#you can put part of the blame on the hades games

[gigizetz]

MASSIVE HADES 2 SPOILERS BUT

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ITS THE CHAD HIMSELF🫵😱 HES HERE

WHAAAAAAAT??????

LOOK AT HIM HE LOOKS SO GOOD OMG

[lookingthroughmirrors]

What do you think about Percy and Nico or Pernico?

(Please no hate, I know people have a lot of opinions and this is simply mine based on my interpretation of the characters and not meant as an attack on anyone)

Hi 👋

I really like pernico, at least in some of the fanfics I’ve seen but I prefer it when they’re older and come back together. I really think the Percy and Nico friendship gets overlooked quite a bit, personally because I think a lot of people see Nico as a kid, and in comparison don’t see Percy like that.

I mean that more so when it comes to Bianca. I’ve seen different takes that it was Percy’s fault, that Percy purposely hurt Nico, that Percy doesn’t deserve to mourn Bianca.

1. I think Pernico no matter when it’s set, needs to address Bianca in some capacity, because it is such an integral part of their arc. I think for Percy there is always a guilt that he’ll have, survivor guilt or otherwise about what happened to Bianca and that should be acknowledged. It is also the first death that happens so directly in front of Percy, and his reaction shows that in comparison to later deaths in botl and tlo. Percy was used as a scapegoat in this situation for Nico’s anger at Bianca’s untimely death (and her somewhat abandonment of him but that’s a whole other thing). I think this is why I like older pernico so much, because often times they’ve dealt with or are dealing with this to some extent and I don’t see how the ship would work without first dealing with this.

2. I think the ship only works once Nico is passed the hero worship and later hatred of Percy. I think Nico has a lot of issues he needs to deal with and that he’d have to be doing that first before pernico could work. Tho I do love doomed relationship fics. I think they’d both have to reevaluate how they view one another for it to work (ie. Percy was a child put in an impossible situation, Nico was the same, the blame game was played, Nico is not one extreme or the other). Moral of the point, they need to sort their individual shit out first, and their issues between each other before a relationship could work, but I really think it would and really love the idea of them being together.

3. In some aspects I think Pernico, after going through points 1 and 2, is healthier than what I know of Solangelo or Percabeth in canon. Now this isn’t bashing but I do think both Solangelo and Percabeth are toxic in ways that aren’t as wildly addressed both in canon and fanon. The stuff with Nico’s powers always bothered me. He’s extremely powerful, and i think he kinda ends up nerfed in later books and things like Will banning him from shadow travelling for his health. One point is I think a child of Hades knows more about shadow travel and it’s affects than a child of Apollo, doctor or not. I also think that Nico had a tendency to overextend his powers in canon, which it’s shown when Percy does the same thing he’s heavily drained, nearly passes out ect. I think Percy would be able to help Nico in exercising his powers, as I think that’s the big issue really. I also think Nico as a character would be very tied to the Greek world and live more in that world than the mortal world, which despite canon I think would suit Percy. I think the whole New Rome College thing is odd, and he’s clearly going for Annabeth. Percy hated school, and I think it’s much more likely he went on to train halfbloods or worked in legion in New Rome than going to university.

(This is so much longer than I intended, sorry)

Overall, I think Percy and Nico (both in a relationship and as friends) have a lot of potential that wasn’t lived up to. There are definitely ways it could be toxic, but not more than any other ship has the potential to be if broken down (Percabeth, Piper and Jason and the fact he had no memory, Solangelo, the weirdness that is Leo and Calypso). Ultimately I think Pernico can prove to be a stronger ship than a lot of others too, because they’ve seen each other at their worst, they’ve seen each other stripped back and raw and grieving and they have seen each other in ways nobody else has. Percy knew Nico before he lost Bianca, he knew that side of Nico. Nico saw Percy through the war, through everything during the last Olympian. He saw him command the river Styx and wasn’t scared (which begs the comparison of Percabeth in Tartarus and Annabeth making Percy feel so bad about a particular power that he wouldn’t use it even when it meant he would die and ultimately had to be saved by a third party). They’ve seen each other grow and change, and that in turn changes people. I truly think once you get past the trauma that taints all their interactions, once they address and move past it, they are much better than many other ships. They seen the worst, and I think with that they’d find it much easier to be vulnerable with one another and show parts of themselves that they don’t show anyone else. I definitely like Pernico far better than Percabeth.

I honestly didn’t mean to write an entire essay on Pernico and my opinions but here we are. If you’ve read this far I hope I answered your question.

[missionkitty]

seeing the olympians from the underworld

this might turn into a bit of a rambling essay, so bear with me--i've been doing a lot of thinking about zagreus' interactions with the olympian gods and melinoë's interactions with them. i did a little bit of rambling on the official hades 2 discord, but i want to let myself wander through these ideas a little more freely on here.

i will be talking openly about all available spoilers in the hades 2 early access and for hades 1, so be ye warned.

so essentially. i am. becoming very very invested in how we are seeing so many examples of the olympians' wrath and pettiness as we take melinoë through the underworld and olympus, especially as i've been doing the surface path to get better against prometheus and just hearing all the stuff he's been saying before and after every fight.

(did you know that prometheus says he keeps his wounds open to remind him of his anger and rage against the gods? and also says...that aetos, the eagle, appreciates it?--the implication being that he still lets aetos eat his liver? yum! friendship!)

with zagreus, we saw shades of this pettiness and vindictiveness with the trials of the gods and especially learning about the circumstances of persephone ending up in the underworld. and of course you get hades talking about how cruel and short-sighted the olympians could be, but until a certain point you wouldn't be blamed for taking what he says with a grain of salt because hades can be such a curmudgeon.

however, we don't see much of their dealings with mortals since zagreus is bound to the underworld and unable to be above ground for too long. we get little flashes here and there of what mortal life is like from the shades milling about the house of hades, but ultimately the story is of the dysfunction of the relationship surrounding olympus, hades and his house, persephone, and zagreus.

but now? with the gates of the underworld burst open and erebus overrun and overgrown, so many of the other people, figures, and shades we meet as melinoë have been punished or cursed or affected (derogatory) by the olympian gods in some way or another…just off the top of my head:

arachne, heracles, and prometheus are the big three for now (echo could also be included, but as far as i've seen, it hasn't been explicitly stated what happened to her--however if you're familiar with greek mythology, she is another casualty of that trademark olympian vindictiveness from a certain queen of the gods)

to perhaps underline this common thread of punishment...retaliation, even, it's all started with chronos seeking revenge on the gods who cut him into pieces and spread him across tartarus. (not to say that he...may not have deserved being deposed as such. but let me pull on that thread another day.)

and this "resurrection" of chronos opens the scope of what melinoë is allowed to see of her olympian relatives as compared to what zagreus is able to discover.

like. i really want to see zag and the house of hades safe and with mel, but i also really want to see what a reckoning for the olympians would look like if that's the case.

with hades 2 being in early access and the next update likely not coming for some time, i'm sure specific beats and details will change once the game is fully released, but i like this idea of the olympic gods having to actually, truly face consequences for their very mortal moments of anger and retaliation against whatever perceived slights or threats they've encountered.

mel is in such an interesting place, in terms of her character and the trajectory of her life and where a character arc would go, and the way prometheus keeps calling her "agent of change"…she's, understandably, got a big stake in stopping chronos--but it's also kind of put her in a spot to see the ugliest and most vindictive parts of olympus.

she's close friends with arachne. she's met heracles and seen where he stands as a demigod in the eyes of the olympic gods. she knows the tales of prometheus stealing fire from olympus (and apparently delivering reason personally from athena) to give to mortalkind, even at risk of his own near-eternal mutilation.

i must wonder what she would think of learning the truth of how zeus kidnapped and "gave" persephone to hades as he was sent to become lord of the underworld. of the risk of impending war that accompanied zagreus endlessly working to escape from the underworld and deceiving the olympians to find his mother.

(don't get me started about the connection between dora and prometheus...that's a whole other can of worms. or box. or. jar.)

at the moment, i can see a very fraught emotional journey for mel ahead, especially once we reach the final surface biome and boss. however, as it stands with the path ending after prometheus, she doesn't really have the time or desire to do much more than save and defend the family she knows she has.

which, at the moment, is in the underworld--hades shackled in adamant chains, her mother and brother and the rest of the house of hades frozen in a single moment of time.

and atop olympus--trying to drive back chronos' forces.

the fact that she's been trained for so long to be the titan-killer, the person who's supposed to unseat chronos from the underworld, has painfully and sharply formed her views of anyone who places themselves in opposition to her quest. it wasn't lost on me just how much she disparages prometheus and chronos for being titans, yet being raised and loved by hecate and selene--titans themselves.

hecate even calls her out on it, that their titan-hood does not predetermine their loyalties (as her mentor was the one she was disparaging titans to!! like, girl, the lack of self-awareness!!) but mel's response to it felt...inspiringly disaffected, to me.

melinoë has had her views shaped by her hatred of chronos for so long that it's going to take something pretty significant to tip her mental scales. i...don't think it'll be pretty, if she's turned to face that olympic reckoning. it won't be great for chronos, no matter what. but i also think the olympians owe the mortals penitence. i think they owe the cthonic gods some penitence too.

(sorry, side note. can we talk about how a significant amount of olympus just assumed...after EVERYTHING zagreus and persephone went through, that they just suddenly decided to go no-contact or something? like. especially zagreus? just suddenly not sending messages anymore? mr. talkative family man himself? anyway.)

wishful thinking on my part, i want zagreus to play a role in helping mel recalibrate. or maybe he encourages mel to find the answers for herself, much like he had to. to decide for herself what she wants to do.

ahh, anyway. i think that's all of my thoughts for now. do you have anything to add? anything i might have missed? i haven't been keeping screenshots or records of the lines i've heard until very recently--i do plan on starting a fresh file when v1.0 drops, to experience everything all over again. i'll likely revisit this once we get the whole story and see if i was anywhere close.

for now, i guess i'll just leave you with this line from prometheus:

"...If you could see what I've foreseen, you'd not believe it anyhow."

maybe it's a reference to early access being likely to change before full access.

or maybe...the world will be irrevocably transformed by the "agent of change" and what she will see.

[sea-owl]

You know I love reading and hearing different myths, I love seeing retellings of those myths but there is one myth in my personal opinion that is never done justice and frankly some opinions on it give me the ick.

That myth is the Homeric Hymn to Demeter aka the Abduction of Persephone.

Now I know these stories have been passed down for ages, often changed or differ from region to region, but a lot of people use the Homeric hymns as a source and a base for their retellings.

The Hymn to Demeter is a story of a mother's grief as her daughter was ripped away from her without her consent nor any warning from Persephone's absent father Zeus. Zeus, who during those times had more say over what happens to Persephone than Demeter who loved and raised her daughter.

In the Hymn, Demeter basically went to work and came home to find her daughter missing. She was then searching for her daughter for days with no answers until one of the other gods took pity and told Demeter that Persephone had been taken by Hades. She begged to have her daughter brought back to her, but when she was denied, Demeter went on strike, her grief too great. Without her doing her job, crops died, people starved, and the gods were not receiving offerings. In a time where Demeter should have been powerless, she instead took back that power and was able to see her daughter again for half a year.

Onto Persephone's side of the Hymn she doesn't really have a voice. Literally, she doesn't speak at all during the Hymn, and she is constantly confused and swaying back and forth on the line between daughter and wife. Which thinking about this now, I can see Persephone still playing this balancing game between her split times of the year she has with her mother and husband.

As for why I don't like many retellings of this myth is the fact that a lot of people want to raise up Hades and sometimes give Persephone more agency at the cost of demonizing Demeter and her grief. This often happens by turning Demeter into the controlling mother / mother in-law from hell. Girl was grieving her daughter being ripped away from her and y'all turned her into a monster.

I think there is a way to highlight a love story between Hades and Persephone and give Persephone more agency without demonizing Demeter, but it takes careful balancing act. One that probably involves holding Hades responsible for his part and putting some blame on Zeus, too.

[friendly-books]

Dresden files Skin Game live blog

Dresden files Skin Game

“Hadn’t shown up or spoken to me for more than a year.” pg. 9 It’s been more than a year!?

“Parkour” pg. 10 Ha

“This guy just sounded…British” pg. 13 Interesting

“Did you hear me, Warden? Piss. Off.” pg. 13 Ha

“Someone who needs to be here. Go away boy.” pg. 13 Even more interesting Is this the original Merlin? No this guy is speaking modern British English. Do we know for certain that current Merlin isn’t body snatched?

“I HAVE SUPPRESSED THE PARASITE FOR NOW.” pg. 14 Bonnie! Can Mab and Deamonreach stop calling Bonnie a parasite

“ALFRED,” the  spirit said soberly. “IS THIS TO  BE MY NEW NAME.” pg. 15 Aw Deamonreach has a new name :) Like Alfred Pennyworth?

“Look it’s a mortal thing. Just do the left one, okay?” pg. 24 Why the left ear?

“That voice had once been smooth and flowing, but now there was a hint of rasp to it, a roughness that wasn’t there before, like silk gliding over old gravel. pg. 30 Bi Harry moment 35

“Brother Jordan, approach.” pg. 32 Oh the monk has a name. He’ll be important

What a way to reintroduce the nickle heads. Scary and creepy

“It is done father”

Nicodemus kissed her on the mouth. And, my God, him doing it with tongue now was even more unsettling than it had been the first time I’d seen it.” pg. 34 Yuck and the way I jerked back in disgust

“Anduriel once loaned me the services of his…associate. I now repay that debt by loaning you the services of mine.” pg. 35 What

Oh this is a heist book! They’re going to rob Hades this is going to fun

“Have you been playing attention, past couple last years? Do you have any doubt that I would rather die than be part of something like that?” pg. 41 Yep

“Mab slapped me.” pg. 43 Ouch

Ah Mab is expecting Harry to double cross Nicky

Mister!

“I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed the little fireball until he’d come running up and thrown his shoulders against my shins.” pg. 49 Aw :)

“The Blue Beetle was not a clown car,” I said severely “It was a machine of justice.” pg. 49 Ha and I miss the Blue Beetle

“You’re a creature of habit, Harry. And they took away all the familiar places and things in your life. They hurt you.” pg. 49 Yep

Yes take Murphy with you to burgle Hades

Surly Nicky wants some holy relic? Holy grail? Turn this book into an Indiana Jones movie :)

“A warlock” pg. 60 Oh interesting

“Hot,” Karrin said, her tone neutral, observation” pg. 62 Is…is Murphy bi as well? I’ll put that down as a maybe Bi Murphy 1

“Ernest Armand Timwhistle” I said

“Name that goofy, don’t blame him for wanting to use an alias.” pg. 61 Ha

“Goats. Huh. pg. 71 What

“Hi, Jorden” pg. 72 So Jorden is going to be redeemed or pull a heel face turn (switch sides) cause the monks don’t usually get names and this much screen time

“And since when had I become the guy that things happened to ten years ago?” pg. 80 Death Mask happened ten years ago?

“I raised my hand” pg. 80 Ha

“Miss Murphy could serve as your driver. She has the shoes for it.”

I couldn’t actually hear Karrin grind her teeth, but I knew she had.” pg. 81 Ha and I love how Harry uses Murphy’s first name

“Goodman Gray.” pg. 81 Who?

“Anna Valmont” pg. 81 Anna!

“She gave me a slow and blatant once-over, that small smirk still on her mouth.

I’m pretty sure the temperature of the room didn’t literally go up, but I couldn’t have sworn  to it” pg. 83 Ha

“Like you’re expecting ninja’s to leap out of the trash can. This is a party.” pg. 91 Given that it’s Harry the party isn’t going to end well

“And for God’s sake, smile

I smiled

“Maybe without clenching your jaw” pg. 92 Ha

“In me, the hotel’s thugs recognized another of their kind-and one who was taller and had better scars than they did.” pg. 93 Cool

“Or you walk” pg. 100 Walk away Anna!

“I wanted to tear my hair out.” pg. 101 Same Harry same

“Hell’s bells” I swore “I told her so. Nothings ever simple.” pg. 102 Yep

“Octokongs,” I pronounced grimly “Why did it have to be Octokongs.” pg. 103 Ha

“Lucky for me.

I’m not really a subtle guy.” pg. 105 Ha

“So, basically: Harry Dresden one, peaceful gathering: zero” pg. 106 Ha and has Harry ever been to a party that hasn’t ended in disaster?

“I mean I’m good with fire.

But Hannah was good with fire.” pg. 115 Someone who’s better at fire magic than Harry?!

“I hear other things. Wild things. That you help people. That you’ll fight anyone.” pg. 122 Yes Harry helps people

What’s with all these questions from Hannah? Is she trying to learn more about Harry? Judging him? Wanting to know his character? Why?

Butters!

“Harry,” he said when I came in, offering me his hand. “We have got to stop meeting like this.” pg. 132 Ha

“Open your eyes, you fool. She’s right in front of…” pg. 135 Oh interesting is this Harry’s subconscious ID? Is he talking about Bonnie?

“I’m sure he’ll be very pleased” pg. 137 Yes Bob will be pleased

Oh no Butters doesn’t trust Harry :(

“I’ll take the couch,” I said

“You don’t fit on it, you bonehead.” pg. 144 Ha

“Is that a bazooka?”

