something I have been learning since I was really young but couldn't get the hang of it for the longest time because my mom had a hard time teaching me it since she's left handed, I love reading, I read all kinds of things from old novels & poetry, romance and mystery, to nonfiction and sci-fi, I enjoy reading anything as long as it can keep my interest, and I loveee getting reccomended books (even though my to-be-read list is SO long), I like small crafts like jewelry making but it hurts my hands (especially the more intricate ones like fancy necklaces, bracelets, earrings), i love gaming, its a big part of who I am seeing as I grew up doing it, and even though i dont it as much anymore I still enjoy it and love playing games with my friends!! I enjoy drawing, but it's stressful because I'm not great at it and am way too perfectionistic over it. I used to paint but I never got too good at it and never had proper supplies, it was very fun though and I'd definitely get back into it sometime down the line. I listen to a lot of music, and watch youtubers/streamers. I like to go on walks, but with some of my health issues I don't go on them as often (I definitely will do more this summer though!!) and hanging out with my friends and animals. I plan on getting into sewing and possibly cosplay sometime so that will be fun to learn! I love creative hobbies, despite how stressful they can be when they don't go how I wanted it to :) I love seeing things I'm able to make evolve and get better and I get better at doing it, and I love consuming information and seeing people be people!!
I'm so sorry this is a lot of yapping even for me 😭
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cherrythepuppet · 1 year ago
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🧡Alice/017 X Imagnairy Reader🖤
You Worked at the Cabin Fever Labs before it all went to hell, You and your wife, Alice also known as 017 along with your child BeauBut when the Cabin Fever Labs did go down You were ripped apart by the Anti-drone sentinels causing Alice to go slightly crazy but now...after a few years She likes to pretend you are still there with her...
She walked into one of the operation rooms where she saw 'You' sitting on one of the hospital beds reading a book "Heya Dollface!" Alice exclaimed 
"Alice!" You exclaimed putting your book away "Darling How was you're day?" You asked
"Grrreat Dear!" Alice replied "I killed some drones that came through the vents and cut 'em up! Even got some parts to make myself bigger!" Alice explained excitedly
"Now, come here Dear, I got some big ol' kisses for you" Alice said walking over to the bed before grabbing you and pinning you down and kissing you aggressively "I've missed you my dollface!
"You kissed back and smiled "I Missed you as well dear" you replied with a small blush on you're screen
Alice's kisses got longer and more passionate "So, what were ya reading about?" Alice asked "Some kinda depressing book?" Alice added "I hate depressing stuff...except when its me causing the depressing effects!" Alice joked
You chuckled "It is quite depressing! I believe its an Edgar Allen Poe book too?" You said glancing at the book "But seriously What's up with the guy and dead chicks?" You aughed
"Not a clue Love! But hey, at least its entertaining!" Alice said "I mean, its better than a lot of the lame sappy love books out there these days..." Alice said glancing at her wedding ring
You nodded but didn't reply for a moment "Alice...do you sometimes feel as if...you aren't real?" You asked randomly
"Huh? What are ya on about love? I'm as real as you are?" Alice said with a confused sigh "Sometimes you act...odd, love...." Alice said "I hope you're okay?" Alice said with worry and confusion on her face
"I just feel...well it's odd but I feel as if I'm not real?" You sighed "Odd isn't it?" You chuckled
Alice tilted her head "Well...I can assure you, you are very real" Alice said before thinking for a moment "Now, I got a question for ya, why do you think that?" Alice said before she started scratching and repairing one of her legs
"I-i don't know..." You mumbled "It's like-...it's like I'm not real and well...imaginary?" You said
Alice sat there trying to process what you said "...well, that's....kinda crazy talk, Sweetie!" Alice said while still sounding confused and concerned "Do you have any idea why you're even thinking like that Love?""No..." You replied "But It sometimes feels that way...Like i-" You paused "Like I'm dead" You muttered 
Alice stared at you before putting her hand on your cheek "Darling....I'm not sure what could be the cause of these crazy thoughts of yours" Alice said lovingly "...I can assure you, you are far from dead, you're alive and I'm proud to call ya my wife" Alice said kissing your cheek
You leaned into her touch "Your right darling...I don't know what I was thinking" You smiledAlice kept kissing your cheek and smiling
"Hey, you can tell me anything ok love? I'm here for ya" Alice said "Now...why dont we watch one of those silly sappy romance movies? The worst ones we can find and just turn our brains off and watch some bad acting?" Alice said with a giggle "What do ya say?"
