#but he 100% is not the academic performative sibling

[xinshism]

🪷. LOTUS FLOWER (莲花) — BASIC INFORMATION

BIRTH NAME. Huo Lingxin (霍凌欣) BIRTH DATE. June 3, 2002 ZODIAC. Gemini MBTI. INFP NATIONALITY. Chinese BIRTHPLACE. Tianjin, China LANGUAGES. Mandarin Chinese [100%], Japanese [73%]

🍵. RAINY DAY (雨天) — IN XINSHI

COMPANY. XGN Music Group DEBUT DATE. April 13, 2020 POSITION. Vocalist / Rapper

🍃. CLOUDLESS SKY (碧空) — BACKGROUND

Huo Lingxin was born on June 3, 2002 in Tianjin, China. The youngest of four children, he recalls that growing up, he often felt pressured to measure up to the expectations of his family. All of his siblings excelled in school, and his sister Yazhu, older than him by nine years, was well on her way to law school before he turned 16. Meanwhile, Lingxin struggled academically, finding the material repetitive and unappealing. If he didn’t have the patience for a subject, he simply didn’t put any effort into it. The one area he excelled in was music.

Seeking a way to share his talents, Lingxin turned to NetEase Cloud Music, uploading the single 伤害 (Hurt) in August 2017, when he was just 15 years old. He hoped to gain an audience, but he would be disappointed—the song barely accumulated any streams. While it was discouraging, it wasn’t enough to stop him. Later that year, Lingxin released another single titled 无辜 (Innocent) and created accounts on several social media platforms to promote his music, slowly building a small following. 

His first taste of success would come in May 2018 with the release of his first extended play 到处 (Everywhere). The EP contained five tracks, including his two previously released singles. One song in particular, 失踪 (Missing), gained attention for its production and thoughtfully written lyrics, racking up a few thousand streams within a month of its release. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t much, but it was more than Lingxin had ever dreamed of. Gradually, his audience grew. 

Two more EPs followed: 機會 (Opportunity) in October 2018 and 运气 (Luck) in March 2019. While both were fairly successful, it was the former that got the most attention—not only from fans, but also from a startup record label. A representative from the A&R division at XGN Music Group heard Lingxin’s music and reached out, wondering if he was looking to sign to a label. Lingxin had a dilemma—would taking such a big step in his music career mean disappointing his parents? They knew that he was passionate about music, but they weren’t aware that he had been taking so much time to work on it, often prioritizing it over school. It didn’t seem like a good idea to tell them, but he couldn’t exactly hide a record deal. He had to tell them about the offer.

When Lingxin told his parents what he’d been doing, they were frustrated—not by the offer or his success, but by the fact that he had gone behind their backs. Neither had the heart to try and stop him from making music, though, not when he loved it so much. They eventually came to an agreement: Lingxin could continue to pursue a career in music on the condition that he finish high school and make improvements in his grades. It would be difficult, but he could do it. He had to.

Lingxin signed with XGN Music Group in May 2019. Focusing on his schoolwork as he’d promised, he only released two singles between May and November 2019, both of which performed fairly well for a new artist. It was in December that his career would take an unanticipated turn.

In December 2019, Lingxin crossed paths with aspiring songwriter Sugihara Ishi for the first time. She’d come to XGN from Japan, a short journey by the rules of time but a long way to come to pursue a music career, especially at such a young age. Sure, Lingxin and Ishi were both 17, but their experiences were different—he could make music without leaving his city, and she had left her country. But Ishi had her reasons, and what really interested Lingxin was her music. As she played for him the first song she’d ever recorded, なみ (Wave), he took note of its intricate composition. He couldn’t understand the words, but he didn’t need to. The melody was beautiful, and it resonated with him deeply, reaching past language barriers and into his heart. 

That quality was missing in his music, Lingxin realized—the power to reach people who didn’t speak his language, to touch others’ hearts without words. Ishi had shown him that music itself was a language, and it was one that came to her so naturally. Filled with admiration, he could not feel more than the slightest tinge of envy. He wanted to learn from her, to work with her, and the moment that she agreed was one of the happiest moments of his life. They released a single together in February 2020, and they would go on to debut in April as the duo XINSHI.

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[sparkbeast20]

Revamp Obey me: Fan!Kids

I just wanted to redo my fan!kids and add a bit more into them :D

Tallulah the eldest Picrew

Miss goody two shoe, she more on line on miss perfectionist and more hands on approach kinda person.

However, she easily get rope into trouble by her uncles on both side and has to be the one bail them out by using her statues as Lucifer’s daughter most of which she pulls puppy dog eyes on her father to help her uncles. And Lucifer falls for it every time.

She and her mother see things differently, her mother worries that she does things a bit too far at time. While she see that she’s not putting 100% of herself and need to to better and that her mother is worrying too much.

Though there were times she gotten to the point of being exhausted, that she's been seen pass out on her desk or her father desk either in RAD or at HOL, she had this habit of going to his offices when she gets tired.

She is more in touch with her demon side, she love hex and curses rather spells and charms. She plays around with a side affects and cost of hex and curse. She finds it entertaining to see how those magic can do to a being. Some say she is as sadistic as her father.

Her hobbies are collecting CD and Albums of Classical new age music and Folk Songs of her mother's home country.

However, she often get Disk and CD with the songs are edited or Censored. And that pisses her off.

She also enjoy looking for old and creepy curse media, via internet or she go looking for them in antique shops.

She has a soft side to her brothers, she especially spoils Lance and Spencer, she does with Randy too, but is more subtle.

(If ever interacting with other OM!fankids)

Her method of punishing her cousins are strapping to the walls by shackles. And makes them watch creepy kid shows (Just think of Teletubbies but the creepy stuff Via Clockwork Orange style)

While she sits in her chair sipping on her carton of Strawberry or Grape juices through a strew.

Lance the second eldest child Picrew

A Care free guy who loves simple things as long his doing it with his family. He’s as gullible and trusting as his mother, who believe there’s good in every person.

Because of his gullible nature he unintentionally gets into trouble where his sister or father has to bail or get him out off.

Solomon who Tia made him as Lance's Ninong (Godfather) playfully use him to tease Lucifer for a pact and Lance doesn’t even know what’s going on.

His conflicted with his demon side, and rarely shifts into his demon form. Due to losing control every time.

He much prefer using spells and magic like his mother and Ninong Solomon. But like his mother, he tend to forget the right spells when need.

He and Spencer have a special connection, and all because of Solomon doing.

He was the first to have a pact with someone.

Just like his mother his an Animal Lover and that Love extend to Mystical Beast of Devildom. He has a pet Hellhound (A two headed one) that his father gave him as a Birthday Present. He named him Bantay or Ban and Tay for each head.

Randy the second youngest Picrew

Being Raphael and Tia's only child, but is consider as the youngest of the three. However there were times that he is being mistaken as the second eldest since when it comes to maturity Randy is more mature then Lance.

Randy at times feels out of place since he is half angel and half human. He tend to keep to himself, not outspoken like his siblings. But he does let his action speak for himself.

The more athletic of the three, Randy is the well verse of combat and weaponry like his father. Though he has his mother's kind heart... When comes to family.

He idolizes Luke, and rather see him as a big brother. Randy sees him as a Mentor or Master.

He has this Sibling rivalry with Tallulah when it comes to Academics. One time, there was a Instrumental performance for the student body and the two end up making it as a competition. Tallulah with her Violin and Randy with his Flute.

It gotten to the point of intensity that Lucifer and Raphael had to step in and stop the battle. And Mammon was piss because he was making bets on which one will win.

Randy is over protective to Spencer due to them being close to age.