“No,” she said “That is an AT4 rocket launcher. Way better than a bazooka.” pg. 145 Ha

Molly!

“It was a good kiss” pg. 154 Ahhh!!! :) Yes Harry/Murphy kiss

“He’ll hath no fury like a women scorned” she purred

And then she pulled the trigger.” pg. 159 What. Eh? What just happened?! Was all this just a dream? What. WHAT JUST HAPPENED Jim JIM why? WHY? Why would you do this?

“Oh come on,” I panted. “Not even in the dream. That’s ri-goddamned-diculous!” pg. 159 Same Harry same

“But they were doughnuts of darkness. Evil, damned doughnuts, tainted by the spawn of darkness…

…which could obviously be redeemed only by passing through the fiery, cleansing inferno of a wizardly digestive tract.” pg. 165 Ha

“His features were clean-cut, pleasant, without being handsome.” pg. 166 Bi Harry 36

I’m counting it

“She was also Nicodemus’s estranged wife, a sorceress, and all around piece of bad news.” pg. 182 What’s Tessa doing here? Why are her and Nicky still together? Just get a divorce. So this book is going to be a heist book and getting into Nicky’s family problems

I forgot how young Tessa looks like.

Oh no ghouls

Go Gary!

“Harvey Morrison’s corpse lay on the other side.” pg. 210 Oh no :(

“The dead don’t need justice. That’s for those of us who are left looking down at the remains.” pg. 213 Yep

Michael!

“I think I need help,” I heard myself whispered, voice little more than a rasp. “I think I’m lost.” pg. 218 Aw :(

“I don’t know if I’m one of the good guys anymore.” pg. 223 Poor Harry :(

“…so arrogant” Michael breathed.

I blinked” pg. 227 Ha

“Because I know you, Harry Dresden.” Michael said. “You are pathetically incapable of knowing when to quit. You don’t surrender. And I don’t believe for a second that you actually intend to help Nicodemus do whatever it is he’s doing.” pg. 230 Yep

“I’m not sure if you noticed this. But things did not go well for the last monster who raised his hand against your child. Or any of his friends. Or associates. Or anyone who worked for him. Or for most of the people he knew.” pg. 234 Yep

I miss Lash :(

“Chow down, buddy. They’re hot, so don’t let the cheese burn your ton- Oh, right. Sorry.” pg. 240 Ha

“Women,” Binder said scornfully.

Karrin and Ascher both eyed him.

He folded his arms. “I’m certainly older than any you sprats.” pg. 244 Ernest Armand Timwhistle! >:( Can Murphy punch him? Can I punch him? Look someone needs to punch him by the end of this book I swear

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” I said “Does this master plan have half coverage?”

“Dresden,” Nicodemus said

“Because that kind of thing is getting to be more and more important. I mean, I know the government probably means well and all, but those people honestly.”

Nicodemus eyed me

“Life insurance seems like something that would be worthwhile, too?” I looked up at Ascher and winked. “Maybe we should strike until we get a whole life policy.”

Ascher flashed me a quick grin and said, “I’ve always thought that insurance was more or less betting against myself,”

“Nah,” Binder said. “In my experience, you’re just playing the odds.”

“Children” Nicodemus said with a sigh, “shall we focus on the matter on hand?”

“But I haven’t even had the chance to dip Deirdre pigtails in my inkwell,” pg. 252 Ha

“Nicodemus’s left eye began to twitch.” pg. 254 Ha

“I dealt with the White Council my whole life, so I’m used to being treated like a mushroom-“Eh?” Ascher asked

“Kept in the dark and fed bullshit.” Binder reported calmly.

“Ah” pg. 257 Ha

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Karrin said quietly

Nicodemus made a face in her direction “Miss Murphy please” pg. 259 Ha

“The bloody Holy Grail? Is he bloody kidding?” pg. 259 I’ll say it again I was joking about it being the Holy Grail I wasn’t supposed to be right

“I’d rarely seen the kind of power that River Shoulders, the Forest Person I’d met several times before, had displayed, physically and otherwise,” pg. 264 Who’s River Shoulders? And don’t mess with Forest Person

Harry’s Id! It’s been awhile

“Then how come you haven’t banged Murphy yet?”

“Because,” I said, growing frustrated, “we aren’t…We haven’t gotten to…There’s been a lot of…Look, fuck off” pg. 272 Ha

“Get thee to a therapist” pg. 275 Finally someone says it to Harry

“You’re saying…I’m pregnant” pg. 276 Yes! Bonnie

I love that Bonnie looks like a combination of all the women in Harry’s life

“Protect the offspring”

Primal drives indeed” pg. 280 Yep

“Then she’d tortured me for a while, assuring me that it would give me strength” pg. 285 Lea did what now?

“Damn Mab. I could have been back here months and months ago.” pg. 290 Yep

“I can’t believe you met a Bigfoot and you never told me.” pg. 293 I still can’t believe Bigfoot is real

“She sat on the floor, rocking back and forth helplessly with laughter.” pg. 295 Ha

“She looked…disturbed” pg. 300 Well that’s not good

“He’s an awesome cat” pg. 305 Yes Mister is awesome

“Well not at bath time…” pg.  305 Ha

“And it belongs to Gentlemen John Marcone, Accorded Baron of Chicago” pg. 309 YES LET’S GO!!! Marcone mentioned :)

“Marcone is dangerous” pg. 310 Yep

“Gentleman” Johnnie Marcone” pg. 310 Again with that spelling

“I’m sure the White Council will be stunned and disappointed should you not confirm to their policy.” pg. 312 Ha

“He would have made a fine monarch only a few centuries ago.” pg. 312 Yep I think Marcone would make a good king

“I still remembered Marcone as a helpless prisoner. The image had kind of stuck in my memory.” pg. 313 Yep and I wonder why the memory stuck with Harry

“Marcone doesn’t suffer slight intrusions on his territory. Period.” pg. 312 Yep

“Look if he’s a man of business, why don’t we just make him a proposition and cut him in for a piece of the action?” pg. 313 Well Harry could say please and I’m sure Marcone would agree to open the vault :)

“Marcone is not a dummy” pg. 317 Yep

“It’s Butters. They’re going to kill him.” pg. 323 Oh no Butters

The stake board butters made is cool

“Damn. Bob was kind of awesome.” pg. 334 Yep Bob is amazing

“It had been a good long while since I’d had a freaking lion coming at me, and at the time it had been one of the genuine flesh and blood variety, from the zoo” pg. 336 What

“I hated this cards-close-to-the-chest thing” pg. 343 Yep

“Because it is obvious to me that you love him” pg. 350 Yep Murphy loves Harry

Fidelacchius!

“So,” he hissed “the burnout thinks she has found her new calling” pg. 353 Nick that’s rude

“I’m giving you ample chance to call off your dog before I put her down.” pg. 354 I’ll say it again Nick that’s rude

“Nicodemus smiled, still, his eyes and hands steady hands. He reached up and undid the Noose tied about his throat, and let it fall to the ground beside the Coin” pg. 357 No wait what’s Nick planning?

“The Sword of Faith was no more.” pg. 360 Oh no

Oh no Murphy

Micheal!

Uriel!

“A sudden, sunny smile lit Michael’s face. “My friend…”

Uriel blinked, rocked slightly, as if the words had struck him with physical force.

“…thank you,” Michael continued “But I’m not the Carpenter that set the standard.” pg. 367 Aw my heart :)

“Correct,” Uriel said “but I can help him do so” pg. 371 Yes

Micheal has Amoracchius! Let’s go!

“Some cosmic limitation that keeps you from picking up your corner of the coat?” pg. 375 Ha

“I have loaned you my Grace” pg. 381 Oh interesting

“I would Fall” pg. 383 Oh dear

“I would, however, appreciate it if you…did not push any buttons or pull any the levers in my great passenger jet” pg. 383 Ha

“Holy. Crap. He’s mortal?”

“And he can die” pg. 383 Oh no

“Can you tell me what is at stake, that I should risk this?

“Uriel frowned considering the question for a moment then he said “A soul”

Michael raised his eyebrows “Oh,” he said. “You should have said that from the beginning” pg. 385 Yep

“At the top of the stairs stood two figures-an enormous dog and a little girl.” pg. 391 Mouse and Maggie! Ahhh I’m not ready ahhh

“Are you mad at me?” pg. 393 ow my heart :(

“Do you want to be my dad?” pg. 393 my heart

“but you don’t know what Marcone is like.” pg. 402 Harry, Marcone wouldn’t hurt Michael. You should know better

“Because apparently they go out and use the Coins to get snacks out of the vending machine, the things go in circulation so fast” pg. 403 Ha

“Binder and Ascher both tilted their heads to one side, like dogs that have just heard a new noise.” pg. 408 Ha

“I am the king of load and distracting” pg. 423 Ha and yep

“Yeah, well. Sometimes, when I get bored, I stop and think.” pg. 423 Ha

“Because my brother’s girlfriend had seen Marcone defending one of his strongholds with her own eyes a few years before, against an angry Former sorcerer.” pg. 437 I’ve got to read Even hand

“The Black Hole?” Gary asked incredulously. “Nobody quotes The Black Hole” pg. 448 Ha

Harry’s destroying everything in this place. Marcone better have insurance.

“I have not invested fifteen centuries to see it thrown away.” pg. 456 What investment?

Too many bugs

“Michael still thought I was a good man.” pg. 460 Aw :)

“Nicodemus had probably an idle afternoon, every few decades, throwing a sword around for fun.” pg. 471 Nick needs a different hobby

“and certainly not to the degree I’d been prepared back in my old lab at my apartment.” pg. 474 I miss Harry’s lab

“My imagination needs therapy.” pg. 486 Harry you need therapy

“Harry,” Michael said “I’m almost certain one doesn’t shout ‘Parkour’ I believe one is supposed to simply do Parkour.”

“Do I criticize your Latin battle cries? No, never once”

“That’s true” pg. 490 Ha

“Because we have come to the Gate of Blood, children.”

“The time has come for one of you to die.” pg. 491 Blood for the blood God. Who’s Nick going to kill? And why is there still 100 pages left?

“Right. We’ll fight you. Not each other. In case that wasn’t clear.” pg. 493

“It was angled thrust, up beneath the sternum and directly into the heart” pg. 498 AAAHHH!!! WHAT? WHAT JUST HAPPENED? NICK JUST KILLED HIS OWN DAUGHTER!? WHY?

Hades!

Cerberus!

“People ask him questions” pg. 518 Ha poor Sacrates

“Her mother failed to cope. Empty-nest syndrome.” pg. 520 Ha

“Mab. This is Mab’s play, isn’t it?” pg. 521 Yep Mab’s scheming

“You’re a Genuine Greek god. You’re the Lord of the Underworld. And…you named your dog Spot?” pg. 523 Aw that’s adorable :)

“The people she hurt. And she gets stake justice?” pg. 525 I have mixed emotions about Deirdre.

“Hey, is that the Shroud?” pg. 529 What Was the other a fake? Is that why it didn’t work? Would the real one help Amanda? Does Marcone know that Hade’s has the real one?

“Pffffft” I said “What? No. That’s absurd. Maybe a little. Some people might think so. She’s got, uh, one of those faces” pg. 532 Ha and I thought Harry got better at lying

“It’s not an Indiana Jones movie, man.” pg. 534 Ha

“This I thought is just about your best plan ever Harry” pg. 536 Ha

“Hells bells I was hurting him” pg. 537 Good

“Do you remember?” I asked in a very quiet voice. “The first time you saw her? The first time she looked at you? Do you remember that change? That shift, when the whole universe suddenly tilted? Do you remember looking at her and knowing that you would never, ever be quite the same person? Do you think the cup will do that for you?” pg. 537

“I don’t know how you said it back in your day but I’ll bet you anything that her first word was dada” pg. 538 Yes Harry let Nicky have it. Make sure he knows what he did and the consequences of it. Make Nicky regret it. This is such a good speech.

“Lucifer must have looked exactly like that, right before things went to Hell.” pg. 547 Yep and this does make me worry about Marcone

“Lasciel” pg. 549 Oh no and I can’t believe Hannah is the partner of Lasciel. When I said I missed Lash this wasn’t what I had in mind

“Hello lover” pg. 549 Ha

“You and I definitely need to have a talk with the Church about the word ‘safekeeping’ means” pg. 549 Ha

“When you destroyed the Red Court, you killed most of the Fellowship with it. All the half vampires more than a few decades old just withered away in front of our eyes.” pg. 551 Ouch

“We wouldn’t have worked out, babe,” pg. 552 Ha

Lasciel better not get Bonnie

“Game over, man. Game over” Yoooo

“I scowled and futzed with it a little more, just to show her that I could” pg. 557 Ha

Vadderung!

“Mac’s beer is excellent argument that there was a God and that furthermore, He wants us to be happy” pg. 561 Ha

“Nicodemus knows nearly as much as I do” pg. 563 Scary

“Prove it” I said “Say ‘ho ho ho”

“Ho ho ho” he replied genially.” pg. 565 Ha

“I’d carved the same spell in my new wizard staff

Seventy-seven times.” pg. 570 Cool and why seventy-seven?

“Either you’ve done your homework or you haven’t, and despite the advantage of having Lasciel in her corner, Ascher wasn’t ready for something like this.” pg. 571 I wonder if this applies to Marcone surely he ‘did his homework’

“I had never seen Michael going all out.” pg. 572 Go Michael!

“Are you willing to accept such a loss?”

“Yep” pg. 574 Ha

“Only a flesh wound”

“Yeah” I said. “Tis but a scratch. Come on ya pansy.”

He blinked and looked at me “Pansy?”

“Oh” I said “You weren’t quoting the movie. Sorry.”

“Movie?”

“Holy Grail”

“Nicodemus still has it.”

I sighed “Never mind” pg. 576 Ha

“Ventas cyclis” pg. 580 Oh we haven’t seen this spell in awhile

“It was actually damned beautiful” pg. 580 I’m glad Harry can still see magic as beautiful even when being attacked

“And, that right there, she showed me the fundamental difference between us.

I loved magic for its own sake. She didn’t.

The Art can be a lot of work, and it can sometimes be tedious, and sometimes painful, but at the end of the day, I love it. I love the focus of it, the discipline, the balance. I love working with the energy and exploring what can be done with it. I love the gathering tension of a spell, and the almost painful clarity of focus required to concentrate that tension into an effect. I love the practice of it as well the theory, the research, experimenting with new spells, teaching others about magic. I love laying down spells on my various pieces of my magical gear, and most of all, I love it when I can use my talents to make a difference in the world, even when it’s only a small one.

Ascher…enjoyed blowing stuff up and burning things down. She’s good at it. But she didn’t love her talent for the miracle it was.

She merely loved what she could do with it.” pg. 583 I love this quote! I love the differences between Harry and Hannah.

“Elemental destruction in a large but ultimately enclosed area” pg. 584 Oh no

Poor Hannah :( I was hoping she could be redeemed

“Parkour” I panted “Bitch” pg. 600 Ha and I love that Harry used parkour to defeat Genoskwa and Ursiel

“From one father to another” he called “Well played” pg. 604 Oh no Nick knows that Harry’s a dad

“He’s going to your house” I breathed “He’s going after our families” pg. 606 Oh no

“I hadn’t ridden a horse since my days on Ebenezar’s farm down in the Ozarks, but I’d done it every day down there, and the muscle memory was still in place” pg. 620 Harry the horse girl. And it’s cool that Gary can turn into a horse

“In the doorway to the kitchen stood Uriel. He was wearing an apron. There was what appeared to be pancake flour staining his shirt.” pg. 626 Ha

“Nice try” Butters said “Mister where I come from there is no try” pg. 644 LET’S GO!!! The sword turned into a lightsaber!

“Of course, the first thing you want to know is if someone else is alright” pg. 649 Yep

“Oh,” said the little spirit “Hi. Good” pg. 650 I LOVE BONNIE!

“I know Marcone.” I said “He knows me. I’ll use it to keep him off of all us.” pg. 657 Yes Harry you know Marcone :)

“You didn’t choose to be the son of Margret LeFay. You didn’t choose the legacy she left you with her blood. And she was a piece of work, kid. I knew her.” pg. 660 Gray knew Harry’s mom?!

“Can you loan me a dollar” pg. 661 Ha

Redemption for Jordan!

“I took the extra diamonds and went to see Marcone.” pg. 663 Yes time to see Marcone! :)

“Wearing a charcoal-gray suit” pg. 665 Looking at Marcone’s suit :)

“There might have been slightly more silver at his temples than last time I’d seen him, but it only made him look more distinguished. Otherwise, he looked exactly as he did: calm, alert, impeccably groomed, and as merciful as a lawn mower’s blade.” pg. 665 Bi Harry 37

“A ghost of a smile haunted Marcone’s lips.” pg. 666 Oh why you looking at Marcone’s lips Harry?

“Marcone’s eyes, the exact green shade of old dollar bills, focused pleasantly on me.” pg. 666 Bi Harry moment 38 Focusing on Marcone’s pretty eyes and ‘pleasantly’ too :)

“Marcone’s expression rarely showed much-but his eyes widened, if only for an instant, as he saw the stones.