You laughed "Yeah" You replied "That sounds nice" You added 
Alice smiled before standing up and offering her hand "Alright, well come on, Let's go pick something super sappy and cheesy to watch" Alice said "We'll just be lazy and cuddle in bed all night".....
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
Uzi unleashes her AbsoluteSolver to destroy the door buttons, thus opening the doors and giving the Sentinels more free roaming in the area
The Sentinels make their way to Alice's room However Alice slowly closes the door before the Sentinels show up "BEAU! HELP ME WITH-" Alice cried but It's too late As The Sentinels are here now
Alice is flashed and paralyzed as the Sentinels enter the room, crushing Alice under their feet, thus getting rid of her for good.....
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kingarthurflourofficial · 8 months ago
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march books
the puppets of spelhurst 3/5 (not dicamillos strongest work i feel but i LOVE the illustrator)
the benefits of being an octopus 5/5 (deals SO well and bravely with the realities of growing up poor in the south as an eldest daughter. i wish i could give this book to every kid in a 90 mile radius of me.)
princess floralinda and the forty-flight tower 4/5 (LOVE a messed up fairy tale and this one was clever and gripping and made you THINK and i only wish it had been longer/we got to see some of the practical consequences of the end!!!!!)
maskerade 4/5 (pratchett is always a delight!)
every heart a doorway 5/5 (the first book i ever read to give me the word asexual AND a perfect 'what psychological torment would have plagued the pevensies, Actually' insight. NO NOTES)
a nobleman's guide to seducing a scoundrel 4/5 (it's hard to beat a kj charles and a re-read was even better!)
the skin and its girl ? DNF (i wanted to like this one! a fantastic cover and premise and i've been looking for more Palestinian books/authors but the text held you at such a remove that it felt impossible to feel anything for the characters or about the location! frustrating!)
the clementine complex 3.5/5 (a very fun and quick read with some distinctive mortimer-isms!)
one night in hartswood ? DNF (sorry to this man but i just couldn't get into this! might be a case of wrong time on my part as there was nothing wrong with the prose or characters)
life ceremony 3.5/5 (fascinatingly creepy and...intricate? the one about the reusable human parts will live in my brain forever i'm pretty sure. ty kai for the rec!)
clover hendry's day off 3.5/5 (this was a fun and pretty quick romp of a book! definitely recommend if you just want something light and breezy)
an accident of stars 2/5 (disappointing as i LOVED his other books but this one could have benefited quite a bit from a good editor as the ending left me feeling let down)
the sunlit man 4/5 (i cant help it!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love a brandon sanderson cosmere book! and WHAT a book. is it worth reading thousands upon thousands of pages for a two word pay off? .........if you're me: yes)
the ladies re-write the rules ? DNF (IRRITATING. stop imposing 21st century morals and patterns of behaviour on regency characters and then compounding the problem by having them GIVE UP their hard-won agency just to get married and lose it all anyway!)
mystic and rider 4/5 (LOVED this. a good old fashioned high fantasy adventure with a, wonder of wonders, actually well written and compelling romantic relationship. ty jamie for the rec!)
mislaid in parts half-known 5/5 (you've gotta cry. you just gotta.)
vita nostra 2/5 (if you ever want to re-live your worst scholastic/academia driven years as a living dream over and over absolutely read this book. beautiful prose and beautifully translated!)
the hollow places 4/5 (HELL yeah yet another author who knows how to take the 'wood between the worlds' premise and go OFF with it.)
the craft of love 3/5 (very sweet and sedately tender novella! love to see a well-researched and common-place (in the traditional sense) love story feat. queer people)
peter darling 2.5/5 (maybe if i had been obsessed with captain hook as a kid like this author clearly was i would have been more into this but. for some reason i'm so incredibly protective of Neverland for no reason at all that i resent any betrayal of it even though the book was absolutely fine and in fact far better than most 'sequels', authorized or not)
that's it so far! if you've read any of these please let me know your thoughts!