Spencer the youngest Picrew

Spencer was conceive when Tia and Solomon was stuck in the past for 3 years. They only found when they return (1 year in the past is equal to 1 month in the present) 2 months and 10 days has pass in the present. Which is why Randy and Spencer have a close age gap, four months before Randy turned one, Spencer was born.

Like his Papa tend to experiment, but his methods are more destructive, more on trail and error approach.

Since Solomon no longer need his ring of wisdom, he gave the ring to Spencer as a present when he turn 10.

He's a Papa's boy loves following Solomon around when he was a kid, but also love to tease and bully him.

The claw mark on his left eye was cause by a wild wolf. He encounter it when he got lost when he was 3. Some suspect that wolf might be a werewolf, cause since his encounter, Spencer has acted more wild.

Solomon playful ask him to ask for Lucifer for a pact since he was human, Solomon meant it as a way to tease Lucifer, however Lance the little kid he is heard Spencer asking his Dad. So as a brother (More so he didn't know how serious the pact is) Offer himself. Thus the two brothers entered a pact with both fathers watch in horror.

Even though they have a pact with each other, Spencer never once uses his pact with Lance. And instead they grow a bond that is similar to their uncles Beel and Belphie.

#obey me #omswd #obey me shall we date #obey me fan!kids #om!oc: tallulah #om!oc: lance #om!oc: randy #om!oc: spencer

[jazzyjasper98]

The Sims 4: A Series of Unfortunate Events Challenge

By me (@jazzyjasper98 ) 💚. I couldn't find a Sims 4 Challenge based on the original books or movie A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, so I decided to make my own.

POV: You're Violet Baudelaire/The Eldest Orphan

Upon enjoying a seemingly average day at the beach with your two younger siblings, you receive the news that both of your parents have perished in a fire that's destroyed your entire home. Orphaned and homeless, you are sent to live with a vile, grime-covered Count who claims to be a relative and has a number of schemes to get his greedy claws on your family fortune. He's also weirdly obsessed with eyes for some reason. It's up to you to protect your siblings and your inheritance from your new dastardly dad.

Long Lifespan recommended. (••• Menu > Game Options > Gameplay > Sim Lifespan)

Also Highly Recommended, but not Required — MCC Command Center Mod to allow your teen Sim to parent their youngest sibling.

Rules and Gameplay:

Start with two adults, one teen, one child, and one toddler in a mansion of your choosing. You may use "TestingCheats True" + "FreeRealEstate On" to move them into their first home. Names and genders are completely up to you.

Traits:

° Parents: Family Oriented + 2 of your choice

° Teen: Genius, Creative, Good

° Child: Genius, Bookworm

° Toddler: Inquisitive

Aspirations:

° Teen: Knowledge — Academic

° Child: Mental — Whiz Kid

Once your family is made and moved in, exit to Manage Worlds and create or choose an adult to be the Count, build/choose a decrepit-looking home to move him into, then return to the family.

Aspiration: Fortune — Fabulously Wealthy.

Traits: Mean, Evil, Hates Children.

Optional: Use the cheat "ModifyRelationship [Parent First Name] [Parent Last Name] [Count] [Count's Last Name] [Amount] LTR_Friendship_Main" to set the relationship between each parent and the Count before they perish, since Count Olaf knew the Baudelaires and caused their demise in the original story. Friendship amount can be anything from –100 to 100.

• Have the teen take their siblings to any beach (preferably on a cloudy day like in the movie, but this is not required), then switch control to the parents. Make them cook, leave the fireplace on too long, or use cheats/mods. Whatever starts a fire. Make sure neither parent survives. Then bulldoze the lot in Build Mode.

• Use the "Money [Amount]" cheat to set the family funds to §0 (or almost 0), then merge the orphans with the Count household.

• Give 'em hell. It's the "Series of Unfortunate Events" challenge for a reason. Make your Count perform a number of Mean and Mischief interactions with the children. Just try to not let child services take them away, since nobody helped the orphans in the original Series until it was nearly too late.

• When the teen ages up to Young Adult, use money cheats to make the orphans wealthy and move them back into their parents' burned down mansion and build another one (or choose one from the Gallery).

• Live Happily Ever After.

Goals and Epilogue:

Have all three children survive living with the Count until the eldest grows up and inherits their parents' fortune. This is not points based, and there's really no way you can lose — unless you have the Extreme Violence and/or Life Tragedies Mods to add some extra drama, in which case the intentional death of any child by the actions or influence of the Count results in the challenge being lost.

You are allowed to make other guardians like Uncle Monty and Aunt Josephine from the original Series, but you're not required to. I wanted to keep this challenge as simple as possible for Simmers with limited packs.

Once they have a new home and their own lives back, the challenge is over and the rest of their lives is up to you!

Sorry in advance if anything is confusing; this is the first Challenge I've made. Please feel free to leave suggestions or problems in the notes on this post, and tag me if you post your challenge gameplay!

This challenge is not play tested.

#the sims 4 #the sims community #sims challenge #sims 4 challenge #series of unfortunate events #baudelaire orphans #klaus baudelaire #violet baudelaire #sunny baudelaire #count olaf #lemony snicket #series of unfortunate events challenge #the sims

[knickynoo]

In your Marty and Alex are brothers AU, what is Marty’s relationship like with the rest of the family? Here Marty is an older sibling (and who was born first?) instead of the youngest. And how does Marty’s relationships affect Alex’s relationship with the rest of the family?

As usual, I'll link the original Marty & Alex as brothers posts here for others first: post 1 post 2

Also, yay! What started out as a random ask I got one day has turned into a fun little AU that I always enjoy getting asks about.

- Ok. So. I'm going to say Alex was born first, primarily because it then allows him to be able to use that "against" Marty at every possible moment. "Well, I was born first, so..." & "Since I'm the oldest..." are very on brand things for Alex to say.

- As for the rest of the family, I mentioned in a prior post (I think the first one?) that I could see Marty having a good relationship with and being close to Steven. Steven Keaton is such a supportive, fun, guy. He'd totally be behind Marty's music 100% and do things like having him come perform on the yearly telethon Steven hosts. Unlike Alex, Marty would love visiting Steven at work and getting a behind the scenes look at the documentaries and TV shows being made.

- I also wrote about Marty and Alex being sort of competitive when it came to Elyse. I mean, in Family Ties, Alex has no real competition in terms of his mother's affection. He's the oldest, and the only boy (until Andrew comes along!), so he absolutely has a special place in Elyse's heart. She babies Alex to no end. So, I can only imagine what it would be like if he had a twin brother he had to share her love with. Marty would be very close to Elyse, though. They’d especially bond over her musical abilities and play guitar and sing together. Elyse would have her work cut out for her, though. Between Marty's self-esteem/anxiety/impulsivity issues and Alex's anxiety/general neurodivergency, Elyse would constantly be putting out fires. Just a never-ending cycle of heart-to-hearts and pep talks and stern motherly lectures. She'd just get done helping Marty through some crisis and turn around to find Alex waiting his turn.

- I think that Marty and Mallory would have a decently close relationship. He wouldn't tease her or put her down the way Alex does, and, in fact, would probably put Alex in his place when he was being terrible. Marty would put forth his best effort to show interest in Mallory's hobbies and dreams, because that's just the type of guy Marty is. He'd sit with her and ask about what was happening at the clothing store she worked at, and listen intently to the latest news from the fashion world. They'd also be able to relate to each other academically, what with Mallory having such trouble in school and Marty likely being the same way. They'd be study buddies.