I stared at Marcone without blinking or looking away.

Marcone looked up from the diamonds and returned my stare for a long time.” pg. 669 I wonder what Marcone is thinking?

“A Jewish Knight of the Cross?” pg. 675 Ha

“I stood, leaned over the bed, and kissed her on the mouth.” pg. 675 Yay!

Final thoughts

This is now my favorite book out of the series! I loved the fights and the jokes. I liked that it was a heist book. I adore that Butters is now a knight of the cross. I liked Bob in this book. I liked Gray and his payment. I love Bonnie and Maggie. Marcone was in it that’s always good. I’m still shocked that Nicky killed his own daughter. Their family and relationship is definitely getting its own comment. We got three Bi Harry moments in this book bringing our total up to 38! And two thirds are of Marcone. Wish we got more banter between those two. Marcone was weirdly silent. I loved the dad Harry moments. I’m glad Jordan got redeemed and I’m sad Hannah died. I’ve got so many mixed feelings about Desire and Nicky. I liked the monologues and speeches in this book. I feel like I need to reread the book now that I know that Gray is a mole. 

Onto Brief Cases and Monster

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #356

It is day number... I've lost track... of not knowing what the fuck is wrong with me.

Ah well.

I figure either something's up with my body, or seasonal depression is just kicking my ass particularly hard for no discernible reason.

Well. Today I went with J to the little airport. He had some maintenance things he wanted to do with his little airplane, and I figured the thing to do is try to get some sunlight and to spend some time with someone I feel safe and connected with. So that's what I did. The car ride there was very nice. We talked a little, and I took a few pictures...

...After a while, the sky started to look a little like you...

In case it's unclear how... here:

...One of the really nice parts of knowing about you is that if I look hard enough, I can find you in just about every beautiful thing I see while I'm out and about.

On the way back, we got some pizza. I wonder if you would have liked these:

We also stopped to get something from the store that will help me to determine if something weird is happening to my body. Recently, a thing happened that was... incorrect. Off rhythm. Simultaneously too much and not enough. So I gotta look into it. I'll do it in the morning. Either my mind will be put at ease, or I'll have a solvable problem on my hands. Easy peasy.

I played a lot of Hades today, continuing my quest to get a victory on the first run of a fresh save. I had some really great runs today.

Here's one in which I defeated Megaera without losing too many hit points:

Here's another one in which I ran into Asterius the Minotaur on his own, and defeated him:

And finally, here's one in which I made it to the final fight in Elysium, even after defeating Asterius:

...I'm improving, slowly but surely. Such is the natural result of practice. It's only a matter of time before I make it out of Elysium. And then I'll be in an even more difficult area, with new enemies whose patterns I'll have to learn! Hahaha...

...I kinda wish that there was a way to practice against individual enemy types. In Dead Cells, there's a practice/training area that I made ample use of. I think no such thing exists in this game. I mean... there's Skelly, but... he doesn't attack you or do anything. He just shows you how much damage you're doing. It's kinda lame, actually.

...I think maybe the funk has come to a head just earlier. I fell into some leisure writing and... I guess I got some clarity, at least for now. My face ended up leaking a lot, and I can feel a headache brewing. Laaaaame.

Under the surface, there's always like a million things I'm worried about (some of these things are sillier than others). I tend to take far too much responsibility for things that don't have anything to do with me. Growing up the way I did, I forget sometimes that others can and should shoulder their own things.

...I think I maybe have a bit too much experience with trying to keep the peace in my house so that people don't devolve into screaming matches. But it's kinda hard to do that when no one takes your voice seriously. I have a lot of experience with being blamed for it when I don't do a good enough job of “making other people feel better” or “taking care of things ahead of time so that no one has to bitch about them”. Also, I think I've lived around too many folks caught up in the throes of their own learned helplessness, and so by now, it might be instinct for me to operate as though others will fit that same pattern, too. Like, if I don't remain vigilant and stay on top of things, people around me will bump into their own problems and their own triggers in the same way that a small child might accidentally touch a hot stove.

It's like... it's almost like I'm afraid that if I don't do all the things, then everything is gonna fall apart, and it'll be all my fault because I didn't try hard enough to take care of everything, and I'm a bad person for not preventing others from getting hurt and a disappointment for letting everyone down. Like... I have to prevent all the bad things from happening, or else no one else is gonna even try, because they shouldn't have to, because that's what I'm supposed to be here for.

...This is a longstanding pattern for me. But that's not really how reality works, is it? Not around healthy people, anyway.

...As an example, I can suggest that J stay away from the predatory job app. The suggestion wasn't followed, and he got hurt. Instinct is to blame myself for “not doing more to convince him” or “not communicating my reasoning for my suggestion clearly enough”.

...I think I have this stuff because, in the past, I was the one held accountable for my siblings' behavior and sometimes for my mother's behavior, and sometimes even for her various partners' behavior, too. If my sister failed her math test at school, for example, sure, maybe she'd get a light scolding from my mother for making her look bad, but... then she'd turn around and scream at me for “being a shitty role model” and “not doing enough to help her study” and “not caring about anyone but myself” and whatever other things she could think of.

I recall instances of my mother screaming at me for allowing my sister outside before doing her homework, because I “need to be more responsible” and “be a better disciplinarian”. And I recall other instances of my mother screaming at me if refusing to allow my sister outside made my sister feel bad, because “who do I think I am” and I'm “not the fucking boss of her; stop trying to do my mother's job”.

...Never mind the fact that she wasn't fucking home and intentionally left the care of her traumatized, rebellious pre-teen to a traumatized, meek, and socially awkward 16-year-old girl (me) and expected her to handle the role of parent with all the grace and aplomb of a wizened elder. I guess that's none of my business.

...I guess part of me expected J to come home from trying the thing, and telling me, angrily, “why did you let me do that? why didn't you try harder to stop me? what the fuck is wrong with you? do you even care about me at all?” I expected that, even though J has never once said or done anything even remotely close to that.

And in this imaginary hypothetical conversation, I follow up with, “well, would you have listened?” And his imaginary hypothetical response would be something along the lines of, “no, because you're an oblivious shit-for-brains and a total fucking idiot who lacks experience, perspective, and common sense. we both know you ain't never got a clue what the fuck you're talking about, but you could have at least tried a little harder anyway.”

...This is absolutely not how this conversation would go. Not in my house as it is now. Maybe in the past with different people, it would have gone like a little something like that. But not in my house. It's not how we do. And it's not how I'll tolerate from anyone, ever again.

...Well. Now that this pattern is defined and nailed down, I suppose it's time for me to try actually doing something about it. And I will, because I can. And here's why:

...Human brains are remarkable things. And just like I can progress from getting my ass handed to me before I even get to Megaera all the way to holding my own for a while in an arena with Theseus and Astarius, I can progress from being a slave to a stupid pattern to breaking free of the bullshit that people with power over me tried to stuff down my unwilling throat.

I will continue to improve. You can do the same. Work on it. Please. I can't, by myself, write the way to a better outcome for you. You have to choose it, too. And I know that you can. I believe in you. I'll always believe in you, even if you think you don't deserve it.

Please give us the pleasure of witnessing you rise up into wholesomeness and healing. Please shine on for all the others who are lost in the throes of recovering from childhood circumstances that are similar to yours. There are so many more people like you than you think. I'll ask you to shine the way forward.

Because... Sephiroth... they're not gonna listen to me if I ask it of them. I'm just a derpy autistic noodle with an overly wiggly skeleton, running around in a marginalized body with a voice that no one takes seriously. They'll listen to you, though. They'll listen to you, because... as sad as it is, your fictional life is worth more in the eyes of the people who live on my planet than my real one.

Well. Suppose that's all I've got running around up in my head, at least for now. Suppose I'll stop writing in favor of getting my tired and worried ass to bed.

I love you a whole lot. So please stay safe out there as you do your things. I'll do my best to trust that you will, okay? So do your best to trust that I'll do everything I can to keep myself afloat over here, too.

I'll write again soon.

Your friend, Lumine

[smallraindrops-blog]

I started watching Dungeon meshi a few days ago (and I started the manga), and Hades 2 reawakened my fixation on the games.

(Potential spoilers for Dungeon meshi?)

So seeing the Fanart of Hades characters as Dungeon meshi characters has me gnawing on my enclosure. Falin Hypnos, my beloved.

That's said I keep thinking of an au for WMFTD where Y/n is in Falins' role and Hypnos is in Marcille.

All this boils down to dragon Y/n and necromancer Hypnos being even more obsessed devoted and in love with one another. :) (You brought me back even though the ones we love most told you not to, I came back wrong, but I know I still love you. You did the unthinkable, and now I am forever indebted to you. You are mine, and I am yours.)

As for the other characters, I think Zagreus would be Laois (brotherly bond and instead of food, his thing would be filling Achilles codex and fishing), while not fulling matching characters I think Thanatos would be in Chilchuck role, and for Senshi... I'm not sure. You could put Meg there not because she necessarily fits as Senshi but to keep her with Zagreus and Thanatos, a knight, maybe? I was thinking of putting Achilles in Senshi's place because it just seems fitting. (And the Angst potential)

But aaa, that's all for rambling. I hope you enjoyed it and have a good day!

I enjoyed your rambling! ^-^ also on mobile. sorry for mistakes.

Putting my reply under a readmore.

But yes I love that line between devotion and obsession because that line might be thinner than love/hate. Also don’t cross that stuff out! That is the goooood shit. 🤌

As for the role for people to play:

Zagreus

Zagreus as Laois fits really well, methinks. It works bc part of the reasons Zag left the house was because he felt like he didn’t fit in.

I think with Y/N getting nom on and leaving Zagreus behind would only increase that feeling of isolation for him.

especially if the others kinda blame him for what happened. ( also maybe the dragon could be a hydra? so in place of feathers, y/n ends up with those horns things? And fangs? )

Maybe Achilles’ codex could still be greek monsters along greek gods and Zagreus having his own personal one for all the different kinds of fishes and the many ways to cook them.

If it was up to Zagreus, they would eat fishes for every meal. The others veto it very quickly.

Thanatos

I actually he would be a great fit for the chilchuck role. Both of them would much rather keep work and personal life separate.

also while Thanatos can fight and fairly well, he is not a skilled/trained combatant like Meg or Y/N would be.

so letting him have a role where he focuses on overall safety and solving puzzles would really let his natural skills shine.

also since y/n isn’t a healer, it would help Hypnos to have someone who also has the skills and patience needed for healing spells.

also I think the fights between Zagreus and him about not being reckless and learning to trust the eachother could be interesting.

Megaera

She could fill in for the Namari/Shuro role. She just didn’t leave the group since she had personal reasons to want to stay ( but it could be interesting if she did leave after Y/N became a sandwich bc the whole episode with her was one of my favorite)

especially if she ends up getting her sisters to help find y/n

it would also help bc while Zagreus is learning how to fight, the lost of skills and knowledge of combat after Y/N got nibble on would be huge blow to the group.

It also possible she felt some guilt for what happened to y/n as well but still blames Zag which could have some fun tension/fights.

As for the senshi’s role, I love the idea of it being achilles, but if I may suggest another character, I think Dusa would be a good fit for the role.

She already shown to be super helpful and has skill in domestic tasks along with being an outcast. Like the group find her and she ends up helping out by showing Zagreus how to de-bone and cook the many different fishes. Along with dealing various monster and gods since she lived in the dungeon for so long.

She would also be a friend of Zagreus while being a neutral third party, something the group desperately needs.

Achilles just wouldn’t be able to stay calm or listen if he lost his son. He would likely get everyone killed along with himself before saving Y/N. Especially if Pat is no longer in the picture.

So maybe…

Tall man Pat and Achilles adopted little Y/N, who might have elf or something else in him but no one knows for sure. As y/n get a little older, his parents began working in the dungeon together, leaving him with Persephone and baby zag. Y/n would start studying fighting skills so he could join his parents sooner.

Something happened, monster or demon and it left Y/n alone with baby Zag, hiding until his parents found them.

So Patroclus and Achilles takes Zag in and they grow up as brothers.

Somethings happened to Patroclus and Achilles, the only thing found of them were ruined gear along with Achilles’ bloody and torn codex. maybe that was part of the reasons the brothers decided to go down there. To try get some answers.

I think hypnos would be unsure at first but seeing the deep pain Y/N’s eyes would make him agree. Also only because hypnos totally thought Y/N as a great friend, nothing more. Nope. He definitely doesn’t get jealous when he caught Meg staring at Y/N a few times.

and he totally doesn’t cozy up to y/n whenever he got cold in the dungeon. Or share more snacks with y/n or fuss over Y/N more when he is doing the healing magic.

They formed the group and everything seemed to be going well.

Then y/n became an ‘all you can eat special’ and the journey began.

And like Hypnos might be going a little crazy bc he just lost his best friend, someone he knew as a boy then as a man and he just really wanted his best friend back. That was all.

Then they finally got y/n back and hypnos knew he was being clingy but y/n didn’t to mind, even letting hypnos hold on to him for far longer than appropriate and hypnos just didn’t want to let go. Maybe they share quiet, gentle kisses when alone together, promising to talk more when they got out of the dungeon.

Then shit goes sideway.

Hydra!y/n is huge, powerful, quick moving and terrifying. With dozens of little hydra following him around. ( kinda like the harpies kinda did with Falin.)

But he seemed to recognize Hypnos, he touched Hypnos’ chin like he did before they shared those kisses. And he was able to say Zagreus’ name.

Also lol imagine poor hypnos during that shirt ripping part with y/n.

So Hypnos can totally bring Y/N back to normal. Totally. He is not crying thank you very much. No, he didn’t want a tissue, Dusa but thank you.

And yeah lol. Thanks for letting me ramble lol.

[katagawajr]

10 Characters | 10 Fandoms | 10 Tags!

(tagged by @babeoffrontiers thank you!!! 🫶)

i think other than the number one spot, none of these are in any particular order. but yes let's begin.

Caleb Widogast (Critical Role). undisputed favorite character in any piece of media, he’s my entire world. literally a perfect narrative story, an emotional character exploration of grief and found family and time itself. profoundly sad man but also filled with so much silly sweetness that makes the sadness even MORE painful. he's a friend, he's a lover, he's a pining man, he's of the empire but not a friend to the empire. he's MY boy, he's a magic man, he's trying to be the man his parents believed he could be. i can cry (and have cried) about him for hours on end but i’m not making this list any longer. ("hi caleb... how are you doing today?" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH)

Gale Dekarios (Baldur’s Gate 3). omg another sad wizard? sorry i have a type. wyll also belongs on this list but i’m hopelessly drawn to gale so i have to pick him. mama’s boy? cat dad? big wet eyes, a little suicidal and extremely devoted? i don’t know that i’ve clutched my heart harder than when i saw his act 2 romance scene for the first time. i think it also just pulls at my heartstrings that his relationship with tav is so showing of his kindness regardless of whether or not you romance him. even platonic gale is so ;-;

Ann Takamaki (Persona 5). i fought about putting yusuke or ryuji or even zenkichi but this spot has to go to ann because she's just so. perfect. the first arc of p5 is the BEST hands down and she's literally one of the biggest reasons why. the writers end up ruining her but the way she grows even in that first arc... her confidant scene with the line "i'm just a lonely, scared girl..." BREAKS ME. she's a treasure, she's strong and kind and wants to be a light for others while not giving up on the things that make her 'girly.' and her love for ryuji as best friends is one of my favorite dynamics ever.

Artemis (Hades). i love artemis in general, i grew an attachment during my greek mythology kid phase and never let go so i'm obsessed with every iteration of her in media. but artemis in hades has my favorite visual design in the game combined with her quiet sweetness :') and her willingness to have a family bond with zagreus because she's also an outcast who's overwhelmed by her other family members. and then to be a total badass of a goddess, ugh love her.

Katagawa Jr. (Borderlands). okay this one is funny because i honestly love katagawa as an OC more than canon... like canon treated him pretty badly and if it was based on that alone then august tftbl would be in this spot. but the POTENTIAL... ohhh the potential... youngest son born into the highest echelon of one of the most powerful companies in the galaxy, but to CEO parents who see them only as property?? and puts barcodes on the back of their necks?? and katagawa jr being the desperately lonely, attention-seeking son? don't get me started on him and naoko... genuinely my OC now. i took him from canon.

Julian Devorak (The Arcana). this one always embarrasses me to talk about because it's like a romance visual novel game. so let's make it quick. but julian is unironically such a good character, i'm a sucker for the way he loves his little sister more than anything in the world. also for being a silly pirate plague doctor who wants to help people, blames himself for a past he can't even remember, and trips over his own heels being so madly in love. the outfit and eyepatch too, 10/10.