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cryptidsurveys · 3 days ago
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Saturday, November 23rd, 2024.
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Are you dreading anything coming up within the next few days? No. The next few days involve visiting the Mountain Park, volunteering, seeing a movie with my mom (therapy was canceled, so there's time for me to go after all), and lots of cooking and baking to get ready for Thanksgiving. Oh, and it might snow/rain on Wednesday into Thursday. It should be a pleasant time.
Do you have trouble reading small fonts? Oh gosh, I remember posting surveys in teeny tiny fonts you needed an electron microscope to read. These days, especially when it comes to YouTube comments, I find myself zooming in to make the text bigger/easier on my eyes.
Are you ever so eager to know what happens in a book / movie / television show that you willingly “ruin” it for yourself by either reading ahead, fast-forwarding, or even reading “spoilers” online? I occasionally read reviews before settling on a book and sometimes those contain spoilers. I've also watched (reaction/summary) videos pertaining to books I later went on to read. I guess it's not so much that I seek out spoilers, but that I don't necessarily care or feel as though a book is ruined for me if I know the ending or various plot twists beforehand.
Do you find yourself addicted to a specific beverage or food item one week, & then you tire of it the next after having had it so frequently? Naw. I'm a pretty repetitive eater. I can eat the same basic/staple foods for months, even years, without growing tired of them.
Is there anything special to you about the current month? Thanksgiving. And the fact that I just enjoy November in general.
Are there any old [as in, no longer on television, not necessarily old in terms of years] television shows that you could happily sit through & re-watch the entire series? Mmm, I don't think so.
What was the last flattering thing someone did / said to / for you? - Kristen complimented me on my newly buzzed hair, and Leslie and Iris joked that they wished they could pull off the style (implying that it looked good on me). - Iris said the pie I brought in yesterday was her favorite so far. Everyone devoured it and I got a lot of compliments on that as well.
Do you know anybody that believes that magic / witchery truly exists? Yeah.
Have you ever had any interest in the Salem Witch Trials? Not really.
In terms of writing implements, are you more likely to use a mechanical pencil, ordinary pencil, or A PEN? Does it all depend upon what you intend to write with it? A pen.
Do you keep a whiteboard or paper on your refrigerator to list necessities for future shopping trips? No. I just use a little notebook…which I recently misplaced.
Roughly how hot are the summer temperatures where you reside? 90-100*F.
Excluding surveys, what is something you waste a lot of time doing? Watching YouTube.
Do you find watching animals in their natural habitat to be exciting & fascinating? This is more of a case of an animal that's not in its natural habitat, but a feral cat colony established its territory around our house + our surrounding neighbors. It's definitely interesting to watch them go about their business.
Of all the decisions you have thus far made in your life, which was the best & which was the worst? Best decisions: volunteering, seeing and sticking with my current therapist, and deciding to give recovery another chance. Worst decisions: I know getting sick in the first place wasn't necessarily my fault, but I wish I had recovered much sooner. I've wasted so much of my life on self-hatred/self-destruction.
When you go shopping, do you tend to go to the left side of the store, the right, or do you aim for a particular aisle right off the bat? We tend to go to the right and make a general loop around the store, popping into aisles when we need something, finishing off with the frozen section right before we leave.
Do you generally come home with more than you intended to buy when you go shopping? Not that often. I do buy a lot more "fun/treat" foods during the holidays, though, and sometimes I go a bit overboard.
Has anything exciting, whether big or small, happened to you today? Not really.
If you were presented with a bowl of fruit with apples, oranges, bananas, & grapes in it - which fruit would you pick to eat? Grapes or bananas.
Are you looking forward to Halloween, or does the holiday not interest you at all? Halloween just passed not that long ago and I'm already looking forward to next year. If I could live in a cycle of October, November, December, and maybe January forever, I would be so happy.