- Marty would be close with Jennifer, too. Jennifer (at least in the first several seasons of the show) is very sporty, and while I don't necessarily see Marty as being sporty, I think he's probably more so than Alex. Marty would be the one who's a little more willing to go play basketball or baseball with her.

- I suppose I should include Andy, huh? Honestly, there might be some more competition between Alex and Marty when it came to Andy. A sort of tug-of-war to see who the "favorite" big brother is. In the show, Andy ends up taking after Alex and sharing a lot of his interests, but with Marty factored in, that could change. Ultimately, Andy would gravitate toward them equally for different reasons. Alex would be the one he goes to to talk about the stock market, watch Wall Street Week with, and read books together. Marty would be the one to go to when he wanted to have some wild fun and just be a kid.

Thanks for the ask!

#asks #back to the future #bttf #marty mcfly #family ties #alex p keaton #apk

[teachersupdates]

Meet D+ KCSE Student With 5 Degrees in US

Meet D+ KCSE Student With 5 Degrees in the US. It is typical for society to view high academic performers as future leaders and game-changers. Those who perform poorly on national exams are frequently written off by the system since their chances of success appear to be diminished. However, Mwangi Mukami surprised expectations by graduating with five degrees in the United States of America despite receiving a grade of D+ on the KCSE. Mukami, who frequently posts motivational comments on social media, noted that his peers disregarded his hopes and desires to become an attorney. "Years ago, Kenya’s educational system wrote me off as a failure because I had a D+. I remember vividly saying to my peers that I wanted to be a policymaker or an attorney. Their response was a burst of collective laughter and sneer,” he stated. Mukami was unfazed by their displeasure and set out to prove them wrong. Mwangi's adventure began in 1984, when he was born into a family of nine, including five brothers and three sisters. In Kawangware, Nairobi, they struggled to make ends meet because they were raised by a single mother. He was granted the opportunity to serve as the first male Children's president of the Kenya Children's Cabinet when he was only 17 years old. According to his LinkedIn page, he was one of the individuals that pushed Parliament to pass the Children's Act. "At 17, I served as the first-male Children's president of the Kenya Children's Cabinet. In this role, I championed the Parliament of Kenya to enact the Children's Act, a national law protecting children's rights," he stated. Meet D+ KCSE Student With 5 Degrees in US. Three years later, he founded the National Youth Parliament of Kenya in an effort to implement change. This allowed young leaders to sit in the actual parliament and discuss pertinent problems. In addition, he founded the Martin Luther King (MLK) Jr. Foundation, which sought to assist disadvantaged children and youth through a number of educational programs. "At 24, I founded the Martin Luther King (MLK) Jr. Africa Foundation and served as its Chairman of the Board. Within five years, MLK operated in 8 cities across Africa with 14 full-time and 214 part-time employees," he noted.  By the time he left Kenya for the United States of America in 2009, he sought to enhance his education in order to continue his advocacy goal. Mukami owed his success to his mother, who he noted played a significant role in his career by selling groceries to raise his siblings. "Congratulations to my mom. The degree is a reflection of her tenacity. I am grateful and honoured to have wonderful brothers and sisters who support and trust my ability to achieve,” he stated after sharing a post while graduating. Currently, he holds five degrees from prestigious universities: a dual bachelor's degree in Political Science and International Relations from San Francisco State University, two Associate Degrees in Behavioral Science and Humanities with honours from City College of San Francisco, Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Political Science and a Master of Public Affairs (MPA) from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California. In a recent piece, he explained that his desire to pursue many degrees stemmed from his desire to effect societal change. Mwangi Mukami surprised expectations by graduating with five degrees. Through these endeavours, he has assisted a number of young people in obtaining scholarships to study overseas. "We have utilized newspapers in education to enrich the knowledge of 300+ young scholars in Kenya and the United States, helping 98 percent of them to apply for and receive scholarships. "We have trained 100+ young leaders (18–34) on policy analysis, messaging for impact, non-violent communication, and leading teams. 65 percent of them receiving promotions within one year of leaving our program," reads part of his Linkedin profile. Meet D+ KCSE Student With 5 Degrees in the US. Read the full article

[caidenynuc973]

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[klausthe-bae-ance]

Y'all GENUINELY think Sokka would be acing all of his classes? 👀🤡

#i already went on this rant to my girlfriend but seriously #you're a clown if you think #and NO #sokka isnt dumb #sokka is fucking brilliant #but he 100% is not the academic performative sibling #he has ADHD #sorry #no im not #atla sokka #sokka #avatar the last airbender

[amakumos]

boomerang － eighteen ; pure luck

SYNOPSIS you and jake sim have always been academic rivals. it was always you against him for top of the class, and jake is sure that you two were made to hate each other. a couple years later when you debut and become an idol, you find yourself talking to him again - but it’s in a group chat with other aussie idols, and perhaps you realise that he isn’t that insufferable. WARNINGS mentions of insecurities, overworking & kinda toxic family relationship

You stand outside Seola’s dressing room at Inkigayo, a bouquet of flowers in your hands ready to hand to her group as a congratulations on their debut. 

You hear a loud sigh from inside of the room. “Aren’t you like... good friends with her?” you hear one of Seola’s groupmates say, and your eyebrows knit together in confusion. 

“Who?” you hear Seola say.

“(Name)... she was one of the MCs today.”

“Oh... (Name)? We just went to high school together.” Seola responds. “And no, we aren’t close - god, I wouldn’t ever be close to her.” 

Ouch, you think. But maybe Seola doesn’t mean it - maybe it’s just a joke. But judging by the tone of her voice, it probably isn’t. 

“Didn’t you hang out with her though?” you hear someone say.

“Don’t you get it, Hayul? Asteria is a popular group - if we’re associated with them, we’ll gain a little bit more recognition.” Seola chuckles, and your lips tug into a frown. 

She’s using your group for popularity, you realise. The Seola you knew wouldn’t do that, but you suppose that people change. 

“See, Jiyoon, this is why you should’ve have glared and rolled your eyes at her! We just performed and we already have a scandal.” another voice says.

“I’m sorry.”

“But that aside, how’d (Name) even debut anyways?” another girl says, and you hear giggling once again, and you feel like your heart sinks.

Sure, you’re used to getting hate comments - it’s all part of what comes with being an idol. But it hurts way, way more when it comes from fellow performers like you, and especially when one of those performers was one that you thought to be your friend. 

“Pure luck.” 

You want to throw up. 

All your life, you have only been afraid of those two words. Pure luck - you hate those words with your entire being. 

You vividly remember your father favouring your older siblings when you were younger, and as the middle child, you seemed to rarely get any attention. Despite how you craved to have at least an ounce of the care and love that your siblings got from your father, it seems like you just never did. 

So starting from the age of ten, you decided to immerse yourself in schoolwork, extracurricular activities and winning contests. You came home bringing back tests with a big fat 100% on it, you came home bringing back shining gold trophies and medals, and you came back home with perfect report cards.

But apparently, that was never enough for him. 

You hate it when people undermine your talents and your success - deeming it to all just come from luck, and deciding to not focus on how you work so incredibly hard to get to where you are today. It’s not like you never heard the rumours fly around in school, saying that you didn’t have to study a day in your life because you were born smart. 

But you ignored them, and acted like there was nothing wrong. At least that’s what other people saw. 

Maybe you just want to be regarded for working hard just for once in your life, instead of being known as someone who doesn’t need to do anything and can just succeed with the snap of their fingers. 

Maybe you feel like you still have to prove something. 

Especially when after you made it big in the industry, your father seemed to finally start noticing your existence. Short and curt text messages from him somehow filled your day up with joy (it’s not much, really) - but after feeling left out for years, the sudden change in attitude makes you feel like you’ve finally made him just a little bit proud of you. 