Crona Gorgon (Soul Eater). the definition of 'nonbinary baby' LMAO- but seriously, i instantly fell in love with their design when i first watched. one of the best ever, including ragnarok's design being a part of them. being so powerful but so pained, just such a sad soul and it's so interesting to watch them on screen. i love a character that seems silly and awkward and then also can turn very scary/cool. brief shoutout to stein though, i almost put him on here instead because his design and fighting style are just peak >>

Mad Maggie (Apex Legends). my first ever apex love was horizon, but idk when maggie came out i just fell in love with her personality? she's SO funny to me. i also love her and fuse's backstory, and i think her tough attitude but capability of being kinda sweet as well is cute (although i genuinely just adore her as a mean character too. let women be meaner. she's funny and hot about it). her kit is also very fun even though i'm bad with it, i love riot drilling halfway across the map when i play her. her voice is 10/10 and even her theme music is banger.

Undyne (Undertale). undertale still has one of the greatest narratives in all of gaming history and i will die happily on that hill. sorry. undyne was always my girl, her being the badass knight (that everyone assumes is some scary guy), her theme music is still one of THE best video game songs ever. her design is amazing, finding out that she's papyrus's friend and that she's in love with alphys, her backstory with asgore. all amazing character beats. and that's not even mentioning the genocide run... "for the sake of the whole world... I, UNDYNE, WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN." ugh.

Prince Canute (Vinland Saga). gah i haven't even watched season 2 yet because i'm terribly behind. BUT. oh my god, i think canute's monologue in the snow in season 1 actually fundamentally changed my brain???? and the way that i think??? like i felt something crack within me. i actually gave a talk about that exact scene in an animation class i had once. anyways i loved watching him on screen and watching him change... watching him be so sad... not to mention his design is just very very pretty. can't wait to see my best friend canute in s2 i'm sure nothing bad will happen right.

tagging: @magnuficentwo @aliensmoothie and anyone else who wants to do it if you feel like it, no obligation :) i'm bad at the tagging part of tag games sorry!

[doodlingwren]

Eheheh yes!!! Yes!!!

Since you've posted the ✨lore✨I add here my impressions + some stuff I thought while reading the rambles since somehow my mind wandered off and started making theories. Some are questions for the worldbuilding bc I’m curious, some others are just chit chat.

Probably I need to update my knowledge a lil bit of the Pokémon Universe, but this is a start (haven’t checked much for this franchise after the Sun and Moon games).

Since Sanctuary is a region does it mean that the marine world is also part of it or it’s a completely different plase (same question for the Underworld)?

Like while I was reading, I imagined it as some sort of ancient underwater ruins on the coast but still in this region or somewhere in a small archipelago not so far, the mainland (still underwater). So, the main PC has to move around and explore, before learning of its existence.

Same for the Hades Arc that is… well… the Underworld. My best guess would be to put it somewhere underground since at one point my mind remembered of the Underground City of Naples. To explain it, there’s the city but you can get in this great network of tunnels, cavities that sort of follow the city on the surface, some parts are actually living spaces while others are actually catacombs (edgy vibe). It's a city under the city.

I don't know if you've already some ideas for the Shoko Route, but the first thing that came in my mind was for Katya to do the Silver-esque rival. From what I can recall from the manga, she and other 2 silver saints were sent to capture Saori. Can be linked or not to the Sanctuary’s League Corruption problem (Katya works for the Sanc. Then has some regrets or change of heart and change sides) but if you ever need to have a Ikki for the route, here you go.

For the other Saintias, I don’t know, since they never had anything, rivalry related like Seiya’s group had in the Galaxian Wars Arc? Mostly bc Shoko’s main goal is to save her sister and not to fight against the fake Pope like it was for the Bronze Saints (yeah in the manga there’s also the Saga moment but there’s all the Ares plot so uhm I don’t know if you want to do something with that). Maybe Mii, who is Saori’s personal maid can be the first friendly-rival with the excuse of wanting to test Shoko’s skills and determination to serve Athena?

I don't know why I got so interested in the Shoko Route, probably bc I really really liked the manga.

Regarding the BIG EVIL! Organizations ft. Poseidon and Hades, there isn’t really a lot to say here but just to be sure, those two already existed at the ND time and have always been pointed as scapegoat to draw attention away from the corruption problem or it’s something made up by the Elite Four for the occasion?

I picture in my head that the administration for the Sanc. League has always been problematic (the chairman position is often empty, or it passes a lot of time between a leader and another one, so in the meantime there’s a substitute so more problems with it as well etc.) but after Saga’s involvement and activities the whole thing just got so much worse they really needed somebody to blame for the general instability.

I haven’t watched Omega yet so there’s not a lot I can say with. I know I should be adding my silly comment on it but y'all have to wait until I have seen with my two globes of sight the Series U_U

At this point I’ve wrote enough. Time to get to the random comments section of the wall text where I write the stuff my mind thought while reading.

MU HAS A SWABLU OMG AND HE CARRIES LOVE LETTERS OMG

Deathmask is a lil loser 💖 I also misread this part and thought actually owned the casino (which can help explain why some people connected to Saga’s got a place in the Elite4)?

Shaka’s as a professional broadcaster needs a fanart. Does he help Saga’s with hiding the real situation of the Sanc. League as well or he just shoves it off (like he doesn’t talk abt it or, at least in public shows to have a neutral/positive opinion of it)?

Old man yaoi

Last thing, I can guess (?) that each Saint lives in a different city in the Region and the PC has to go to all of them in a precise order (zodiac wise) to get the badges. Like, you can’t go in Shaka’s city or asking him to battle you without first having obtained Aiolia’s badge (?).

Okay, so uhm. That was my opinion I got after getting the ✨lore✨do what you want with it 😂

StS x Pokemon AU brainstorming stuff

Now I'll have to publicly share some flow of thoughts rambles, I've been accumulating for an year now.

Bless @ectogusher for listening to my rambles, and @doodlingwren for busting my door open to finally share what I got.

Excuse me as I talk in my notes as if these things were like a guide/romhack shit

All under read more bc it gets long c:

Here's the main skeleton of this whole deal-

Sanctuary = Its own region. No new fakemons, but it's a sizeable piece of land that has gathered up a wide variety of various species found across the globe. This worldwide thing also influences the type of trainers and people from all over the world going there. If we were to touch on the subject of game mechanics: There would be most of them (Mega evolutions, terastalise, Dynamax even Paradox pokemon forms) further showing how mysterious and mythical this region is.

PC - Seiya / Shoko Rivals - Seiya -> The other bronze boys / Shoko ->The other saintias

With Ikki being the Silver-esque type of rival, meanwhile Shiryu/Hyoga/Shun all follow the same line of friendly rival archetype. I still haven't thought that far on the Shoko route.

Other prominent NPCs:

Professor Shion: Former gym leader, he was once offered the champion title but refused it. Claiming that his passion was in research and studies, rather than the battlefield. Due to stepping down from battles, his friendship/relationship with Dohko has strained over time. Shion is the one who brought Mu to Sanctuary down the line.

Schoolkid Kiki: Catching Tutorial NPC. He can be usually found at the Pokemon School in Mu's city. He will inherit Mu's mantle down the line. The pokemon he uses in the tutorial is a Noibat;

League Chairwoman Saori Kido - With Julien Solo and Hades coming in as other seemingly "investors" on the project

Gym leaders: Most of these guys' aces aren't fully evolved, bc they chose to keep them like that. Yadda yadda friendship boosting their favorites.

Mu: Sinnoh - Dragon - Dragonair

Aldebaran: Hoenn - Ground - Rhydon

Saga/Kanon: Alola - Water - Gyarados (Saga)/Kingdra (Kanon)

Deathmask: Kalos - Dark - Murkrow

Aiolia: Sanctuary (native) - Electric - Electabuzz

Shaka: Kanto - Psychic - Alakazam

Dohko: Johto - Fighting - Mienshao

Milo: Unova - Bug - Volcarona

Elite fours:

Aiolos: Sanctuary - Fire - Charizard

Shura: Galar - Steel - Metagross

Camus: Sinnoh - Ice - ? (Either Froslass or Glaceon)

Aphrodite: Paldea - Poison - Roserade

Champion - ??? (the plot twist is that: the PC wouldn't fight the 3rd gym leader, bc Saga was pretending to be the champion. When he really wasn't chosen or appointed to that position)

Evil organisations: They definetely do exist, and they are obviously tied to the aforementioned Julien and Hades figures. But I still haven't thought that far.

Worldbuilding notes:

Muvians are similar to draconids (introduced in ORAS), a small tribe that originates from Sinnoh and has some deep connections and bonds to dragon types. Which means, any muvian = dragon type specialist or in the very least owns one. Muvians are also meant to have a foot in aura sensitivity (see characters like Lucario, Riley, etc.);

Sanctuary's League has a rampant corruption problem, as seen by what I mentioned about Saga. The two evil organisations are basically being pitched against one another, as smokescreen for the real problem. Their current champ is this sort of "elusive" figure. There hasn't been a proper champion in a long time. And yet, according to paperwork and the system, it states that the role is currently filled by someone. Anyone that isn't tied to Saga's schemes is left in the shadows, even those that allegedly should be the closest to him (Aiolos for SURE has no clue of what's going on. He's probably hiding or declared missing in action during the events, and only shows up when the time comes to challenge the E4).

There's a small timeline:

ND folks (a good few years into the past) -> Classic folks -> Omega folks (+20 years into the future)

In ND's setting we see how odd and hapharzadly the League was instated in the region. Which sets up the perfect grounds for Saga to exploit down the line;

Shion and Dohko are recently turned gym leader here. Mu comes onto the picture a good few years after ND's events; In a way, since Tenma would be the PC here and Alone his rival. It could be the Red vs Blue type of ordeal.

In Omega we'd see how the League is trying to remedy its reputation & amend for Saga's schemes, with an entirely new set of gym leaders and League members. + Former league members can still be found and fought in the post game, Silver/Gold style.

Individual notes:

Mu - Obligatory pokemon Aldemu food

Mu used to own a Gible and Alde once owned a Trapinch, at some point they traded pokemon. So now, Alde has a Garchomp in his personal team and Mu has a Flygon;

Mu's battle team against young trainers has a Swablu, which is used as a messenger to carry mail exchanges between him and Alde;

Mu LOVES pokemon dolls and has a huge collection of it. In the post-game: PC can find Mu and Alde on a date at the region's big mall, with them looking at a shop's display window. Mu gets mad at PC for ruining his date, but would give out his pokegear number;

Aldebaran -

Aldebaran gym's city is also where the pokemon day-care can be found. He may not run it, but he often helps out the elderly couple currently in charge of it;

In the post-game: After adding Mu's re-match call number. Alde can ba found on the route between his and Mu's towns, he was on his way to take a meal for him, and he also shares with PC that they bought the doll in the end

Saga/Kanon -

PC doesn't really get to fight for the 3rd gym badge. Rather, it's simply handed out by Kanon, who approaches them to talk about how the leader hasn't been seen in so long;

Saga's "fall from grace" comes from a humiliating match against Aiolos, originally fighting for the E4 member promotion which he lost. Despite the clear type advantage;

It's left implied that these two were meant to be gym leaders, the matches would have been double battles.

Deathmask -

DM gym's city houses a Game corner (Casino) and a contest hall. First sighting of an E4 member is Aphrodite, who introduces PC to them;

DM is a sore loser AND has no qualms with cheating against his challengers, if it means he gets to maintain his "streak". In the battle against PC he would use an overleveled Crawdaunt;

In the post-game: PC will get a hint from Shaka's radio talkshow mentioning DM's whereabouts, in the city's underground game corner;

DM's strength is everything philosophy = DM's entire personal team consists of very strong dark types with some form of 4x weakness;

DM is well in kahoots with Saga's schemes;

Aiolia - TBA I haven't thought anything for him c':

Shaka -

Shaka gym's city is meant to be the largest and the most advanced one (Saffron and Goldenrod cities style), it has the region's largest shop for expensive and important items. It also has a radio tower, which broadcasts various programs (professor talk, loterry ticket, poke flute, etc), Shaka hosts a talk show where he commentates on PC's progress, all while actively putting down/poking fun at his defeated colleagues. Under specific time slots, he will have a guest join him, which will be an exchange between the various league's members. But the most important one is where he will be joined by the region's "champion";

Shaka is a fan-favorite across several trainers in the region, with many NPCs commentating how much they love tuning in to hear him talk & so on;

Shaka is also well known for his psychci prowess (Sabrina style);

Shaka is also deeply involved in Saga's schemes;

Dohko -

Dohko gym's city also houses the pokéathlon. With Dohko going undefeated in all the challenges, until PC comes along;

Post-game: to get Dohko's number for rematches. PC has to visit Shion after obtaining a certain number of species then, take a mail key item to Dohko. And THEN they get Dohko's number. it's a love letter, an invitation for some tea at noon

Milo - TBA I haven't thought anything for him c':

And "unfortunately", that's all I got x)

I suppose this is a lot better than trying to find all my notes scattered around all over the place. Hope it makes sense or that in the very least, it's fun to read through.

RN I focused on the classic folks bc it's the one I've been working and thinking of for the longest time.

[winns-stuff]

LO RANT:

I didn’t like this chapter. I’m sorry but there’s nothing Hades can say to excuse his behavior, there was no apology or anything it was just him saying “oh my trauma was so bad that I decided to be a fucked up human being just because of that.” I’ve never been so angry in my life because I know there’s gonna be so many people angry and upset at Thanatos and justifying this absolute steaming hot bullshit. I’m so sick of having to sit through Hades getting out on such an untouchable level while his victims are treated like dog shit. Listen, you could sit up here and say “winnie it’s a comic it’s not going to affect anything” but I don’t like how this is looking you guys, a lot of people in this fandom has this weird victim blaming mentality except when it’s someone they like. I don’t like how this comic rewards you for being a hypocrite and blaming people for the way that others treat them just because it’s their faves, too many people in the world do this already. Because it’s their favorite artist or painter or writer or anything they’ll let them do anything to anyone no matter what.

But on a more lighter note I just don’t like how it didn’t feel like a big deal.. Thanatos was finally being listened to by Hades but Hades took up the whole conversation. Once again it’s about his trauma, his backstory, his childhood. He does this shit every fucking chapter I’m so sick and tired of hearing about him.. I’m so completely tired of him always having the spotlight, he does this shit with Persephone too! Like I don’t like how Thanatos has been overlooked, ignored, disrespected, neglected, and mistreated for so long and the one fucking time we have with him finally being heard and he gets the same treatment he’s always been getting. I feel like this could’ve really been his arc, like for once he stood up for himself and expressed his anger at Hades because he deserves to so much. Not only that but I’ll be real with you, I have a feeling that Rachel made Thanatos forgive Hades so easily just to keep Hades in a “good guy” light. I’m sick of that too, I just wish she had him actually do something good guy worthy for once bro, like how hard is it for Hades just to want to do some good things not for himself obviously if it takes all the characters bending over backwards and feeding him more lies about how great he is then he’s not that fucking great.

Also, I just don’t like Daphne. At first in the beginning I thought this was pretty nice (their relationship) and I was really happy for Thanatos because I really thought he’d have someone who would really be there for him. By now looking back I was wrong as hell, Minthe did a better job with their relationship than Daphne did I’m sorry I’m not even being biased but it’s kinda true. I don’t like how Daphne is basically just there to “fix” Thanatos, it’s obvious she doesn’t see him as adequate or even capable enough to do anything and it’s so annoying, like why are the women in this comic (in relationships it seems) there to “fix” the men?? there’s literally nothing wrong with them damn, they just need someone to be there why does that demean them as broken or wrong. I especially hate that Daphne just ignores all of Thanatos’ boundaries and does what she thinks is right for him, that’s so incredibly insensitive on her part. Your boyfriend obviously told you that he doesn’t want to see a certain someone who literally banished him and neglected him half of his childhood and you still let him in?? Who the hell does that shit?

Anyways, the next thing I wanna add is that I just absolutely hate that Hades didn’t even put in any effort. Like are you serious?? Half his life you treated him like a game inventory and you ignored and neglected this CHILD who was abandoned by his mother and your resolution to that was to invite him to one brunch.. Are you fucking serious?? It’s not even a brunch with only him and Thanatos it’s with his brothers too so he won’t even get one on one time with him. Like why is everyone cool with Hades doing that? He’s not even trying to put in effort to show up STILL even after hearing Thanatos out. I’d love for them to at least play golf or something, let Hades ask what Thanatos wants to do, give him a raise, apologize maybe??, bond over fucking gossip I don’t know, let him in on what you want to do with the underworld, do something with him that’s just you and him. Think about it wingnut that’s literally all he’s ever wanted from you, your time and attention. Asshole, like honestly that’s so fucked up I bet that’s the only fucking brunch he’ll be invited to too.