If a rat scurried across your foot right now, how would you react? I'd probably jump up and let out some sort of muffled/confused/wtf scream. I'm not afraid of rats, but seeing one in my home where it's not supposed to be…well, that's a bit of a different story.
Will you be expecting any company tomorrow? No.
Discarding the fact that they can smell & tend to get dirty a lot, do you like your feet, or feet in general? My feet are ugly, but I do appreciate them for putting up with me.
Do you find great pleasure in making others laugh? Yeah.
When was the last time you were so excited / happy that you jumped up & down? Lol, this morning, Kristen and I were joking about how "excited" we were for deep clean day. She was like, "I couldn't sleep last night because I was so excited. It felt like Christmas." ;D
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natsubeatsrock · 9 months ago
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The Lucy Paradox
I'm going to get murdered for posting this on Tumblr, huh?
Somehow, I've never talked about this. I've made this joke in private. However, it's worth discussing in this format. Think of it as a celebration of International Women's Day.
Incidentally, Lucy isn't the one who I named this paradox after. The original name of this was the Sakura Paradox. For the record, I mean Sakura Haruno from Naruto.
It feels like a given that Sakura is a weak character. The way some fans talk about her, you'd think she was the worst character in the series. The closest example I can think of is Yamcha, whom no one takes as a threat past the first arc of Dragon Ball. After the big-time skip, he's treated as the joke of the group, especially by fans.
Here's the problem. Sakura's very strong. That's true in a literal sense, but she has more ability than fans give her credit for. It's not a stretch to say she's the strongest civilian in the series universe.
"Yeah, that's true in the second half. But what about in part 1?"
Do you mean the part where she has a better grip on chakra control than her teammates? Or the part where she's shown to ace the first part of the Chunin Exam without having to cheat? What about later in the exam when she breaks out two separate genjutsu? Yeah, I'm not hearing it.
Why do people say she's weak? Simple, she'd been dwarfed in power by monsters. It's not controversial to say Sakura is the worst member of Team 7, with the potential exception of Sai, if you even count him. It's not a close race between her, Sasuke, and Boruto's dad. She's a distant third. The only debate is how badly she's lapped.
If this sounds like I'm insulting her, it's not. Those two might be the strongest characters in the universe, with no qualifiers or exceptions. From what I've heard about Boruto, they're still doing crazy things years after their time in the spotlight should be over.
I call this the Lucy Paradox because fandom might not be fully aware of how incredible Lucy is. She's on the level of magic to use two gold Celestial Spirit Keys at the same time. It's impressive if someone's able to use two keys. She can mix and match between any of the ten she has.
Remember that she's the only wizard capable of Celestial Star Dress. At its introduction, it was just being able to take the abilities of her spirits. In the sequel, it's also the ability to combine the powers of two different spirits.
Let's take that for granted for a second. Lucy comes up with strategies that are helpful to her friends. And it's not just helping Natsu's fights. She's the one who recognized the true meaning behind Daybreak. She's the one who saw through the Eclipse Gate in two different timelines. She rewrote the entirety of the Book of E.N.D. after reading it once. Most importantly, she's the one who revises Anna's plan to make it possible to defeat Acnologia.
I say all that, but she's the weakest human member of the Strongest Team. She's never been on Natsu or Gray's level. Erza's not an S-Class mage for nothing, even if you want to argue that Natsu's overtaken her. While Wendy started weak, she's surpassed Lucy in the last arcs of the main series. I'm not cruel enough to say that Carla is even close to better than her. However, if your only meaningful competition is the Exceeds, that's not great.
Though, let's back up and think about that last paragraph. Lucy is the weakest member of the Strongest Team, no doubt. She's not the weakest member of Fairy Tail. Let's ignore the no-named scrubs who show up for a couple of lines every four volumes Lucy clears. If Lucy joined Shadow Gear, she might be the team's ace. She was able to hold her own with Cana as her partner. (Speaking of which, Tenrou Island is another situation where her planning came in the clutch, and I can't believe I didn't talk about it earlier.) She's more powerful than the Strauss kids not named Mirajane. I'd even go so far as to say she could make a solid member of the Thunder God Tribe.