Success is not easy to come by, you think. If you worked just a little less harder than you did back in your high school days, you’re sure that your grades wouldn’t be perfect. 

It hurts especially when Seola is saying this. Seola, who knew you since 7th grade. Seola, who saw you go through sleepless nights at the library just trying to study for exams. Seola, who saw you drink nine cups of coffee in a day just to stay awake so you could finish writing your notes. 

You only realise then you’ve started to cry. Hot tears prick at your eyes, and you hurriedly wipe them away with your hands. Thank god that Inkigayo is over, and you don’t have to go on stage anymore - because if you looked like this while mc’ing with your makeup ruined and tears staining your cheeks? It’d cause a lot of concern. 

You also don’t realise how Jake is just down the hall, a fake plastic cockroach in his hands, ready to scare you. Jake also doesn’t realise how you’re currently crying in front of Seola’s group’s dressing room. 

You sniffle, and you turn away. Jake is walking down the hall now, prepared to scare the shit out of you. There’s a grin on his face that you somehow see, despite your vision being blurred with tears. “Hi, (Name).” he says, and Jake is the absolute last person you want to see right now.

“Fuck off, Jake.”

“I didn’t even-” 

“Just leave me the fuck alone!” you say, storming past him, and you throw the bouquet of flowers on the floor as Jake looks at you with the most confused expression on his face. 

Jake notices the slight quiver in your voice when you yelled at him, and how it was like your voice was about to crack. You covered your face with your hands, and you had sniffled just in the slightest way, as if you were about to cry.

Jake finds himself worried about you. He knows you two have been enemies for ages, but when he sees you crying, he can’t help but feel upset. 

So Jake decides to do the unthinkable. Something that nobody would ever expect him to do.

Jake walks down the hall to where Sungchan is, giving him a wave. “Do you have a packet of tissues?” he asks, and Sungchan fumbles in his backpack before nodding and handing it to the older boy. 

“Are you having allergies-?”

“Thanks for the tissues!” Jake responds, and Sungchan looks at him with a puzzled look.

Jake throws the plastic cockroach on the floor as he jogs (or rather, sprints) to catch up with you, and Sungchan watches as the younger boy disappear down the hallway. “What the fuck...” he murmurs, confused with the way Jake acted.

You’ve gone outside of the building, and Jake sees you sitting on a park bench, your head buried in your hands. Soft sobs escape past your lips, and Jake makes his way to sit down next to you.

“Are you... crying?” he asks, and you look up, your eyes red and your makeup smudged. 

“Yeah. Are you here to make fun of me?” you ask, and Jake frowns. He pulls a packet of tissues out of his pocket, handing it out to you. “Take them,” he says, and you notice how his voice is softer than before.

You look at him with a curious expression, hesitantly taking the pack of tissues. “You’re being nice to me. I’m not used to this.” you say, pulling out a tissue to wipe your eyes with. 

“You’re crying. I’d be an asshole if I wasn’t going to be nice to you.” 

“You being nice to me while I’m crying doesn’t change my opinion of how I think you still suck,” you respond. “But... thank you for the tissues.” 

“You’re welcome.” 

It’s quiet. Jake doesn’t seem to make any move to ask you why you’ve been crying, and you’re sure as hell not going to tell him unless he asks. You don’t even know if you would tell him - for fuck’s sake, he’s been your enemy for 9 years.

Now that you think about it, this might be the first time Jake Sim has actually been nice to you. Or maybe he has done so before, but you just never noticed. 

No, you think. You’re just crying, and Jake is pitying you. Soon enough, you’ll go back to hating each other and spewing insults daily. It’s just tonight when Jake decides to be kind to you because you’re crying. 

“You... wanna talk about it? I mean... you don’t have to - it’s just that people say I’m a good listener. But I’m probably the last person you want to tell about this issue.” Jake suddenly pipes up, and you tilt your head to look at him.

Jake is right. He is the last person you’d want to tell. 

But then again, Jake might understand you. 

He’s been your rival for years. You both have spent majority of your school life trying to beat each other in practically everything. You’re sure Jake has spent sleepless nights revising for tests while juggling soccer and multiple other extracurriculars, just like you have. 

“Are you willing to listen?” you ask, your voice barely above a whisper. 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Jake responds, the volume of his voice matching yours. 

Tonight with your makeup messy and ruined, you decide to confide in Jake Sim, just this once. 

eighteen － pure luck! previous ★ next ♡ masterlist

authors note: hahahhaha............. 😁😁😁😁😁 heyyyyyyyy how r yawl feeling !!! jakey/n first time being civil w each other WOOOOOOOOO!!! but also our poor y/n. #SEOLA_OUT!!!!

BOOMERANG! a jake smau. genre: smau, angst, fluff, crack, enemies to lovers pairing: idol! jake x idol! fem! reader warnings: swearing, ignore timestamps, photos of yujin from ive will be used to visualise outfit / concepts for y/n! taglist is CLOSED!

#enhypenwriters #kflixnet #ficscafe #k-radio! #enhypennetwork #enhypen smau #enhypen angst #enhypen imagines #enhypen fluff #enhypen scenarios #enhypen x reader #enhypen au #jake smau #jake angst #jake imagines #jake fluff #jake scenarios #jake au #jake x reader #jaeyun smau #jaeyun angst #jaeyun imagines #jaeyun fluff #jaeyun scenarios #jaeyun au #jaeyun x reader

[lol-q]

There’s so many things I love about the show that I haven’t seen people give enough credit for and I want to go on a little ramble because people are focusing so much on what they don’t like vs. what they do. So here’s my list. Sorry for the grammatical errors 😬

I love that the lesbian main character is this sweet, innocent, big hearted young woman and not portrayed as a overly sexual fuckboi that hits on every woman. I love that Fatou is soft and gentle. More lesbian rep like that please

I love the soundtrack. It’s exactly the type of stuff I imagine Fatou would listen to and it’s not just the top 100 hit songs.

I love that they use the soundtrack as a way to connect to the plot line, like the lyrics to the song Fatou was listening to when she was on the rooftop said “And I hate to leave you feeling all alone.But your story cannot start until you've grown. You can find how to be OK on your own. I just can't be the one that makes you feel at home” which was a hint as to where the plot was going

^^ also the song playing during Kieu My and Fatou’s museum date

I love the little mannerisms Nhungi chooses to show as Kieu My. The happy little bounce she did in ep 1 when she called out Fatou’s name and when she subtly checked Fatou out by looking her up and down.

I love how their rooms show their individual personality so well. Like Fatou’s room in the beginning of the season was normal and then it became increasingly messy as the episodes moved forward, showing her stress and chaos in her life

I love the height difference between Fatou and her brother lol

I love when her brother and her were thinking of what to get their parents so they split the bill on a gift - a very subtle way of showing siblings interacting

I love when Fatou and Ismail interact cuz it’s so funny

I love the physics teachers speaking voice, he sounds like kermit the frog

I love fatou’s eyebrows. Idk it’s just so perfect. Give me tips plz

I love that the characters rewear clothing. And it’s not a show where every episode is a new outfit with new clothes. Very realistic and it always bothered me when teens on highschool on tv have new clothes every episode

I love that Fatou’s original bio on tinder was “wanna cuddle?”. I feel like that girl would rather cuddle with someone than win the lottery. She’s so soft (also why did it say she was 24 in ep 2 when she was on tinder lol)

I love that the show showed the struggles of coming from a bilingual family and being the only one that struggles to speak it. When fatou was talking to her grandparents with her brother and her brother had to translate for her and it was awkward af, I felt that. I’m the youngest in my family and I struggle to speak Tagalog so people have to translate for me sometimes and it sucks.