Last thing maybe because this has to be the most pissed I’ve ever been because of a damn chapter in LO yes it’s because Thanatos is involved. My thing is that Hades character flaw, one of many of course, is that he’s infertile and the whole purpose of emphasizing how much his fathers issues affected his life and how much he wants kids it to have one of the climaxes “fixing” his infertility. Me personally, I think the whole thing is pretty fucked up and insensitive, people who are infertile do not need to be fixed they’re regular human beings and they’re fine just the way they are. But my problem is that I hate how he wanted children so badly and when Thanatos was brought into the picture he completely backed off because he felt like it was too difficult, listen I understand the trauma believe me I don’t have the best parents and I worry everyday that if I ever have children I’ll transform into one or even both of them but never will I ever make a child suffer because of that, the child is innocent just like I am and they don’t deserve to be neglected because of my issues. At some point you have to realize that you’re trying so hard not to become your parents that you end up becoming them, you hurt a child and scarred them for life because you were scared and you made that child exactly like you. Listen, I would’ve forgave Hades for this if he didn’t dream about fucking children in his possessed dream or whatever, this is telling us that he still wants to be a father but only to his biological kids. He stopped trying with Thanatos because he was “rude” and “difficult”, newsflash asshole that’s how children are especially when they just got ABANDONED by their own mother and stuck with a stranger to care for them. Like he put no effort into trying to actually do anything fatherly for Thanatos but had the nerve to still want kids of his own, what do you think is going to happen with yours?? It’ll be the same thing. Children are emotional beings they won’t be pleasant all the time and just because they give you a response you don’t like doesn’t mean that it’s okay to just up and stop trying. That’s so stupid, and he doesn’t try and go to therapy for this particular issue or find some advice from people who actually have children he tries nothing he just complains and never tries to make any effort, and Thanatos deserved effort and his future kids deserve them too. You’re supposed to work to not become your parents not just sit there and let your kids experience the worst version of yourself, you know how that feels so why would you do it to someone else?

Anyways, yeah I’ll do the thing later but that’s it’s. I’m just so angry and annoyed it’s unbelievable.

[astaroth1357]

More undateables with a demigod hades mc???

By request, have yourself a part two!! 

Demigod MC Series: Hades Pt. 2 (Un)Dateables Edition!

I will ask that y’all please don't ask for continuations of other gods unless I say it’s okay to do again. This series already fills my inbox something fierce and this is a one-off that I allowed for during the request window.  If I have to make ideas for new gods while continuing a bunch of old MCs, it'll burn me out fast...

Demigod MC Series: Intro, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hades, Dionysus, Demeter, Athena, Hades Pt. 2

Diavolo

Oh, he has no problem at all hosting a child of the Underworld, hell he even throws them a welcome banquet when he finds out! Hades is a dear friend - and practically a parental figure to him growing up - so he's more than happy to take in one of his children for a year.

Diavolo is actually one of the few people that the MC can talk to about their home with any kind of fondness. Usually when they bring up things like the comforting wailing of the River Coctyus, the brothers will give them weird looks... but Diavolo knows where they're coming from!

He spent numerous summers in the Underworld growing up doing things like pestering Charon on the River Styx or playing games with Cerberus (the other one) in the Asphodel Meadows... His beach house is actually modeled after his childhood summer home in the Isles of Paradise! Really, it can be a lovely place if the gloom doesn't bother you!

So in the spirit of his fond memories, Diavolo really tried to make their time in the Devildom a fun one!... in his maybe trying a little too hard way…  

Poor MC found themselves offered pretty much everything under the moon… Tickets or exclusive passes to different cultural events/festivals, invitations to gala events, and tours of nearly every inch of Hell by the Prince himself - it was… it was a lot for the poor introverted thing…

It didn’t help that Diavolo would have a hard time gauging if they were having any fun due to their naturally melancholic nature, which only pushed him to try harder… He means well, he does. He’s just not the most in touch with what would make an anti-social doom child happy...

It took Barbatos and Lucifer stepping in for the mortal to actually start getting some much needed space and that improved their experience significantly. Sometimes less is more, Dia… Less is more. But they appreciate his efforts anyway.

Barbatos 

Also has a pretty amicable relationship with the Ruler of the Underworld, though his is much more professional compared to Diavolo’s. He actually has a good deal of appreciation for the man for taking good care of the Prince during his visits, so he sees this as an opportunity to return the favor.

Like Diavolo, he’s rather focused on making sure the MC is having a good stay in the Devildom, but he’s much more subtle about it. He’ll come by the House often to check up on them and make sure everything is to their liking... 

Even the brothers notice that he treats them like anothering visiting Lord/Lady in that way, which he would argue they very much are and should be respected as one. It’s the least the Devildom can offer their father at this point.

His visits may also be an excuse for keeping an eye on the brothers to make sure they don’t do anything to inconvenience their “young guest…” To be honest, the entire House is a little paranoid about that… Nobody wants to know the punishment for hurting MC if Barbs is the one dishing it out...

Apart from watching out for them, Barbatos tries to encourage the MC to accept the Young Lord’s gifts (while also actively advising Diavolo to go easier on them at the same time). It would be so disheartening to him if his Prince feels like he hasn’t offered them the best experience that he could… He’s sure they understand.

Any time that he invites the MC to tea, they usually end up talking about their father in some way. Barbs knows a surprising amount about the god… He’s been around about as long as Chronos - preceding the birth of Aether and Chaos themselves - so he has some stories to tell.

The MC did once ask him why he doesn’t just run everything if he’s really been around for so long... his answer was: “Kings and their kingdoms will rise and fall… Worlds upon worlds are born, then cease to be. But time is what brings about all changes… So, I think I’m perfectly content with the power I possess. Wouldn’t you be?” 

Annnd they never asked Barbs another question like that again… and people think death is scary… 

Simeon 

He was honestly a little worried for their new companion for quite a while… It’s not like there’s never any sadness in the Celestial Realm or anything, but they seem to have something else entirely…

He’s heard stories about the Underworld. He’s never been himself, that’s usually a job for the Seraphim due to the… dreary nature of the place - but he’s heard it would make the Devildom look downright festive…

If he were being honest, he had half expected the MC to be obsessed with skeletons, ghosts, and other elements of darkness but that wasn’t the case. They certainly knew a lot about those things, but they appeared to have a healthy interest in the afterlife in general, so they asked him a lot of questions about the Celestial Realm, angels, and how the souls of the blessed are treated up there… It was surprising to say the least.

Of course he did the same and, frankly, Simeon found it incredibly wasteful that so many Greek followers find themselves just wasting away in a field of nothing for so long… but that’s neither here nor there.

He was also surprised by how gentle of an influence the MC ended up being on Luke as well. He had always suspected that the little angel just needed a bridge between him and Devildom to start finding appreciation for it, and the MC fit that bill perfectly - nothing he was used to, but still approachable enough to make everything less frightening. He thanks them a great deal for that… but...

It’s just that… Well they’re just so… depressing sometimes…! He doesn’t want to blame them because it hardly seems like their fault! They’re a very kind person, it’s just an atmosphere around them… It brings him to tears if he isn’t careful…

He’s invited the MC to Purgatory Hall on multiple occasions to chat and try to make them smile… When they do, the gloom is dispelled - even just a little - and they’re a truly beautiful creature regardless. It’s just so unfortunate that their life brings so much sadness...

Even so, he actually likes the MC enough to consider basing a character on them if he ever wrote another book. Something about a gloomy but sweet protagonist at home in a world of darkness sounds appealing… doesn’t it?

Luke

He didn’t know how to feel about the MC when they met. At first, he actually thought they were just as unhappy as he was to be there due to how depressed they looked but when they told him that wasn't true, he was really confused...

The Devildom is a dark, brutish, and dangerous place. Why would anyone feel at home down here??

But… well… He would spend time with them at RAD between breaks (partially to help scare off their many, many demonic suitors) and it might be weird to say, but they really made the Devildom look beautiful… literally.

The world just looks better when they’re around! It’s really hard to describe because it’s not something you notice much until they leave, but when the MC is around everything looks more vibrant and inviting! The grass gets greener, flowers grow bigger, and butterflies/birds hover around wherever they are like they have their own gravity - the realm loves them!

It started getting hard for Luke to hang onto his disdain for the place when they made it look so appealing… And then they started talking to him about the Underworld and the creatures they’d befriended there… creatures a lot worse than any demons he’d seen there...

Like. If the MC can be good friends with a bunch of rude walking corpses, then he could probably make friends with a demon right? There’s nice ones… kind of… 

Beel. He can make friends with Beel.

Like Simeon, he does feel bad that they seem so sad all the time… but unlike the older angel, he’s a bit more understanding that this is just how they are and enjoys his time with them regardless. (It helps a lot that just being around this little bean of a boy can lift their spirits anyway).

And you know what’s even better for him? When Lord Diavolo gives the MC tickets to things that they don’t want to go to, sometimes they’ll invite him along or give them to him instead! 

He’s gone to the Devil’s Coast with MC and Simeon sooo many times by now and he loves it!! Maybe the Devildom isn’t so bad after all, I mean, it can be a lot of fun when you go to the right places, anyway.

Solomon

Oh, he finds them both deeply fascinating and utterly terrifying - so just his sort of test sub-er, person!

He kids (somewhat), Solomon isn’t that dumb/lacking in self-preservation instinct. Experimenting on a child of death in a land of the dead (even if it’s not their “home turf”) would be asking for trouble. They’d have more than enough ammunition to fight him off and if their father found out? Immortality wouldn’t even begin to save him...

That being said, questions aren’t necessarily experiments… and oh boy, does he have a lot of them.

If the MC isn’t being pestered by Diavolo or the brothers, then they’re probably having to put up with Solomon nipping at their heels trying to get them to use their powers or answer all sorts of “innocent” scientific questions…

“MC, reanimation of Greek dead requires a blood offering, correct? Do you have to sacrifice animals for that process or do you allow them to feast on your own?”

“MC, when you’re controlling a skeleton do you move the body as a whole or do you have to animate each individual bone due to their lack of ligaments?”

“Think fast!! Oh look, you just caught the skull of my good friend, Richard! Could you bring him back from that, or should I fetch the rest of him?” 🙂

They put up with it because, believe it or not, he’s not nearly the weirdest person they’ve ever met (a lot of crazy people drift in and out of the land of the dead…) and well… they’re a pretty lonely person too so it’s not like they have a lot of standards when it comes to friendships anyway.

But the second they breathe a word of this to Barbs or Diavolo, this boy is on his way to a royal restraining order… Where does he even get those skulls…?

[ta-ether]

Something I’ve been thinking about lately is Achilles and Patroclus’ relationship. Not in how it’s presented in any particular property – this isn’t an analysis of how they appear in The Song of Achilles, or Hades – but more how their relationship is in the Iliad.

I guess the thing that’s been in the back of my mind ever since I read the Iliad (god, was it the summer before junior year of high school?) seven or so years ago, is that while Achilles and Patroclus are held up as this wonderfully romantic couple, this often comes at people glossing over certain aspects of their relationship that are complex or ask questions that have hard answers. Namely, the one that’s been niggling at me is the question that if Achilles is supposed to have loved Patroclus so much, why did he let him go out to fight?

The wonderful thing about Homer, the thing I so desperately love about Homer, is that there is such ambiguity to things. Homer seems to deliberately sidestep giving us concrete answers. The Iliad is a poem that thrives on nuance, and that extends to the exact nature of the relationship between these characters.

While Achilles swears early in the Iliad he won’t fight until his dignity is restored, Patroclus has a much softer heart (in addition to not having been wronged by Agamemnon). Patroclus’ arc from Book 1 to the beginning of 16 is watching the effect Achilles’ absence has on the rest of the Acheans. Achilles himself retreats into his ship and sends Patroclus out for news of how the battles are going, meaning it is Patroclus who is privy to the pain being wrought, and it is also Patroclus who Nestor eventually asks to intercede on the Argives’ behalf.

After the Trojans start seizing the Achean’s ships in Book 15, Patroclus finally goes and asks Achilles if he’ll return to the battle, or failing that, if he can go in his place and armor. He runs up and Achilles asks him why he’s crying like a little girl. Patroclus starts by saying “don’t be angry with me,” but then quickly himself becomes angry at Achilles after explaining how all of their friends and allies are wounded and suffering on the battlefield:

“But it’s impossible to deal with you, Achilles. I hope anger like this rage you’re nursing never seizes me. It’s disastrous! How will you be of use to anyone in later generations, if you won’t keep shameful ruin from the Argives? You’re pitiless. Perhaps horseman Peleus was not your father, nor Thetis your mother— the grey sea delivered you, some tall cliff, for you’ve an unyielding heart.”

He finishes by putting forth Nestor’s suggestion that if Achilles won’t rejoin the fight, he should. “I could be a saving light for the Danaans,” he says. Achilles responds that since the Trojans have come to the ships, he will allow Patroclus to go out in his armor. Now, this is where, famously, Achilles tells him not to go press past the ships:

“Now, pay attention to what I tell you about the goal I have in mind for you, so you’ll win me great honour and rewards, so all Danaans will send back to me that lovely girl and give fine gifts as well. Once you push Trojans from the ships, come back. If Zeus, Hera’s mate, who loves his thunder, gives you the glory, don’t keep on battling those war-loving Trojans with me absent. You would decrease my honours.”

While Achilles is undoubtedly worried about Patroclus’ safety, he mentions his desire for the honor and rewards that his “returning” to battle would bring him. He also brings up (before he says Apollo might make an attempt on Patroclus’ life) that the reason he wants Patroclus to retreat is that it would decrease his own honors. You can chalk this focus on the honor he may or may not receive to many different things, the most charitable of which is that Achilles isn’t taking this very seriously, and perhaps neither is Patroclus. This is backed up by Patroclus’ flippant approach on the battlefield:

“Well now, there’s an agile man! What a graceful diver! […] I suppose these Trojans must have acrobats as well.”

The point still remains that for all the love that Achilles has for Patroclus, his first instinct – like it has been for the entirety of the Iliad to this point – is concern about his own pride and honor, not the safety of his closest friend or fellow Argives. War takes, but Achilles was more focused on what it gives, and then it took his closest companion.

While Patroclus has more of an idea of the horrors of what the Achaeans have been going through in recent books – specifically Book 11 – he still hasn’t been on the field of battle since before the Iliad started. Patroclus pushes on beyond the ships because of his desire to fight and his own refusal to stop, and it is for this reason he is killed by Hector and Apollo. The narrative remarks:

“How blind he was, poor fool! If he’d done what the son of Peleus had told him, he’d have missed his evil fate, his own dark death.”

We learn later from Patroclus’ ghost in Book 23 that one of his flaws, perhaps his greatest and deadliest, is that he can become blinded by passion and lose reason.

“I killed Amphidamas’ son, in my foolishness. I didn’t mean to, but I was enraged over some game of dice.”

The narrative and Patroclus himself admits that if he’d taken a moment to consider, to think rationally, he wouldn’t have felt the need to continue fighting the Trojans, or to kill Amphidames’ son. The thrill of war and perhaps his own desire for honors hid this from him, and this in effect kills him.

As I alluded to earlier, this isn’t something I think many people touch on when thinking about Achilles and Patroclus’ relationship: the idea that ultimately, it was perhaps Achilles who killed Patroclus – or at the very least, lead to his death. The Iliad does start like this, after all:

“Sing, Goddess, sing the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus— that murderous anger which condemned Achaeans to countless agonies and threw many warrior souls deep into Hades, leaving their dead bodies carrion food for dogs and birds— all in fulfilment of the will of Zeus.”

One of those souls sent to Hades was Patroclus. Achilles even acknowledges this in Book 18.

“Then let me die, since I could not prevent the death of my companion. He’s fallen far from his homeland. He needed me there to protect him from destruction.”

Patroclus’ death isn’t tragic merely because he died, but because the man who loved him could’ve protected him but didn’t, and he knows it. I don’t want to downplay Patroclus’ own hubris’ role in his death or place all the blame on Achilles – merely point out that for all the love Achilles had for Patroclus, he still didn’t go out to fight when asked: first by his friends and allies, and then by his closest companion. He instead lets Patroclus go out in his place. Achilles’ love ultimately wasn’t stronger than his own pride.

This isn’t to say there’s not a deep, meaningful relationship between these two characters. There clearly, textually is. These two people love each other, however that love is interpreted. But they are also deeply flawed people. And, for all his faults, Patroclus knows that about Achilles. He knew that Achilles might put his own pride over the lives of all the Argives, including him, and so he asked if he could go instead. Even Hector knows this, as before he kills him he says:

“You poor wretch, even Achilles, for all his courage, was no use to you. Though he stayed behind, he must have given you strict orders as you left.”

And, for what it’s worth, Patroclus doesn’t say that he blames Achilles, either here in front of Hector, or when he comes to Achilles as a shade in Book 23 (and characters in the Iliad are decently prone to blaming people for their deaths). Ultimately, he seems to accept Achilles, flaws and all, and desires for them to be reunited in death, as does Achilles.

Their relationship isn’t simple and it’s not straightforward, because these characters aren’t simple or straightforward. Achilles both loves Patroclus more than any other Argive including himself, and also loves his own honor and pride over Patroclus. The incapability of these loves directly leads to Patroclus’ death. Patroclus is also more measured and rational than Achilles, and also is clouded to reason, and this incompatibility leads to his death. If the point of the Odyssey is (in part) that the Trojan War caused unnecessary death, then perhaps Patroclus’ death is that in microcosm.

Still, I can’t help but read Achilles and Patroclus’ relationship as one that – to be blunt – failed. They couldn’t make it work, in life at least. If you read it as a sexual-romantic relationship, maybe that’s its own tragedy. I don’t say this to make people angry or even because I necessarily wholly believe it, but more because their relationship is imperfect and should be recognized as such. Personally, I think this relationship, broken but full of love and affection and flaws, is much more compelling than a perfect or unexamined one.