This is probably where someone else would make this about feminism and how shonen writers aren't good at writing women. (Except for the rare female writers.) I get this for Kishimoto whose writing of women is indefensible. Akira Toriyama (R.I.P.), who influenced much of the genre as we've seen it, isn't much better with how he handles his women.
But Mashima?
I know the fanservice can be way too much at times. But, as I mentioned years ago, his women are better written than fans often give him credit for. Lucy loses to two women on her team. Some of the best story arcs in Fairy Tail revolve around characters like Lucy, Cana, and Erza. I'd put Erza's character up against almost any other female character in a similar narrative role in the same genre. I don't care that she punched that meteor that one time. She's still a better character than a lot of them.
No, this issue is more the fault of fans and their pesky expectations. They see characters who aren't the strongest and assume they're weak. Fans do this despite the advanced strength of other characters and the narrative role of the characters.
I wouldn't say that we have a feminist problem. I'd say we don't recognize the strength of femininity.
I'm just going to come out and say it. Women are great because they're not men, and vice versa. I'm in favor of getting rid of some of the restrictive gender roles culture places on both genders. That shouldn't come at the expense of making women more like men.
"Doesn't that mean that we can't have women who fight and have active roles in media, similar to typically male characters?"
You know what? That might be the most eloquent I've made this voice sound.
My answer is simple. Why can't we have both?
Why can't we have our Rukia and our Orihime? Why can't we have our Tifa and our Aeris? (Or is it Aerith?) Why can't we have our Lucy and our Erza?
Now, don't get it twisted. I love seeing physically strong women in fiction. She-Hulk is one of my favorite heroes in Marvel comics. (I hate that I have to specify comics.) Jupiter is my favorite of the Sailor Guardians. Homura is my favorite member of the EZ Crew. However, a strong character is a good character, and vice versa.
The best thing about the traditional female characters is how they manage their lack of physical strength. They use their wit and charms to their advantage instead of brute force. Men rely on power and speed. Women focus on flexibility and accuracy.
I like to think of it in sports terms. If traditional masculine traits are more offensive, feminine traits are considered more defensive. Both are necessary for teams to succeed. Some sports require people to switch between both roles. However, players usually excel at one of the two.
"What about sports like fencing and the martial arts?"
You need to switch between offense and defense quicker than other sports. However, is it good if a fencer only parries attacks and never thrusts? Is being able to throw punches without blocking a great boxing strategy?
What makes characters compelling has nothing to do with either masculine or feminine traits. (At least, it shouldn't.) What matters are their virtues and determination. It may manifest itself differently in male and female characters. However, it's not as if women can't show strength without sending people through walls. It's not as if men can't show tenderness without caring for children.
The most essential trait for characters might be weakness. How do characters make up for their failings? How do they overcome the conflicts they face? These things draw us to good characters, no matter their gender.
Let's compare two fictional women. Sophie Hatter from Howl's Moving Castle and Captain Marvel.
Carol Danvers is an unfortunate case. She started as a character with solid writing in the comics as a side character. Her solo series as Ms. Marvel in the Civil War era is pretty good. However, since becoming the new Captain Marvel, she's been defined by her power and little else. Despite Marvel's best efforts, fans have not latched onto her new persona.
The MCU didn't help. Captain Marvel was one of the weakest movies in Phase 3. Even at the time, it was clear that its success was attached to the Avengers' success. Few people praised the movie on its own merits. Even fewer had meaningful defenses for its many critics.
Captain Marvel was a physically strong character with no weaknesses. She was so strong that the government she was working for had to limit her powers. However, Carol wasn't the best character the MCU has put out. She didn't endear herself to the audience, had no real connections to the main cast outside of Fury, and became a textbook example of a strong female character without the character part of the equation. Ironically, the best movie to handle her was the one where she barely showed up.
Then there's The Marvels.
It's unfair to say that the movie only flopped because of Captain Marvel's character. That movie's failure has much more to do with the current state of Disney and Marvel Studios. However, part of the plot's failings is because of Carol's lack of weaknesses. They had to find a way to nerf her and chose to tie her to the other characters. They had to find a way to show her connections to the universe and married her off-screen to a South Korean actor on a planet where everyone communicates through singing. No wonder it bombed the same year Guardians of the Galaxy did well.