^^ I relate to fatou so much in that scene cuz the dynamic in my family is the same as Fatou’s. My parents lay off and let me and my brother do our thing unless there’s an indication we need their help. The only time I ever spoke about school with my family was when report cards would come and they would see my grades weren’t that good. I remember my mom seeing I had a D in middle school and automatically jumping to conclusiosn without letting me speak. My brother is academically successful and he would also try and get me to do more school stuff when I was younger. Like he would make me do math problems to help with my grades. So it’s all very relatable for me

I love when Fatou sings, her voice is so soft and smooth.

I love whenever Kieu My and fatou are flirting both so blatantly and yet so subtly. Like the tension is there but it’s still awkward despite how smooth they both try to be it’s so adorable

I love how Fatou and Kieu My are so confident flirting and talking to eachother through texting but when it’s irl it’s still awkward and new. It shows the reality of an actual relationship in the making. It’s not just a full head dive into “I love you”.

I love when they were at the table tennis bar place and Fatou was hyping up Ava when there were dudes looking at them and Ava did a fancy ass turn and smile. She’s so pretty

I love that Fatou’s problems were shown in subtle ways in the beginning with money. Counting money at her job and when she wa trying to pay for the drink at the bar. It was a small interaction but in real life it would cause a lot of stress and anxiety if money counting problems kept happening over and over again

I love Yara and Josh’s friendship. More platonic friendship between a male and a female please. Also more Yara in general please.

I love that Zoe owned up to her actions last year to the entire group (minus Ismail Constantine and Kieu my) on New Years. I see her owning up to the role as Nora’s big sister.

I love when Josh was drinking a lot during New Years and Fatou was trying to get him to slow down. It shows how big her heart is for her friends. Also I think Josh and Fatou could be great friends

I love that Kieu My looks at Fatou like she hung the stars. When Fatou mentioned she knew Kieu My was a Scorpio, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen that girl smiled so big (before episode 5 of course)

I love that whenever they kiss Kieu my is smiling.

I love Sira’s side profile. There I said it. Girl has the jawline of a Greek goddess.

I love that they change Fatou’s hair. She looks good in every hair style but it’s always nice to see her in different styles.

I love that they showed the struggles of being a passive and gentle person. Because we’re not assertive in regular everyday life we are easily looked over. And it’s hard for us to muster the gusto to be assertive and take what we need because we prefer shying away from conflict and just letting things flow. I relate to fatou’s character so much in that sense. I lowkey think this is the universe’s way of telling me to stop being so passive about life and to take charge idk.

I love that the topic of white savior and performative activism was touched on. And I love that it was between two friends because it’s very realistic to how dynamics work between young people these days. The way they handle it differs in opinion but the fact that they even spoke about it was great.

I love that moment when Kieu My wrapped the vietnamese pancake in the lettuce snd handed it to Fatou. Its so sweet. If I was Fatou I would have forgiven her right then and there lol

I LOVE THE HEIGHT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWo. YES MORE HEIGHT DIFFERENCE.

Episode 6. Just all of it. Even the angsty part. I want more of that. Episode 6 yes. I’ll marry episode 6

Kieu My wearing Fatou’s cardigan. 💕💕💕💕💕💕✨✨✨✨✨😫😫💕✨✨🥺

^^ but also as a person that tried bangs before, you can’t tell me that girl woke up with her bangs perfectly in place lol. This girl probably bought a mini straightener or something too

Fatou telling Kieu My it doesn’t matter if she wears make up or not rather than going off on how she looks prettier without it. She’s just like “it doesn’t matter. You’re pretty no matter what, my little space nerd”

Pissed off fatou is a hot fatou. Js

I love Sira’s acting in general. But the way she shows Fatou’s sadness is great. It’s not just tears and that’s it. When she got fired it was a build up of tears but she wasn’t sobbing, same thing with the cashqueens argument. But she broke when her and Kieu My got in a fight.

Finn being socially awkward. It’s so funny cuz Zoe is this bubbly party girl and her boyfriend is so awkward. Nice balance.

^^also his hair makes me laugh idk why

Ismail opening up to Fatou shows how so many people feel at ease with her. Girl has a calming presence for everybody, she doesn’t even realize how much she’s helped others.

I love that Constantine wears the same jacket over and over again. Idk it seems to fit his character.

^^also kudos to the actor who plays him, he’s doing an amazing job

Love Fatou. Love her dimples and her soft voice. She gets all high pitched when she’s normally speaking but when she was fighting with Kieu My her voice became lower. Just love the way Sira’s voice sounds. Also Nhungi’s speaking voice.

Love the shaky camera movements. The fast pans and the slow motion dance scenes.

Love the aesthetic of Kieu My smoking but PLEASE DONT SMOKE, CHILDREN. ITS BAD FOR YOU.

Love the different aesthetics of the cashqueens

Love maike. Great actress. Give this turtle an Oscar.

Love Kieu My climbing the roof to help her Fatou. Softie to her girlfriend but an ice queen to the world lol.

Love the actors. Love the characters. It just makes me so happy.

This is so well written, i might actually cry no but really it was really nice to read your positive and cuteee facts after the tag check :/ and it really helped because i get mad and sad when i see bad takes. Everything you said was so true and i think im fangirling over this essay. And it made me emotional 👉👈.  Represantation does really matter.

This season is so important for so many people and i don’t think some people realize that when they’re ‘’criticizing’’ some things. Not only we have a lesbian main, we have a black lesbian main who is the softest person in the world and she has LD and/or ADHD. I sometimes can’t believe we got to the point of skamverse where we get rep instead of hurtful,problematic seasons and plots, some might interpret that as shade but it really isn’t, careless storylines really does hurt ppl and why would you want to hurt people when you can give 8 min of sapphic museum date instead 👭🌌 :)

i love this season, i love this gen and i love this essay

#no but i could go one by one and talk about everything you numbered #but im not gonna for the sake of other ppl #because everyone hates long post #people were really so cute in my asks today instead of defending constantin so that was nice👍 #i do the others later #but this was so cute stopppp #shut up about my grammer!! #do not talk about my grammer #druck #ask

[satansjit]

Reflections on the Color of My Skin

By Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

My colleague had other encounters with the law that he shared later that night, but his first story started a chain reaction among us. One by one we each recalled multiple incidents of being stopped by the police. None of the accounts were particularly violent or life-threatening, although it was easy to extrapolate to highly publicized cases that were. One of my colleagues had been stopped for driving too slowly. He was admiring the local flora as he drove through a New England town in the autumn. Another had been stopped because he was speeding, but only by five miles per hour. He was questioned and then released without getting a ticket. Still another colleague had been stopped and questioned for jogging down the street late at night.

As for me, I had a dozen different encounters to draw from. There was the time I was stopped late at night at an underpass on an empty road in New Jersey for having changed lanes without signaling. The officer told me to get out of my car and questioned me for ten minutes around back with the headlights of his squad car brightly illuminating my face. Is this your car? Yes. Who is the woman in the passenger seat? My wife. Where are you coming from? My parent’s house. Where are you going? Home. What do you do for a living? I am an astrophysicist at Princeton University. What’s in your trunk? A spare tire, and a lot of other greasy junk. He went on to say that the “real reason” why he stopped me was because my car’s license plates were much newer and shinier than the 17-year-old Ford that I was driving. The officer was just making sure that neither the car nor the plates were stolen.