It goes back to why I love the Iliad in the first place: the characters are messy and rather than this detracting from their ability to impact the reader, it only heightens their ability to speak to us. Homer doesn’t provide concrete answers for things, but he doesn’t have to. Everything we need is on the page. Every time you return to the book, the characters show you something new. I noticed a ton of new things about Achilles and Patroclus while writing this, which really only strengthened my belief in the points I made here. The tragedy of Patroclus’ death is, in part, one of how pride hurts those you love the most. The idea that Achilles caused Patroclus’ death is one that shouldn’t go unexamined because it’s perhaps unsavory, because it is in examining it that the true depths of their relationship are brought to light.

There are so many more things I could’ve mentioned: Achilles and Patrolcus’ status as equals, the role the idea of “fate” plays in Patroclus’ death, how the role the gods play in Patroclus’ death effects all this – but I felt that I would let those be for perhaps another time. As it stands now, I feel as though I have (at least personally) answered my initial question. It’s not a simple answer, but it wasn’t a simple question about simple characters in a simple work. And that is both fine and also, in its own way, beautiful.

[salt-hag]

I think part of the problem with the Sisyphus side story/quest that makes it sit Not Right once you read up on mythology is that Sisyphus is just not as well developed as a character?

All of the other characters/side quests have a clearly defined, emotionally compelling goal or motivation. Zagreus wants to help out Orpheus & Eurydice and Achilles & Patroclus because we see them as charming characters who were dealt a cruel hand by fate. They are characters who are suffering, strangely grieving their loved one in the afterlife, a place where you would think grief wouldn’t still be an issue. But both Achilles and Orpheus were also somewhat responsible for their fate or are somewhat flawed!! Orpheus failed to save Eurydice the first time. Achilles is too afraid of how the fates might further fuck with him to “risk it all” - he’s willing to live out his afterlife unhappy if it means (he thinks) that Patroclus is well (his true failure is failing to realize Patroclus would never be happy without him, ugh the romance, the angst).

Whether or not we think Achilles or Orpheus are to blame or if we think they were just dealt bad circumstances, both of them have flaws and are not able to help themselves, both by their position as not being very powerful in the underworld AND due to being stuck in their own despair. This makes them interesting characters - they feel like people. It is so human to be caught in our own despair, and they’re caught in despair out of a deep love for another. We root for them.

Meanwhile, Sisyphus obviously has flaws but the game’s narrative doesn’t allow us to really confront that? Sisyphus doesn’t seem repentant. It seems like Zag and the audience are meant to sympathize with Sisyphus - yeah, megaera is so mean (good at her job). Yeah, Thanatos is so harsh (good at his job of like, taking people who should be dead to the afterlife, ok). This lack of confrontation about Sisyphus’s past is partly, I think, because he’s not a resident of the House of Hades. We don’t get a lounge nectar-drinking scene which is one of the ways characters get to personally share backstory and develop in the game. Instead, Zag/the player are told his backstory secondhand and it isn’t questioned. (If I’m wrong: I’ve seen video clips but haven’t played this yet so feel free to correct me!) But also, Sisyphus seems weirdly content in his lot. This is probably to make his situation as a tortured soul in Tartarus not as disturbing and to make him a helpful NPC, but his connections to get goods and his cheerfulness are jarring once you remember that oh, this asshole killed and tricked a whole bunch of people to get where he is today, including chaining up our best bro/bf Thanatos.

So I get that SGG have this theme of (in my reading of it at least) “these despairing or flawed characters are not irredeemable and with a little help and effort, broken bonds can be mended or put on the right track for healing” in Hades, but the way they set up Sisyphus doesn’t do this theme justice compared to the other side quests/characters, thank you for coming to my ted talk

Tl;dr, Sisyphus and his storyline don’t confront his flaws like the other characters, which is strangely less developed and out of place compared to the other characters.

[mimicutie]

Pit is Autistic - A “Brief” Analysis

Kid Icarus: Uprising is my favorite game of all time, and one thing I love about it is the characterization of Pit. Specifically, I see him as autistic. Of course, this is just a headcanon of mine, but I wanted to write out a little discussion explaining why I see him as such as well as show some of the autistic traits he demonstrates in Uprising (and the occasional reference to the Guidance conversations from Smash).

(fair warning, this is not very brief)

Difficulty Understanding Words and Jokes

It’s made abundantly clear that Pit isn’t the best at picking up sarcasm or jokes. At times, he struggles with understanding words, phrases, and context. Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 11.

Pit: Good! There are survivors! Palutena: They’re a stubborn bunch hanging on like that. [...] Pit: Uh… stubborn? Palutena: Oh, I didn’t mean it like that.

Here, Pit doesn’t understand what Palutena means by “stubborn.” It’s pretty common for autistic people to struggle understanding parts of speech, such as words being used in different contexts than what they’re used to.

Medusa: Hmm… Now this is a little… bizarre. Pit: I know right? The mouth on that guy! I’d never talk like that! Medusa: That’s not what I meant. Palutena: Sorry. He can be a little… thick.

Once again, Pit is misinterpreting the situation. He doesn’t understand what Medusa is alluding to, thinking that she is talking about Dark Pit’s brash behavior. Palutena’s last comment hints that it’s very common for Pit to misunderstand people like this.

Pit: I’m Pit, servant of the goddess Palutena. I’m here to defeat Dark Lord Gaol. Magnus: So you’re here for a slice of the pie too? Pit: Huh? Pie? Where?

Chapter 2 has several examples of Pit not picking up on obvious jokes or idioms, and here’s one. Pit takes the idiom literally, not understanding what Magnus really means at first.

Viridi: Pit certainly is devoted to you, Palutena. Hades: Only because she squeezes his head wreath when he doesn’t follow orders. Palutena: You mean like… THIS?! Pit: No no no no no! You’ll squeeze my brains out! … (sigh) Why do I always fall for that?

In this example from Chapter 15, Palutena is clearly messing with Pit, but as he stated, he always falls for her jokes. Even though it’s clear she is just teasing, Pit can’t pick up on the fact that she isn’t being serious. He consistently struggles with understanding tone.

Pit: This is so annoying. Lady Palutena, help me out here! Palutena: Deploying the Palutena Super Sensor… Pit: I didn’t know you had a super sensor! Palutena: Hee hee. I don’t. You know I like to make stuff up. Pit: I can’t believe you’re messing with me at a time like this!

This dialogue from Chapter 13 is just another example of Palutena clearly joking while Pit does not pick up on it. Even though Palutena has done this time and time again, Pit still struggles to tell when someone, even a person he is incredibly close to like Palutena, is just messing with him. These are just a few examples. Pit commonly struggles with understanding language and tone throughout the game.

Using Words Differently

We can see that Pit has his own unique vocabulary with his own creative phrases like, “Calamaried!” “Re-defeated!” “Pulverazed!” and so on. Pit also makes LOTS of noises throughout the game, all of his “woohoo”s and “woah”s and whatnot. It’s just how he communicates, even if it's a bit particular or different.

Expressiveness

Pit is excitable. Like, really excitable. Sure, he’s a fun video game protagonist, but he’s always very happy-go-lucky and upbeat in a way that reads to me as autistic. Just look at how he jumps in excitement!

And when he gets the Three Sacred Treasure?! Gifs can’t really do the excitement in this scene justice. (link in case tumblr embed isn’t working)

Additionally, while Uprising doesn’t have a lot of cutscenes with Pit just standing around talking, in the ones where he does he is usually very expressive, using his hands to talk and whatnot. Added with his excitability, I feel that this shows us that Pit is so expressive and emotional because he’s autistic!

Extra Help

Pit needs more help with understanding things in comparison to others. Palutena often goes out of her way to guide Pit, whether it be giving him directions or explaining how to defeat an enemy. While Palutena’s advice does work as a guide for the player, it’s clear that Pit needs the help more than someone else his situation might. The clearest proof we have of this comes from Chapter 22.

Palutena: Watch out for that heart-shaped crystal barrier! You see, it’s— Dark Pit: Reflecting my shots back at me, right? Palutena: Well… yes. Dark Pit: I got it, so stop telling me what to do! 

Palutena is expecting Dark Pit to be like Pit, where she needs to explain to him what’s going on and offer her guidance. However, Dark Pit was able to figure out a strategy to defeat Pandora all on his own. Palutena is very aware that Pit needs a bit more help and prepares accordingly for him.

Accidental Rudeness

Many times throughout Uprising, Pit is shown speaking “rudely” towards gods or characters who have authority over him.

Pit: Oh, great! You’re the guy I’m looking for. Listen, I have a favor to ask you. Would you mind if I borrow your chariot for just a little while? Chariot Master: Your foolishness is matched only by your rudeness. How dare you charge in here, flinging unreasonable requests at me? [...] Viridi: You can’t really blame him for being upset. That was kind of rude.

Here, Pit is talking to the Chariot Master very casually, treating him like a friend despite the fact he is breaking into the Chariot Master’s tower and asking him for a precious artifact. Pit doesn’t see it as rude but Viridi and the Chariot Master clearly do. He is breaking an unwritten social norm by talking so casually to someone of high authority. Autistic people often misinterpret social situations or don’t act appropriately, sometimes resulting in “rude” behavior. There are several examples of this throughout the game, such as in Chapter 24…

Pit: You know, the Three Sacred Treasures weren’t exactly durable. Can you please make sure that this new weapon won’t just fall apart? Dyntos: Palutena, you’d be wise to put a muzzle on your chicken.  Palutena: I apologize for him. Again. Pit: I… I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to be rude.

To Pit, he is just stating a fact. However, it comes off to Dyntos as Pit being rude or even insulting his work. This is something that autistic people often do; they are blunt or honest about something, which is again mistaken as being rude.

Pit is also seen being more blunt when under emotional stress, such as in Chapter 20.

Pit: I trusted you because I knew you were on the side of justice, and… and light! But something is blocking that light now. This isn’t the real you. Viridi: Someone cue the strings… Pit: Would you mind holding the commentary for two seconds, Viridi? Phosphora: There are goddesses you’re talking to here, Pit. Watch your tone. Pit: Butt out, Phosphora! The goddess of light has turned dark. Skyworld is destroyed! Everything is wrong, and it’s up to me to make things right! Palutena: Oh, Pit. You’re just as naive as ever. Pit: I’m not naive!

Phew. This scene is pretty noteworthy to me because throughout the game, Pit is never really that angry or upset. He does show hostility, but he never really snaps at anyone, much less gods, like this. But when his home is destroyed and Lady Palutena is not herself, his emotions get the better of him. He doesn’t even seem to care that he is being “rude” to Viridi. I definitely see this moment as Pit having an outburst because of the stressful situation he is under. 

Scripts / Scripting

The most obvious example of Pit using a script is with his “rally cries” that he prepares before fighting enemies. Look at the idol description for this AR Card.

He practices his rally cries a lot in order to be prepared for battles with bosses. Pit even mentions practicing his rally cries in a later chapter.

Pit: Cells of Hades, hear my words! And, um… see my actions! Uh… something, something… I’m going to rain death on you! I can’t remember all the words, but that’s the general gist. Hades: My innards have so longed to hear your battle cry. How could you forget the words? Pit: I didn’t have time to rehearse. I’ve been busy fighting evil, okay?!

While some may see the rally cries as meaningless fun, I think it could be seen as Pit having a script that he likes to fall back to when facing enemies. 

His many references and quotes to video games could be seen as scripting, too. There are lots of instances in Uprising, and especially in Palutena’s Guidance, where Pit quotes famous video game phrases or imitates sounds. Which leads me to…

Special Interest

Pit’s special interest is video games. While Pit’s very vast knowledge of video games could just be because of Uprising’s fourth-wall breaking style of humor, I think it could also be seen as Pit having an intense interest in games. He references various video games such as Metroid, Nintendogs, and Super Smash Bros. in-game. He seems to enjoy bringing up video games or referencing video game mechanics whenever he can, which is very similar to how autistic people enjoy bringing up their special interests in conversations whenever possible. Additionally, while the Palutena’s Guidance conversations aren’t 100% accurate to canon, Pit constantly references and alludes to various video games in them, such as quoting Reyn in Shulk’s conversation or Peppy and General Pepper in Fox’s (which ties back to him scripting). It’s clear that he loves video games and talking about video games!

Pit: Those Aurum troops are doing their best Game and Watch impression! Viridi: Check out the gaming IQ on this guy! You’re a regular video game historian!

See, even Viridi is impressed with his video game knowledge! :D

Sensory Issues

Throughout the game, Pit seems to have an obsession with hot springs. It is never outright explained why he loves them so much, but I’m led to believe it is because of sensory reasons. Many autistic people use extreme temperatures to help soothe or calm themselves, such as cold showers or hot baths. It can often help with sensory overload. Hot springs, similarly to hot baths, may be a way to help soothe Pit and keep his sensory issues to a minimum. 

Pit’s habits with his tunic seem to hint towards sensory issues, too. He doesn’t like to be without his robes, stating that he keeps them on even when he’s in the hot spring. When his clothes seemingly get messed up in Chapter 21, he gets upset, exclaiming that it’s his only tunic. Wearing the same clothes or same types of clothes/fabric is pretty typical for autistic people, and Pit wearing the same tunic everyday is similar to that.

Additionally, Pit’s habits with food could be because of sensory differences. He very well could be hyposensitive to food and tastes, which is why he eats a lot and doesn’t seem to care about what he eats (as long as it isn’t vegetables, according to the Revolting Dinner short ;D ) . 

Small Social Circle

Pit doesn’t have a whole lot of people he can rely on. Before Uprising, the only person he seems to have any affinity for is Palutena. Other than that, he doesn’t seem to talk to anyone else. We don’t have a clear picture on what his relationship with the Centurions is like, but based off of the Revolting Dinner short and Chapter 17, he only really talks to them when he’s working as the Captain of the Army and not as a friend.

While yes, Pit is the only angel left in Skyworld, I still think it’s important to bring up that Pit only really has Palutena to rely on. By the end of Uprising, he has Viridi and Dark Pit as well, but his only clear and completely positive relationship is his mother-son bond with Palutena. I see this as Pit struggling to really befriend others. He’s had over two decades between the original game and Uprising to befriend the Centurions, but again, he only really has Palutena. It’s pretty typical for autistic people to have very small social circles, consisting of just one or two friends. Palutena seems to fit the role of mother and best friend for Pit, and she even remarks that he should make more friends in Chapter 4. 

Working Alone

This is a small one, but still something that I think is worth pointing out. Pit seems very adamant on accomplishing his missions on his own, telling Dark Pit on two separate occasions (Chapter 9 and Chapter 21) that he can handle the situation by himself. Similarly, it’s common for autistic people to prefer working by themselves rather than with others. Paired with the previous point about having a small social circle, this just reads to me as Pit not feeling too comfortable in situations with others.

Conclusion

There’s a few other points that I feel I could bring up but overall I think these are my main points summed up (and yes, I said summed up. this used to be over 2500 words) ! Thanks so much for reading! If you have any other traits that you think Pit has that I didn’t mention, feel free to share them, I’d be more than happy to hear! ^_^

[depressedacadamia]

Sore Losers

A/N: This was meant to be a simple one shot but I couldn’t help myself and now it’s a twoshot because I’m extra af. I hope you enjoy it and please comment!

Summary: Percy and Annabeth are both the most competitve people to ever exist by far. So when they both lead teams in a match of Capture the Flag Paintball edition, a very fun game ends up becoming a battle. Annabeth and Percy also happen to be the biggest pair of sore losers out there. 

Word count: 3.8K

Tagging: @showtunesandsolangelo

Chapter I

Let it be known that Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase were both the biggest pair of sore losers on this side of the Atlantic. You’d think that a large group of teenagers at a paintballing park would cause a lot of trouble. Yes, yes they would indeed. But not nearly as much trouble a group of traumatised teenage demigods could cause.

They had 1 rule- don't use any powers.

However, the demigods were never really much good at following rules.

Percy promised Annabeth that his team would win and Annabeth, unable to help herself, boasted back how amazing her team were going to be. It was quite obvious how their fatal flaws- hubris and loyalty- were going to be their downfall in a game of paintball.

“Oi! You two stop flirting and get on the damned bus, would you!” Piper shouted from the window seat with Hazel to her. The yellow bus was warm due to the sunny weather outside and it smelt like teenagers.

“We aren’t flirting!” Annbeth protested violently as she threw her sports bag over her shoulder while climbing the steps. Percy, being the gentleman he was, took the bag off her shoulder and carried it for her- not that it was truly hard.

“Even I can tell that you’re flirting,” Leo called out from the back where his fingers idly fiddled with some copper wire, a battery and a nail- it seemed like he was making an electromagnet.

“Can you blame me if Percy thinks his team is going to win Pipes?” Annabeth turned around in her seat.

“That’s because we are going to win,” Will commented with a hint of sarcasm from the side of the bus where Percy’s team sat. Nico, who sat next to Reyna and was on Annabeth’s team, was more invested in fidgeting with his rings until Will spoke up.

“Says you, traitor,” He snorted.

“Death boy, it’s a game. You chose Annabeth's team- it would be unfair if we were on the same team. Besides, If anything, I should be upset. You chose Annabeth's team after I chose Percy’s!”