Sophie Hatter (it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that was her last name) is the protagonist of Howl's Moving Castle, one of Hayao Miyazaki's most beloved works and one of my favorite anime. Miyazaki is no stranger to writing strong women. While I could pick either of the women from Princess Mononoke, Sophie is for the point I want to make.
She is by no means strong. She has no magic and has to rely on Howl and Calcifer many times throughout the story for protection. In a cast of magical individuals, she might be one of the weakest members of the cast.
However, she is far from a weak character. Even at her most insecure, she shows great inner strength and determination. She's determined to find a way to get back to her younger self. She doesn't shrink at the task of cleaning Howl's house. Not to mention, she becomes the heart and soul of the castle. (No pun intended.) It makes sense that she gets younger as she becomes more assured in herself. Ironically, she proves to be braver than Howl. He gains strength and courage from her.
Sophie's strength doesn't come from her ability to use magic or how many soldiers she can knock out. Her strength is more of an inner strength. It's an unshakeable will to achieve what is necessary. That causes her to push past her insecurity and grow throughout the movie. It's no wonder that so many people love her and the movie.
In Conclusion:
If you want to make a strong female character, that's a fine goal. What matters is that you focus more on the "character" than the "strong."
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mermaidsirennikita · 9 months ago
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I am absolutely obsessed with Through My Window. Binged all three in a day. Any recs for books that give the same vibes?
The Through My Window trilogy is... so good. Whenever people are like "I hate Wattpad" I'm like sure sure, I watch many Wattpad movies, most are bad, but THROUGH MY WINDOW. It gives us full soap opera swings, it has great sex scenes (and a surprising emphasis on safe sex? lmao the Through My Window population are always using condoms... except for Artemis and Claudia, the thirty-year-olds), and it really fucks with what I think is *so wrong* with so many similar movies. In that the guy is a tool, he never actually seems into the girl and thus never changes, and the girl is just DESPERATE and doesn't understand how aaaaanyone could loooove her.
Ares *DOES* change and is obviously fundamentally a good dude who's just been raised in a toxically masculine environment. He's like, not perfect, but he loves Raquel and he wants to do the right thing and emotionally he's basically her bitch from fairly early on in the first movie. And Raquel? IS MESS. She's mess, and she goes "I could bag that motherfucker" and she COULD. She gives him so much shit. Shit he often doesn't deserve, frankly. It's great.
So I don't read a lot of books focusing on characters their age, and this will mostly be character vibes as such.
The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary. This is about two doctors in their thirties/forties, but I recommend this because they have a very antagonistic relationship at first, before beginning this "no strings" secret sexual relationship that reminds me of the Sekret Sex in the first TMW.
Kennedy Ryan's All the King's Men Duology, OOH YES. So this one does begin when the heroine is 17, but that's not why I'm recommending that because it's brief and as soon as the hero knows she's 17 he stops talking to her, as he should (nothing happens, they literally just talk, he's like 24 and thinks she's older and does not in any way intend to sniff around a 17 year old sssh). But they do meet up again when she's a senior in college, they do hook up, and there is a lot fraught interclass stuff--he has a horrible dad and comes from a billionaire family, she calls him on his shit (she's not crazy like Raquel but you do get that back and forth) and it's HOT.
The Roommate by Rosie Danan. This one has a more upper class heroine and a hero who is in fact an adult film star, but I would recommend this one due to the proximity (and they were roommates) and the way they kind of begin hooking up on the low. There's also an initial prickliness on her part.
The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan. This could definitely work--it's one fo the rare college romances I've enjoyed! The hero is a star quarterback and comes from a more privileged background than the heroine. She kinda hates his ass, he's obsessed with her, and they basically fuck at a party and start hooking up secretly. CAN I SAY. This moment when they first fuck? He literally drops to his knees in someone else's bathroom before railing her on a couch. I was. ABOUT IT.
So yeah, no one to one comparisons as far as contemporaries go, but this is what I would TRY.
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