Among my other stories, I had been stopped by campus police while transporting my home supply of physics textbooks into my newly assigned office in graduate school. They had stopped me at the entrance to the physics building where they asked accusatory questions about what I was doing. It was 11:30 p.m. Open-topped boxes of graduate math and physics textbooks filled the trunk. And I was transporting them into the building, which left me wondering how often that scenario shows up in police training videos.

We went on for two more hours. But before we retired for the night we searched for common denominators among the stories. We had all driven different cars—some were old, others were new, some were undistinguished, others were high performance imports. Some police stops were in the daytime, others were at night. Taken one-by-one, each encounter with the law could be explained as an isolated incident where, in modern times, we all must forfeit some freedoms to ensure a safer society for us all. Taken collectively, however, you would think the cops had a vendetta against physicists because that was the only profile we all had in common. In this parade of automotive stop-and-frisks, one thing was for sure, the stories were not singular, novel moments playfully recounted. They were common, recurring episodes. How could this assembly of highly educated scientists, each in possession of the PhD—the highest academic degree in the land—be so vulnerable to police inquiry in their lives? Maybe the police cued on something else. Maybe it was the color of our skin. The conference I had been attending was the 23rd meeting of the National Society of Black Physicists. We were guilty not of DWI (Driving While Intoxicated), but of other violations none of us knew were on the books: DWB (Driving While Black), WWB (Walking While Black), and of course, JBB (Just Being Black).

None of us were beaten senseless. None of us were shot. But what does it take for a police encounter to turn lethal? On average, police in America kill more than 100 unarmed black people per year. Who never made it to our circle? I suspect our multi-hour conversation would be rare among most groups of law-abiding people.

As I compose this, about 10,000 chanting protestors are filing past my window in Manhattan. And because of the intermittent looting and related violence, the curfew for this evening has been pushed earlier, to 8 p.m., from 11 p.m. in the preceding days. The most common placard was “Black Lives Matter.” Many others simply displayed the name George Floyd, who was handcuffed face-down on the street with a police officer’s knee on the back of his neck, applied with a force of at least half the officer’s body weight, resulting in his death. Curious irony that NFL star Colin Kaepernick offered a simple demonstration of care and concern for the fate of black people in the custody of police officers, by taking a knee during the Star Spangled Banner before football games. (One media outlet mangled the moment by describing him as protesting the national anthem.) The outrage against his silent act of concern for a national problem persisted through the 2017 season when, as a free agent, he went unsigned by any team to continue his livelihood.

So, we went from a peaceful knee to the ground to a fatal knee to the neck.

The way peaceful protesters and the press are being shoved, maced, tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed, and tackled in the streets of our cities (when the police should have focused on arresting the looters) you would think the protestors were doing something illegal or un-American. But, of course, the U.S. Constitution has something to say about it:

Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom … of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Which amendment was that? The First Amendment. So, the founders of this nation felt quite strongly about it, empowering one to declare that protesting for redress of grievances is one of the most American things you can do. If you are the police, pause and reflect how great is the country whose Constitution endorses peaceful protests.

What do we actually expect from our police officers? To protect the peace and arrest the bad guys, I presume. But also, to be armed with lethal force that they can use when necessary. That part clearly requires training on how and when to use (and not use) the power of your weapons. The rigorous Minneapolis Police Academy training lasts 4 months. The slightly more rigorous NYC Police Academy lasts 6 months.

Yet to become a certified pastry chef at a prestigious culinary academy requires 8 months. The perfect croissant demands it. So maybe, just maybe, police recruits could benefit from a bit more training before becoming officers.

In 1991, Rodney King (age 25) was struck dozens of times, while on the ground, by four LAPD officers, with their batons, after being tased. The grainy 1990s video of that went media-viral, inducing shock and dismay to any viewer.

But I wasn’t shocked at all.

Based on what I already knew of the world, my first thought was, “We finally got one of those on tape.” Followed by, “Maybe justice will be served this time.” Yes, that’s precisely my first thought. Why? Since childhood my parents instilled in me and my siblings, via monthly, sometimes weekly lessons, rules of conduct to avoid getting shot by the police. “Make sure that when you get stopped, the officer can always see both of your hands.” “No sudden movements.” “Don’t reach into your pockets for anything without announcing this in advance.” “When you move at all, tell the officer what you are about to do.” At the time, I am a budding scientist in middle school, just trying to learn all I can about the universe. I hardly ever think about the color of my skin—it never comes up when contemplating the universe. Yet when I exit my front door, I’m a crime suspect. Add to this the recently coined “White Caller Crime,” where scared white people call the police because they think an innocent black person is doing something non-innocent, and it’s a marvel that any of us achieve at all.

The rate of abuse? Between one and five skin-color-instigated incidents per week, for every week of my life. White people must have known explicitly if not implicitly of this struggle. Why else would the infamous phrase, “I’m free, white, and 21” even exist? Here is a compilation of that line used in films across the decades. Yes, it’s offensive. But in America, it’s also truthful. Today’s often-denied “white privilege” accusation was, back then, openly declared.

The deadly LA riots associated with the Rodney King incident are often remembered as a response to the beating. But no. Los Angeles was quiet for 13 months afterward. Everyone had confidence, as did I, that the video was just the kind of evidence needed to finally bring about a conviction in the abuse of power. But that’s not what came to pass. The riots were a response to the acquittal of the four officers in the incident, and not to the incident itself. And what is a riot if not the last act of helpless desperation.

The 1989 film by Spike Lee “Do the Right Thing,” which explored 1980s black-white-police tensions in Brooklyn, New York, ends with a dedication to the families of six people. Eleanor Bumpers (age 66), Michael Griffith (age 23), Arthur Miller (age 30), Edmund Perry (age 17), Yvonne Smallwood (age 28), and Michael Stewart (age 25). All are black. One was killed by a white mob. The rest were unarmed and shot by police or otherwise died while in police custody. All deaths occurred within the 10 years preceding film, and all occurred in New York City. None of the police-induced deaths resulted in convictions, as continues to be true for 99% of all police killings.

We know of these events because they each ended in death. But even so, back then, it was just local news. Was this just NYC’s problem? I asked myself. But for every police-related death anywhere, how many unarmed victims are shot by police and don’t die, or are wrongfully maimed or injured? Most of those cases didn’t even make the local news. But if you lived there, you knew. We all knew. For what it’s worth, NYC now has the lowest police-caused death rate per capita among the sixty largest cities in the US. Is it that extra two months training in the Police Academy?

The corrosion and ultimate erosion of our confidence in the legal system in cases such as these, even in the face of video evidence, has spawned a tsunami of protests. With sympathetic demonstrations across the United States and around the world. If the threat of prison time for this behavior does not exist—acting as a possible deterrent—then the behavior must somehow stop on its own.

Some studies show that the risk of death for an unarmed person at the hands of the police is approximately the same no matter the demographics of who gets arrested. Okay. But if your demographic gets stopped ten times more than others, then your demographic will die at ten times the rate. I suppose we first have to get the bias factor down to zero, but then there’s still the matter of police killing unarmed suspects, white people included.

I talk a lot. But I don’t talk much about any of this, or the events along this path-of-most-resistance that have shaped me. Why? Because throughout my life I’ve used these occasions as launch-points to succeed even more. Yes, I parlayed the persistent rejections of society, which today might be called micro-aggressions, into reservoirs of energy to achieve. I learned that from my father, himself active in the Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s and 1960s.

In a way, I am who I am precisely because countless people, by their actions or inactions, said I could never be what I am. But what if you don’t have this deep supply of fuel? What becomes of you? Who from historically disenfranchised communities, including women, LGBTQ+, and anybody of color, are missing—falling shy of their full potential because they ran out of energy and gave up trying.