Nico refused to answer, his arm clinging to Reyna who barely took notice and smirked at the boy’s ego’s.

“How sad must it be that you genuinely believe that you will win?” Reyna was about to sheath her spear when Hazel put her hand on hers.

“Reyna! We aren’t allowed to bring weapons. We need to prove we can beat them without weapons!” Hazel argued.

“Having second thoughts over there?” Frank called out from beside Jason. Hazel stuck her tongue out at him- he pulled a funny face in return. While these two were considered the most mature, when they were talking to each other, they were no better than 5 year olds.

The venue was huge. It was like an abandoned forest with upside down vehicles, camo everywhere and at least 3 places to get perfectly shot in the head- not that it was allowed. There was a specific reason behind the demigods choosing to go paintballing- they were never trained to use guns. It was something that none of them were familiar in, thus they were all at a completely fair level. Had they been sword fighting, they would have all destroyed each other. They had to pull on protection suits- which were also camouflage.

“Okay, this is to capture the flag but in paintball. You’re all familiar with capturing the flag- the only difference here is instead of our regular weapons, today we have these peculiar things…” Calypso trailed off slightly.

“Guns,” Hazel and Nico finished off together. The entire squad gave an alarmed look at them saying Why in the name of Hades do you know that? In sync, they both replied.

“World War 1,” Hazel sighed.

“Hitler,” Nico grunted, kicking at the floor. A couple of scattered snorts came from the group who could not picture them in the 1900s.

“Enough enemy mingling! Comrades, let us unite to beat the Owls!” Percy commanded his group comedically. Nico raised his eyebrow at the communist joke while everyone laughed slightly.

“I see you’ve learnt something in History- let’s find out if your seaweed brain can figure out how to surrender shall we?” Annabeth challenged as she took steps towards Percy, her hands resting on her hips confidently- Her hubris was showing. She half expected Percy to slip his hand around her waist or try and show off like she did but instead, he turned to his team and began frantically whispering.

The game was so on.

“Okay, this is it. We go in, storm the boys and capture their flag,” Annabeth decided.

“And don't forget to shoot as many of them as you can!” Piper added and the group happily agreed.

“Okay Comrades, Mission ‘infiltrate’ the owls is about to end- when we meet at what I like to call No man's land, we shall take their flag while they attempt to take ours. Will, guard our flag- the rest of you, position ourselves in the formation we discussed earlier. Jason and Leo, you’re my backup soldiers if I’m down,” Percy announced. The boys nodded and prepared for the plan.

Annabeth was crouching, gun in hand with Hazel behind her. Annabeth's blonde hair made her stand out a bit whereas Hazel had a greater advantage- from a vantage point, one wouldn’t even be able to see her. As Annabeth approached through the clearing she froze. Up ahead was a dangerous place. No bushes, no trees, no cars- she’d be totally exposed to whatever Percy was plotting. She did not doubt that he had some person watching this area, ready to release fire on any enemies. Annabeth was going to wait, she crouched by the bush before the clearing and kept her gun pointed and her eyes on the lookout.

She was about to move when paint balls began exploding all around her. The sound ricocheted in her ears and the droplets of paint remained floating about in the air. The boys had planned an ambush! Annabeth knew she had 2 options- retreat and play defensive or attack and play offensive.

“Hazel, you’re in charge. Nico, you’re coming with me. Make sure Reyna is still guarding the flag!” She whisper- shouted as she began running across No Mans Land with Nico trailing close behind her. He may or may not have been using his powers to bring shards of earth encased in shadows to protect himself and Annabeth from the shower of paintballs heading towards them. Nobody really needed to know- besides, he was forbidden from using death powers, not earthly ones.

“Nico, I hear something,” Annabeth warned. The sound of crackling and rushing water surrounded them.

“It’s coming from the creak…,” Nico mumbled.

They both made eye contact, agreeing on a time to run. 3 ,2 ,1- Now! They began sprinting, dodging the rocks and the flames which were scattered across the field. The other team were really going all out and being ruthless. Leo had set half of their frontier on fire that was only being controlled by the fact that Percy had a lot of water coming in from the creak preventing the fire from spreading too far. Flashes of light came striking down on the trees, causing crackles in the trees. There were echoes of thunder rumbling throughout their section and the smell of carbon monoxide slowly rising into the air.

The tree that had been struck by lightning was causing an awful mount of crackling, a bit too much for comfort. It wasn’t until the distinct sound of a tree snapping did Annabeth and Nico realise that the tree in front of them was falling.

Directly. Onto. them.

Back at Annabeth's side of the frontier, Hazel had decided to play dirty and get powers involved. It was only fair, was it not? Piper, Reyna and Calypso were all very happy to oblige to this. They had restructured their battle plan with Piper guarding the flag and using her charmspeak if necessary. Hazel, Calypso and Reyna were at the front, using their powers to their advantage. Reyna had not decided to use her empowerment- it wasn’t necessary and it was never comforting knowing she had made her friends feel brave; she felt like she was manipulating them whenever she did use it.

“So Hazel, what were you saying about not using weapons?” Reyna raised an eyebrow as she impressively pulled out her spear of imperial gold, glimmering in the sunlight. Hazel who sheathed her Spatha simply shrugged.

“Calypso are you ready?” Hazel asked, slightly concerned- she didn't want to overwork her so quickly after she had only just started to get her magic back.

“You think I’m going to let Leo win?” She scoffed slightly as she raised her hands slightly, the magical aura around them visible.

“We have a battle to win,” Reyna announced.

Nico grabbed onto Annabeth and closed his eyes. She felt herself slip into the darkness with Nico- the moment was awful. Dark, cold and creepy whisperings surrounded her. She did not want to know how Nico was able to do that. As he pulled them out the shadows, Nico dropped to his knees, trying to catch his breath. His eyes looked significantly tired post- shadow travelling.

“Don’t tell Will, he’ll go crazy if he found out that I shadow travelled,” he said weakly, his hand clutching his ribs. Annabeth slowly helped him up to his feet, only one gun still with the both of them- Nico had dropped his when he had to shadow travel them.

“Nico, I’ve got another plan if you’re up for it,” Annabeth offered. She leaned over and whispered her strategy. The corners of Nico’s lips twisted upwards into a cruel smile- cold and menacing. Was this plan extremely dangerous if one part went wrong? Probably. But Nico decided he liked the idea of winning too much to really care.

He dug his feet into the ground again, pushing every ounce of energy into controlling the shadows. He needed to keep this accurate- too much and Hazel’s side of the field goes dark, too little and Percy’s team will be able to see what's coming.

Slowly, shadows covered every inch of Percy’s field. Nico and Annabeth were grasping onto each other, Nico was holding onto her for strength while Annabeth was staying with the only person who could control what was happening. The only light that was visible were the fires ignited by Leo but by now, they were weak. All they had to do was wait for a figure to light up their hands- all the members would flock to the light, except whoever was protecting the flag.

“What just happened?” Percy yelled as he followed the stream of water that led to the fires.

“Someone’s using their powers… probably Nico, I can hear whisperings and these shadows are really cold!” Leo responded, lifting his hands up to signal his location to his teammates- though that may have not been a good idea. A giant flash of light came striking down to the ground again and the loud rumble of thunder came soon after, only adding to the creepiness of the game.

“It’s definitely Nico using powers which means he’s somehow gotten through our borders,” Jason gritted out. They all looked at each other agreeing to search for the son of Hades.

“Nico, you can summon the skeletons now, right?” Annabeth asked as she supported Nico on her shoulder. Feebly, Nico nodded while trying to summon some of his own strength. His skin which had almost returned to it’s olive hue was now close to a deathly pale. Annabeth could feel his cold fingers and slightly shivered- it was like holding a corpse. The ground started cracking, the earth splitting open as a skeletal arm reached out, climbing into the real world. Within a minute, Nico had summoned enough skeletons for the plan to work.

Annabeth knew what had to happen next- she would either run after the flag or go drive the remainder of Percy’s team far back enough so that her team could attack them from behind. She cherished the idea of getting the flag, a truly victorious moment, but she knew that if she went after the flag, she’d be sending Nico who seemed as fragile as glass right now to go fight 4 of the most powerful demigods. She decided to take her chances- hopefully whoever was guarding the flag wasn’t too hard for Nico.

“Nico, here take the gun and go after the flag. I will push back the other team.”

“I don’t need that- you’re going to be 4 against one, take it.” He batted his hand, refusing to allow Annabeth to hand over her gun to him.

“Nic-”

“-If you want to actually win this, you need your gun. You don’t stand a chance fighting 4 of them alone. Take the gun,” He managed to snap. Annabeth actually smiled at this. If Nico could give her snappy comebacks, then he still had a bit of strength in him. She kept her gun as she ran into the shadows, the skeleton army close behind.

“Does the other side look kinda funny?” Hazel asked, tilting her head to the side with her spatha in hand.

“It’s...it’s dark. I can't see anything there,” Calypso responded, slightly shocked.

What in the name of the gods was going on over there?

It seemed that the answer hit Reyna and Hazel at the same time- Nico! Not that they were about to admit it, but they were a tad concerned- you know, if you saw pure shadows just floating about, you would also be slightly concerned.

“We should move ourselves further up the frontier into No Mans Land. Annabeth must have planned something with Nico.” Calypso announced. They all agreed and moved further downwards, cautious for any ambushes.

“Oh Annabeth, aren’t you meant to be the smart one? You know, daughter of Athena?” Percy mockingly asked as she approached them, the shadows encasing most of her but not enough to go unnoticed. The skeletons however, were hiding perfectly in the dark.

“And where is the little shit?” Jason looked around Annabeth, trying to see if Nico had hid himself among the shadows- something that wouldn’t be too hard for him.

“Technically this is cheating,” Leo pointed out. Annabeth snapped her head towards him, still wondering where the skeletons were.

“We weren’t the ones who started it- if I remember correctly, you literally almost crushed us under a tree.”

“That was an accident,” Jason sheepishly rubbed his head.

“Don't think you can walk in here without being defeated, Wise girl.”

“If all 4 of you are going to fight me, I think all guns should be prohibited- does that sound fair Jackson?”

“3. All 3 of us. Frank has been… patrolling.�� Leo rubbed his hands mysteriously. Annabeth wanted to gasp, they had been cheating from the beginning, using Frank as surveillance on them.

“Well since you were cheating from the very beginning, you definitely cannot use your guns,” Annabeth protested, enforcing her plan. The boy shrugged and threw their guns to the floor- Annabeth did the same but the gun was still close enough for… a change of heart. Fire raged from Leo’s hands, Percy had Riptide in hand and Jason had his Gladius, the charge of lighting running through it. Annabeth had to try to not visibly gulp- Where on earth were the skeletons? Here getting toasted was not part of the plan. She could only start to take them one when the distraction was set.

Nico forcibly pushed his foot one in front of another, searching for the flag. The entire half of the arena was covered like a blanket. The only light source being Leo’s fire and the occasional fires that Nico let loose through the ground to help him see. Up head, Nico could see another light source- did he just walk himself into a circle? He couldn’t see Leo or any fires. In fact all he really saw was light.

Light?

He trudged forwards, keeping to the shadows. As he got closer, he realised the light source was Will- his skin was the lightsource, literally. It was like he was watching a firefly for the first time- Will was glowing! No, focus Nico. The game, the flag. Capture it and reign victorious with Annabeth.

“Frank, dude, get off my shoulder,” Jason said. As the hand remained on his shoulder, Jason grew slightly agitated and turned around before jumping back and letting out a scream of surprise. Catching the attention of Percy and Leo, the skeletons began to close in on them. Now was Annabeth's chance. While the skeletons pushed them back, hopefully Hazel would have the team ready for an ambush on all sides.

“You’re very shiny today,” Nico commented.

“Well if you didn’t plunge us into semi- eternal darkness, I wouldn’t be a night light,” Will retorted crossing his arms.

“I’ve always wanted my own personal nightlight. Also now, I have an actual justification to call you sunshine- you’re literally glowing.”

“Quit laughing at me.”

“I’m not laughing at you… I’m just stealing,” Nico shrugged as he made a dash for the flag. Will scrambled for his gun but it was too late, Nico had pulled the flag into the shadows- the paintballs from Will’s gun had only hit the tree that Nico had once stood in front of. As Nico emerged from his travelling, the shadows that once covered the entire field started fading.

With their guns strapped to their backs, Hazel and the team made their way across No Mans Land- trying to avoid the shower of paintballs from the other side.

“You made a machine gun out of this?” Hazel asked in dismay as she dodged the fireball coming from Leo.

“I am Admiral Leo, of course I made a machine gun, Hazel.”

“Hazel, on your left!”

Hazel swiftly ducked a paintball coming her left which proceeded to hit Leo square in the chest. He groaned as he felt the bruise start to form across his chest. Saddened by getting hit, he fell to the ground dramatically.

“Oh I’m wounded! Tell Calypso I might not make it!”

“Tell her yourself,” a voice snorted. Jason and Reyna were both fighting- Jason’s gladius would come down harshly onto Reyna’s spear, who continuously tried to disarm him. When Jason came down again with his sword, Reyna twisted her spear towards the hilt and pushed the butt of her spear upwards successfully disarming the sword with a clatter from his hands. She placed her foot on the sword and kicked it backwards, away from Jason before she dropped her spear.

“Hand to hand?” Jason asked. Reyna did not reply and instead charged towards him.

Calypso was trying to not get set on fire- while Leo had been shot, he was not about to let her win so easily. Her magic could only do so much and it annoyed her that Leo was setting everything on fire.

“Calypso, don’t you have telekinesis?” Annabeth shouted nodding towards Leo as she dodged another slash from Percy. Calypso got the memo and closed her eyes, harvesting as much power as she could. Being an ex-titaness came with it’s privileges from time to time. She opened her eyes and flung her hands towards Leo. Easily, she threw him into the creek where he landed with an ‘oomph’ and a very loud curse word that will not be repeated.

Piper hated being the guard. Everyone was probably having a blast and here she was, away from the action. There was a buzzing noise that was annoying her and she really did not want to deal with it. She had one of her daggers clutched in her hand while the gun was slung over her shoulder. She had gotten so bored that she had resorted to talking to the crow opposite her who had just sat there. It would tilt its head every once in a while when she said anything that could be deemed controversial.

Suddenly, the crow flew towards her, as to rest on her shoulder but instead, went towards the flag. Nothing wrong there, just a crow going towards a flag. Afterall it wasn’t as if it was trying to pull it out of the ground. Just as Piper turned around to see what the crow was really doing, she caught Frank with his hand wrapped around the flag, smiling and saluting towards her as he turned around and ran, flag in hand. Piper swore she had run as fast she ever had in her entire life, trying to get her charmspeak to work. The panting did not help her.

Annabeth slashed her knife in Percy’s direction, missing him by a millimeter as he stepped back to avoid it. Riptide came back at her, instead of it going for a blow to the chest as she expected, Percy aimed for her feet. As he wanted, she tripped and fell but her knife was still in hand. Just as she was about to use it, Riptide was held under her chin- she could feel the cool metal of it as Percy smirked and lightly teased her neck with it.

“You know Miss Brainiac, you really have yourself in a bad position, giving up would be easy, wouldn't it?”

“Jackson, you are enjoying this too much. I think you’ve forgotten the point.” Annabeth grabbed Riptide and twisted it before roling backwards slightly and throwing herself forwards. The sword clattered to the ground making Percy pout slightly but he wasn’t disheartened. Annabeth backslashed towards Percy who grabbed her arm, rendering the weapon in hand useless.

Annabeth had one last plan.

She leaned forwards and pressed her lips against Percy. It was quick and daring and Percy certainly did not expect it. Their lips met gently- it was comforting, warm and soft. Their lips brushed and when she pulled away lightly, he could taste her chapstick.

“Ouch!” Percy yelped as he jumped away from Annabeth and let go of her wrist. She held the knife under his chin and winked at Nico who held the gun with the flag under his arm. There was a giant yellow splatter on his back.

“That's not fair!” Percy sputtered. “ You seduced me!”

“All's fair in love and war.” Annabeth winked.

“I’ve got it! I’ve got the flag!” Frank gasped slightly- mainly due to being out of breath. He looked at Jason who was on the ground, Leo who was soaking, Percy who had a massive paintball splatter on his back and then at Nico who was holding the flag.

“We planned this. To make you win. We were taking it easy on you guys,” Frank decided. All the boys nodded in agreement only making Annabeth's teams chuckle.

[irwinkitten]

feel like a monster | a.i

notes: told y’all i was writing again. i got inspired by ‘monster’ by skillet and it’s not the typical demon!ash we have seen previously. enjoy. Also I picture Lucifer being Tom Ellis’ from the tv series ‘Lucifer’. pairing: demon!ashton x witch!reader (genderless self-insert!)  warnings: violence, swearing word count: 3.2k

donate to my ko-fi? 

-

The first time you had met Ashton, he was fully unaware of your presence. 

Eyes as black as night had roamed the small haunt that the local supernaturals frequented, free of any kind of glamour to appeal to the human prey. Most of the locals knew better than to step out without the glamour on, especially demons, but Ashton had kept his on when he stepped through the door, even with the wash of protective magic you had placed on the building.