Are things better today than yesterday? Yes. But one measure of this truth is a bit perverse. Decades ago, unarmed black people getting beaten or killed by the police barely merited the local news. But now it’s national news—even breaking news—no matter where in the country it occurs.

So how to change all this? Organizations have surely assembled demands for police departments. Here, I offer a list of my own, for policy experts to consider:

Extend police academies to include months of cultural awareness and sensitivity training that also includes how not to use lethal force.

Police officers should all be tested for any implicit bias they carry, with established thresholds of acceptance and rejection from the police academy. We all carry bias. But most of us do not hold the breathing lives of others in our hands when influenced by it.

During protests, protect property and lives. If you attack nonviolent protesters you are being un-American. And you wouldn’t need curfews if police arrested looters and not protesters.

If fellow officers are behaving in a way that is clearly unethical or excessively violent, and you witness this, please stop them. Someone will get that on video, and it will give the rest of us confidence that you can police yourselves. In these cases, our trust in you matters more to a civil society than how much you stick up for each other.

And here’s a radical idea for the Minneapolis Police Department—why not give George Floyd the kind of full-dress funeral you give each other for dying in the line of duty? And vow that such a death will never happen again.

Lastly, when you see black kids, think of what they can be rather than what you think they are.

Respectfully Submitted

Neil deGrasse Tyson — trying hard to Keep Looking Up.

Copyright © 2018 Neil deGrasse Tyson

#neil degrasse tyson #reflections on the color of my skin #reflections #black lives matter #justiceforfloyd #blm movement #blm #support blm #science #george floyd #justice for black lives #justice for poc #no justice no peace #know justice know peace #white silence is violence #physics #amerikkka #blacklivesmatter

[miraclesnail]

1000 Ways and I Can Name You One

A thousand ways to tell the Stoll brothers apart and I can name you one. Travis and Connor centric oneshots featuring characters from PJO/HOO.

Chapter 32: Michael - Food 

Plus the whole 9.7k fic under the read more but with funky formatting 

Michael — Food

Michael (14) — Travis (13) — Connor (13)

Early June 2007

Pre Sea of Monsters

[8:07 AM]

The whole drive to Camp, Lee has been saying the weirdest things. 

‘This camp is special.’

‘This camp is for children of Greek gods and goddesses.’

‘This camp helps the said children harness the godly gifts inherited from said gods and goddesses.’

‘This camp is top secret and no matter what, you cannot tell your mother about Camp Half Blood. Not a word. Not a complaint. Not even a compliment. Michael? Are you listening? Ar—are you laughing?! Michael, I’m not joking around. This is not a joke.’

Did Michael take Lee seriously? Not at all. Not even to humor him. What does Lee take him for? An idiot? Like, he doesn’t really have many friends at school (none actually) but even he knows when someone is trying to pull a prank on him. Lee typically goes for jump scares, but it’s good to see him broaden his horizon and try new things. 

Yeah. 

Michael wholeheartedly believes Lee is 100% kidding around. 

It’s kind of a shock when he walks through the camp and sees flowers being grown in someone’s palms, men with hooves and horns trotting around, a goddamn girl rising from the lake like some kind of b-grade horror movie but minus the sunken eyes and gray skin and tattered white dress. 

It’s a big shock. Kinda earth-shattering actually. Very disorientating. It’s taking all his mental capability to process the fact that the Greek gods are real , that the Greek myths are real , that his atheist beliefs are all wrong and holy fuck?? God is real . 

It’s probably why when that SOB Shermie or Sherlock or whatever his name is picked a fight, he welcomed the easy distraction and picked one right back. 

In hindsight, he should have maybe exhibited more self-control. 

“He shoved me.”

The utter stare of incredulity has Michael quickly rephrasing his initial statement, fiddling with a loose string on his t-shirt. 

“He shoved me first. ”

“And so you decided to turn it into a slugfest?” Lee says, arms crossing as they stand on Cabin 11’s porch. 

“To be fair, to be fair,” Michael says, scrambling for excuses as his eyes dart from cabin to cabin, “to be really fair, that Sherm-guy started it.”

Lee didn’t buy it, not that Michael expected him too. 

“You promised me, Michael,” Lee says, disappointed, and Michael looks away with guilt. 

He did promise Lee. Right before they left the apartment complex, Lee explicitly said, “Promise me, Michael, that you’ll be on your best behavior?” And he said he will. 

“Mike, I don’t want any phone calls from the head honcho again, okay?” his mom said, exasperated. He said there wouldn’t be any.

“Mikey, please tell us all the fights you’ll get into!” his four little siblings — Leo, Raphie, Carly, and Sam — screamed together with cheeky, smug, knowing grins as he got into the car with Lee. He said ‘in your dreams.’ 

Not even one full hour and he failed two out of three. Possibly all three if Travis and Connor decide to hand his ass to the director. 

“I’m really sorry, Lee,” Michael says, head lowering, “I promise for real this time. I won’t get into any more fights. I swear.” 

Like clockwork, the frown and crossed arms drop for a bright smile and a hair ruffling, like he actually believed Michael can do it. Lee’s weird like that. He believes in people and their lies despite what their actions are saying, believes in him even with the 14 years of experience that Michael cannot follow through on that promise. 

It’s that same idealistic, stupid belief that has Lee clinging to the hope his birth mom will one day want to actually be a mom. 

Michael slinks back into the cabin as quietly as he can. Miranda catches his eye and waves him over, patting the empty spot next to her. Michael hesitates (still remembers the way she tosses a boy a whole head taller than her like nothing) but thought better of it. 

The promise, he thinks. Remember your promise. 

He sees Sherman sitting on Miranda’s other side. As he slides down to sit cross-legged, he’s mentally preparing himself for a jeer. But Sherman is just staring at Miranda, wide-eyed and star-struck and totally ignoring him which is perfectly fine with Michael. 

Miranda angles her body towards him, a slight smile on her face as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “I just want to warn you that you’re in Connor’s bad book right now.”

“Should I be worried?” Michael says, glancing at the brothers talking on one of the upper bunk beds.

To which Miranda smiles sweetly. “You should keep your head down. I heard he gets a bit prank-crazy with people he doesn’t like.”

A sharp whistle brings his attention upfront. 

“Okay, so hey, everybody! Exciting first day, I know. Welcome to Camp Half Blood,” one of the pair says with a big grin, standing on top of the upper bunk bed. The other sits at the edge, feet swinging over. “We’re already late for breakfast so I’ll make this super-duper quick. My name is Travis Stoll. I am one of your head counselors. This is Connor, my little brother.” 

Connor waves, his smile matching Travis’s.

“I’m also your counselor. Any problems you guys have whether it be life problems, camp problems, prank problems, you can come to us. Lucky for you guys, you have two of us. Most cabins just have one,” Connor says. 

“Where’s Luke?” someone in the back yells. 

“Luke is gone now. If you see him, either in person or in a dream, tell us right away. Please come talk to me after this meeting if you want more details,” Connor answers, still cheerful but Michael kinda feels like his words are too curt. There’s definitely bad blood between this Luke person and them.

“Moving on,” Travis follows after, “the beds are all taken. Any more fighting over them will result in the instigator getting a timeout. For everybody else, sleeping bags are available and we will make room. Your stuff can be placed in the closet or tucked in your sleeping bag. I know this cabin’s patron is the god of thievery, but please show respect and decency towards your fellow cabinmates and don’t steal from each other. Steal from other cabins instead. Apollo’s kids are the easiest to steal from. So are Aphrodite’s if you want to practice before moving onto the big leagues. Athena’s and Hephaestus’s cabins are where the real challenge is.”