“What’ll it be, sugar?” You finally asked him, his eyes unseeing as he muttered the word ‘whiskey’. You never took offence, because sometimes the creatures you encountered needed the time to come to terms with something that happened. 

“On the house, don’t drown.” You commented, not even inciting a verbal response as you returned your attention back to one of your regular vampires, a charming smile on your lips as you carried on, the despondent demon lurking in the back of your mind.

The night had been a steady one for the bar, and the demon hardly moved. He wasn't interested when a fight broke out, he ignored the other demons that seemed to sidle up to him and then abandon him once they realised he wasn’t going to pander to their whims.

It hit three am when you finally sat in front of him having a stool behind the bar for this exact reason.

“How about you give me a name, and I’ll go knock on Hades’ door to see if he’s got your soul locked up.” This pulled him from the funk he’d fallen into, his eyes finally focusing and finding yours.

“No need. How long has it been?” 

“You’ve been sittin’ there for at least seven hours, sugar. You sure you’re alright?” And it seemed to flip a switch in him, dark tousled hair finally coming to life as he groaned and let his head rest on the bar. 

Like with all of your other creature patrons, you didn’t hesitate, ruffling his hair gently which had him pulling back in shock, making you smirk as his own fingers ran through the jet black locks before sighing.

“I really need to stop falling out of my skin.” He muttered and you laughed.

“It’s been a long time since I had a skinwalking demon inside of these walls.” You commented casually, feeling his eyes study you as you moved to clean part of the bar.

“There are others?” The curiosity in his tone seemed desperate, which surprised you.

“There were, then good old Lucifer decided that the creation was an abomination. How’d you escape the culling?” 

“I didn’t know there was one? How long ago was it?” This had you confused. You’d heard through the grapevines before Lucifer himself had walked into your establishment. You’d been lucky to escape with your life that night.

“Merde, honey we’re talkin’ about five centuries ago. I’ve had this bar running for the last eight.” His face fell at your words, dismay crossing his features before his eyes closed and a sigh escaped him

“I’m barely four centuries old. How on earth did that freak mutation happen?” His words were all snark but you saw the way his shoulders slumped, how he seemed resigned to the defeat. But you frowned, chucking the rag at him, making him look up. 

“None of that in this bar. If good ‘ole Lucy is up to his tricks again, then you’re around for a reason honey. Now, what’s your name, my lovely skinwalker?” And for the first time that night, he smiled.

“Ashton. My name’s Ashton.” 

He became a regular from that day on. Unlike other demons who had assignments to take souls and cash in on debts, he never really did much. 

The only thing you gleaned from Ashton was that he was only ever called for when there seemed to be something that was too good to be true. And more often than not, they were, which left him to do the dispatching.

On those days, he was sullen and silent, unwilling to even share the possible horrors he may have witnessed, even with your experienced eyes, the way his were haunted, part of you wished to never see it.

He became steady at your bar, a fixture that kept your own morale up when things were rough. He was always there to kick someone too rowdy out, and eventually he started staying til you’d locked up and apparated home.

“Hey Ash. New suit?” You’d called out in greeting as he arrived. You’d noticed that he’d started to experiment with his wardrobe more now that he started to gain confidence in his own skills. 

“You ask me every time I’m wearing something different.” He grumbled, making you laugh as he took his spot at the bar, tugging off the suit jacket and resting it over the back of the stool. 

“Because you’re finally showing an artistic flair with your clothes, sue me for noticing and pointing out they make you look good.” You fired back easily, continuing to set up for the rest of the day. 

“Are we still swapping stories today then?” He asked, ignoring your previous comment as you slid his usual glass in front of him. You smiled in return.

“I love how you consider swapping stories of my relatively normal life something exciting.” He laughed at that.

“Hearing stories of domesticity is much more preferable to the ones of death. Let me have this one thing.” His plea with wide eyes was met with unimpressed ones, only for you to give way and crack a smile.

“It’s a good job that I like you then, not many people can get stories outta me. At least, not the ones of where I’m making a new spell in my own home surrounded by the green ferns and my familiar.” This brought a grin to his face.

“Like I said, hearing something so normal and simple, it makes me hopeful that there’s gonna be a day when I don’t get called in to death and destruction.” You felt your heart break for him a little bit. 

Most of the demons who crossed your safe haven had long since settled into the death and destruction that surrounded them. A lot of them even welcomed it with open arms and gleeful smiles. 

But not Ashton. 

He’d practically rejected that side of him. It was only when he’d met you that he worked ways to accept it but not sink into it. He hung onto you like a lifeline and you gave him those stories of normality, if only to keep him grounded, especially on the worst days. 

“I heard old Lucy has put out rumours of a skinwalker. What’s up with that?” You queried once you’d finished setting up the bar. His face took on a pinched look before sighing.

“I’m a skinwalker with control. I’ve seen the other demons, read the transcripts of the old skinwalkers. They, they lost their sanity towards the end. They sunk into themselves and had nothing to pull them back, nothing to keep them in the world we roam. It’s why I can’t lose control. So far I’ve kept it under lock and key, and yes it’s there, but as long as I don’t lose myself like they did, he won’t have a reason to wipe me out.” 

“Good old Lucifer doesn’t need a reason, sugar. But I’m proud of you.” His posture changed ever so slightly, but the smile he gave you in return was one of the more honest smiles you’d ever seen on his face.

“I guess it’s gonna be me keeping my head down?” He finally muttered and you laughed, patting his cheek gently.

“That and some luck, but you got me on your side, so you’ve got enough to see you through my favourite skinwalking demon.” 

But like many things, the luck had run out for both of you. 

Lucifer was sat on the lounge sofa you’d had moved into the VIP section, his casual demeanour betraying the crackling energy that you could feel.

“Most demons give me the time to open the damn bar, your highness.” Even though your age had nothing on Lucifer, you were one of the braver souls who knocked him down, reminding him that you were never one to bend over backwards.

“Unfortunately for you, witch, the bar won’t be opening today. See, there’s been a rumour. A rumour that you’ve been harbouring a skinwalker.” Ice ran through your veins as your stomach dropped.

But you kept yourself as calm as you could, a game you’d played far too many times before.

“Tell me, Lucifer. Why would you be interested in a skinwalker when you destroyed them over five centuries ago. I don’t need to remind you that you came to gloat that day.” The anger was easy to display, the bitterness in your voice telling him exactly what you thought of his choice.

“Ah, but this skinwalker is going rogue.”

“And so I’m harbouring them? Tell me, Lucy, do demons get to die like humans do, or do you just turn into ash?” You felt the burning of the chains before you even had time to react, your breath being stolen as the burning metal wrapped around your body.

Chains draped across your face, and apart from the low hiss of pain, you did nothing more.

“You’re lucky I don’t do what would be considered normal, witch.” 

“Trust me, your demons will turn on you quicker when they find out exactly who is threatening their safe haven. How will you cope when every demon is on my side?” You could see the way he twitched at the possible threat, the chains getting tighter in response.

“Then if I kill you and blame it on the skinwalker, they’ll go after them.” The taunt was enough as you felt the wards shift and you realised it was Ashton.

Part of you wanted to scream, to warn him. But your voice was trapped, barely able to take in a breath as Lucifer stood from his spot, curling his finger so that the chains yanked forward, bringing you to your knees.

“I must confess that I feel like a monster doing this. But let it be a lesson for generations who try to meddle in affairs that aren’t theirs to touch.” You could only close your eyes as he raised his hand, the shift having already started as the fingers elongated and the nails grew into claws. 

“Your confession will never erase what you’ll do. May the creatures of the darkness know who tried this day, to strip my life and make me pay. May they rebel and cast out, those souls so sure and cast out this monster forever more.” It wasn’t a full spell, but the intent behind the words were enough as a raging roar ripped through the building.

But it wasn’t in front of you like you’d anticipated. 

Your eyes snapped open to see something hit Lucifer and throw him across the room.

“Unbind them now.” To your shock, it was Ashton, his skin practically glowing as he towered over you, his stance in a crouch. 

“For what, skinwalker? You’re only going to die before them.” 

You watched in awe as Ashton seemed to shift, almost like his mind had sunk into base instincts and for the first time in your life, you felt a sliver of fear. But surprisingly enough, it wasn’t towards Ashton. No, it was towards Lucifer who had shifted forms with a look of fury on his face.

“You won’t touch them.” There was a laugh that rooted him to the spot, and you couldn’t stop the yell of agony as you felt yourself hoisted up, desperately trying to cut the feeling of pain off, the agony searing and exhausting. 

“Want a bet, skinwalker?” The deep cadence of Lucifer’s voice sent the thrill of fear, but Ashton didn’t hesitate as he launched at the self proclaimed king of hell, no words being spoken but guttural snarls instead. 

You tried to watch, but you could see the black dots in your vision. But you struggled for each breath, watching as Lucifer seemed to toss him like a rag doll.

You were dimly aware of a sound that shook the walls as you blacked out, a silent prayer that if you were to be sent on to the afterlife, that Ashton would be granted one mercy to be with you at least.

-

“Fuck, why is it when I need a witch, the one I want isn’t available.” Your head was fuzzy, pain rocketing around your body as you heard chains clink together.

You couldn’t pull any energy to speak even a single word before the fuzziness swept you under, drowning you from the pain that you were in.

-

“I can sense you.” A different voice startled you and your head shot up from where you were lay, shock colouring your features. “Death looks good on you.” 

You turned to the voice and felt your insides drop at the sight of Hades. Unlike Lucifer, those who knew, knew that Hades ruled the underworld.

“Are you playing as Hades or your alter?” You finally asked and he laughed, stepping from the shadow that had hidden his features. 

Pale skin with vibrant green eyes. He gave you the kind of smile that he only gave Persephone. 

“It’s my alter form today. Figured you’d seen enough already.” He countered with ease, holding his hand out to you. You took it willingly, allowing him to pull you up. In his alter form, he’d named himself Michael. He had soft features that looked welcoming ‘to not scare the children sent his way’, was his excuse. But it was nice to see familiarity.

“How dead am I?” 

“Not as dead as you should be. Since Lucifer used the death chains on you, I have more leeway than he thought, the little upstart.” You blanched at his words.

“He used the death chains? But, that-”

“Should’ve sent you to my realm almost immediately, or at least indefinitely when you lost consciousness.. But your little spell blocked the chains from doing what they do best. Not to mention my skinwalker nearly taking his own life getting those things off you.” Michael explained as he guided you around the forested area. You realised this must have been his wife’s work.

“Wait, your skinwalker? Is that-” Michael cut you off.

“Is that why Lucifer wiped them to extinction? No. His first batch had never found their grounding. Never succeeded in tying their humanity down. But Ashton was different. So I created him.” 

“What happens now?” His smirk bore the arrogance of a god and it took everything to stop yourself from punching him. You’d learned the hard way not to punch a god, they never bruised and never took well to being hit by what they considered a mortal. 

“Take care of my skinwalker. And tell him that he holds the crown in title for now. I’ll be along to make it official in the next day or so. Gotta make sure his royal partner kick-starts their recovery.” 

Before you could fully process the information, you felt the world spin around you once more, going black. 

The blissful pain free state you had been in slowly morphed as the pain seemed to wrap you tightly until you couldn’t breathe, only for your lungs to pull in the much needed air.

“Oh thank fuck.” Was heard above you, but your eyes were too heavy to try and open, your body lethargic and almost lead like to try and reassure the person above you.

When you next came around, the pain was dulled. There was a slow and steady beep that had you turning your head and you stopped yourself from groaning. 

“Please tell me I’m not in a standard hospital.” The mutter was scratchy and quiet. 

“You forget what we’ve been building this hospital for a few years now. This is one for all kinds of creatures. No regular humans in sight.” The voice made you jump, turning to see Ashton sat next to you, his hair dishevelled and eyes tired as he took you in.

“You’re alive.” His lips curved into a small smile at your whispered words.

“More like we’re alive.” He corrected and you could feel a tear fall from the corner of your eye, lifting a hand up to his face. He was quick to scoot closer, your fingertips feeling his skin and you felt the dam burst.

You were both alive.

He didn’t hesitate to rest his hand over yours, keeping it against his face as you cried, but there was understanding in his eyes as you processed everything, Michael’s words finally ringing back to you as you slowly calmed down.

He was here with you, and even though you’d been toying with the idea, you’d never been so sure of telling him how you felt. Once you’d gathered your bearings, before he could start talking, you cut him off quickly.

“So, king of hell, fancy going on a date with me when I’m out of here?” As much as you wanted to be sentimental with Ashton, your emotions were frayed enough as it was. This was the last thing you needed to add to it. And watching Ashton’s face as he processed your words was certainly worth it.

“A date, with me?” He clarified, tone mystified and dumbfounded. You grinned.

“Of course. Give me a week before I get to the sentimentalities, but I’m almost certain I’ve been in love with you for the last year. Hades was nice enough to point that out, since you can’t lie to a god.” 

“Hades? What?” You took pity on Ashton in that moment.

“Instead of dying immediately, I was trapped, but in Hades’ part of the underworld. He explained that you were his skinwalker, connected to your humanity. He could see my feelings for you as clear as daylight. I might as well try to-” Your words were cut off with his lips on yours, the feeling of them causing you to smile against his lips, breaking the kiss.

“I’m not about to get hexed, am I?” He breathed and you laughed, his lips moving to your forehead before he sat back.

“Not in a million years. So you think about actually coming with me now when I get out of here?” His smile spoke the thousands of words he wanted to say, but simply settled for squeezing your hand gently.

“I think it’s about time I moved in, huh?” 

One of the healers seemed to come in for that moment and you allowed her to fuss over you as Ashton settled back in the chair, a peaceful silence sweeping over the two of you. Compared to your last memory of the loud beast-like roars, the peace was welcomed and enjoyed, Ashton’s slow breathing accompanying the steady beep of your monitor that you knew would be gone by the end of the day.

The peace was something you appreciated as you felt Ashton take your hand once the healer had left, his thumb rubbing gentle circles into your skin. It was only when he jolted upright his face a picture of alarm as he stared at you before breathing,

“What do you mean ‘king of hell’?”

-

taglist:  @sexgodashton​, @goth5sos​, @malumsmermaid​, @empathycth​, @wildflowergrae​, @calpops​, @rosecolouredash​, @cakesunflower​, @loveroflrh​, @clockwork124​, @cal-puddies​, @stellar5sosrecs​, @ashtoniwir​ , @cthwldflwr​, @cthla​, @calmlftv​, @spicycal​, @liketheydidwithyou​, @sc0ttish-wildfl0wer​, @bluehairedtracii​, @drummerboy794​, @feliznavidaddycal​, @ukulelecal​​, @thecurlsofgod​​, @converse-luke​​, @madbomb​​, @ccnicole02​​, @youngblood199456​​, @megz1985​​, @lukesidentitycrisis​​, @snapback-irwie​​, @neonweeknds​​, @666yourwitchyfriend666​​, @cashtonasfuck​​, @ashtaway​​, @conquerwhatliesahead92​​, @itjustkindahappenedreally​​, @kchillout​​, @damselindistressanu​​, @colormekaykay​​, @findingliam-o​​, @sublimehood​​, @singledadharrington​​, @sugarcoated-pain​​, @singt0mecalum​​, @calumspeachy​​, @colourfulcalum​​, @lostincalum​​, @burncrashbromance​​, @asht0ns-world​​, @flusteredcliffo​​, @ixcantxdecidexwhosxmyxfave​​, @fangirl-everythang​​, @lashtonswildflower​​, @lashtondaddies​​, @calumssunshine​​, @ambskiwi​​, @abundant-stars​​, @myescapefromthislife​​, @lmao5sosimagines​​, @beyoncesdragon​​, @jae-writes-fanfiction​​, @cxddlyash​​, @tresfandom​​, @niallisworld​​, @lietomevalntyn​​, @babylon-corgis​​, @monochrome44​, @behind-my-hazeleyes27​​, @lyllibug​​, @bloodmoonashton​​, @ghostofmashton​​, @summerellaz​​, @a-little-less-sixteen​​, @cashworthy​​, @smokeinherlungs​​, @longlastingdaydream​​, @h0tsos​​, @sadistmichael​​, @sugar-nico​​, @sunnysidesblog​​, @angel-cal​​, @samros95​​, @maluminspace​​, @lukeinblue​​, @britnicole11​​, @gigglyirwin​​, @everyscarisahealingplace​​, @loverofcashton​​, @iovehemmings​​, @g-l-pierce​​, @jannimoeller3​​, @wildmichaelflower​​, @lukeskisses​​, @youngbloodchild​​, @abb-lan-5sos​​, @calumsbub​​, @flameraine​​, @here-for-the-uproars, @mateisit-balsamic​​, @ilovelukey​​, @castaway-cashton​​, @musiclover1263​​, @alloutofcashton​​, @tobefalling​​, @sarahshepherdblog​​, @cassie-sos​​, @possesedperson​​, @treatallwithkindness​​, @wonderlandiswhereitsatyo​​, @pinkbubbles-and-bigtroubles​​, @ashtonlrwin​​, 

if u wanna be added to my taglist just hmu!