“What about the claiming rate? Someone said the gods would claim us more now,” a girl asks, standing from her sitting position with a bounce, hope in her eyes. 

“Uh, um...” Travis falters, looking down at Connor for guidance. It’s hard to notice but Connor bites his cheeks and just barely shakes his head.

“Claiming, yeah. I’m not too sure about that. I’ll talk with Chi — Tantalus about that. Tantalus is the activity director now in case you all don’t know,” Travis answers. 

There’s a chorus of groans. 

Someone grumbles, “It’s been years.”

“What happened to Chiron?” another asks.

“Temporarily relieved of duty due to, uh, an investigation of his effectiveness on the job. Which, if you ask me, Chiron has been doing a fantastic job of and we should all write a very strongly worded letter to Zeus to get him back on his job.”

A boy in front of Michael shoots his hand up. 

“I heard Luke went all ‘Anakin Skywalker’ on us and joined Kr—”

Connor blows an air horn and interrupts the boy before he could finish. Travis’s smile is strained as he says, “Okay, first rule on Camp Half Blood for the foreseeable future! No mentioning any of the bad guys by name. Names have power. Instead we will refer to him by initials. The evil titan guy will be called K.T. K for his first letter and T because he controls time.” 

“Can we change it to K.K. Slider?” the same boy says.

Beside him, a girl socks the boy in the arm. “No! How dare you sully K.K.’s name like this?”

But Travis is already jumping down his bed, landing with grace. “K.K. Slider it is. That’s all for the morning announcements. Now everybody gets in a straight line. We’re going to the pavilion for breakfast and it is the best thing ever. You can literally get whatever you want. All you need is the power of imagination. Well, imagination and common sense. Don't imagine something you won’t eat. It’s not a contest to create the grossest food.” 

Connor follows down after his brother with a grin and shrugs. “But if it was, I would win.”

Growing up, Michael is what everybody called a ‘problem child.’ Absolutely zero friends not helped by him picking and starting fights for the ‘smallest’ reasons. No remarkable talent except for his athleticism. Mediocre to poor grades due to inability to focus (and it doesn’t help that he’s dyslexic and that his teachers all hate him and that he has a homing device for all the school’s bullies). 

The teachers blamed his mother for his attitude and academic abilities. But they don’t know shit. His mother helps him with his homework after coming back from work. His mother searches for ways to help him manage his ADHD and dyslexia. His mother is raising five kids all by herself with zero help from his deadbeat dad. Going to their extracurricular activities, funding their education, making time to have game and movie nights. His mother is literally Superman for finding time to do all that across five children. No. Make that six. Mom always attends Lee’s band performances and includes him with all their activities and outings and supports him the way Lee’s own mom should be doing. 

Michael’s pretty sure his mom isn't the problem.

Besides his four younger siblings are literal angels. Clearly, the problem is him. Not his mother. 

That’s why going into high school he had every intention of becoming a better son, a better brother, and a better student. Set a better reputation for his family, you know?

Unfortunately, this whole mess with him being half-god kinda put a pause on his plans. 

And put every weird thing Lee ever did into perspective. 

That one time Lee slapped his brand new Nokia cellphone out of his hands and ended his cell’s short life by stomping the hell out of it? Those dozens of times Lee lectured him about not using technology with his stupid excuse of ‘it rots your brain, Michael. Don’t touch it,’ despite Lee himself using a phone and a laptop on a daily basis?? Those hundreds of times Lee excused himself from dinner, movies, and the middle of game nights to ‘use the bathroom’ and coming back with a thin layer of gold dust??? Those weird dreams he gets of standing on top of a broken, tethering bridge and falling thousands of meters to his death in a ravine and Lee saying, ‘it’s just a dream. Don’t worry about it’ with a high-pitched, forced laugh that says he should be worrying????

Now he sees what it was all about. Obviously a metaphor for the earth-shattering revelation of his heritage. 

He’s half- god . A demigod. Some part of him came from an immortal being.

It makes him see his dad in a whole new light. 

Like, Michael always knows his dad is an asshole, leaving his mom and whatnot. 

But now? Knowing his dad is a literal god in the Greek myths he read back in 6th grade? Those freaky assholes with their crazy sex adventures and ego-driven tantrums?

At least the fantasy asshole dad he had in mind didn’t commit mass genocide or is an egotistical, narcissistic jerk or had sex with their siblings, parents, animals, and who knows what else freaky shit the gods like to stick their dick in to. 

And the most bizarre thing is that he’s expected to honor them by throwing the best parts of his meal into the fire. 

Well, he’s not gonna.

“Throw your food into the fire, Mike,” one of his counselors says beside him as he tosses a bag of M&M into the flames. 

“Why should I?”

“So the gods don’t get angry,” says the other counselor, throwing half of his strawberries — Michael stares at the plate. It’s just strawberries. Nothing else. That’s not healthy — into the fire before turning to help the others. 

“They’re gonna threaten us if we don’t worship them? Sounds like a pretty unhealthy parent-child relationship,” Michael says. 

The one that tossed the M&Ms shrugs. “Just toss something in. It can be anything. Even something you ha— don’t care about. That’s what I do. I don’t think Hermes minds.” 

But what Michael hears is that this Hermes fella doesn’t give a shit. 

A small boy with round glasses wedges in between them, frowning, and tosses in a sausage link. “Don’t listen to Connor. You’re never going to be claimed if you listen to him.” 

Connor shrugs again. “Hermes hasn’t disowned me yet.”

“That’s because Hermes is busy with other things. The other gods don’t have a child plotting to usurp—” the kid starts to say but at Connor’s harsh nudging and loud cough and not so subtle nod towards the others in the pavilion and (kind of scary) glare, he shuts up. A second passes before the boy says to him, “Everybody likes to feel appreciated, Michael. Even gods. It’s good to remind them we’re here for them. Now more than ever.”

Michael frowns at the exchange. Child? Usurp? Usurp who? The gods? Yeah. Like that is even possible. 

“What were you trying to say—”

“So I see you got over your embarrassing loss,” Connor interrupts with this infuriating smug grin. “Man, I would have hidden my face for like a year after the way I kicked your ass.” 

And just like that, Michael forgets everything but that day back in March when he met the brothers. It’s an obvious bait and Michael just lunges for it like the dumb fish he is. 

“No, I kicked your ass. Kicked it all the way down the stairs,” Michael huffs at Connor’s heel as they walk to the table. Connor slides into the first open spot he sees and Michael sits down across from him, elbow to elbow to his cabinmates. They need a bigger picnic table. 

“Ass?” Besides Connor, Miranda’s head swivels to face them, her smile innocent but Michael knows better now. Behind that sweet smile is a demon. “Who kicked whose ass? ” 

“We met Michael back in March when we hopped in Lee’s car and we’re not using that language, Mikey,” Travis says, sitting down beside Connor slurping a mouthful of cereal. 

“So? Who won?” Miranda asks, leaning over to slide scrambled eggs onto Travis’s plate and picking off 75% of Travis’s many, many strawberries from his plate. 

Travis stares at the egg with disdain. “Connor won, of course. And I don’t want that. Take it back.” 

“Will said you need something more than just strawberries in the morning. Doctor’s orders. Disobey and you’ll feel his wrath,” Miranda says. 

For half-a-second, Michael thinks Travis is going to fight but he turns back in his seat and just grabs his fork. 

“There’s nothing wrong with just strawberries for breakfast,” Travis grumbles, stabbing his fork into the scrambled eggs. “Right? Nothing wrong with strawberries.”

“I think that depends on the quantity but don’t worry, Travis. I totally got you,” Connor says, pulling out a basket of strawberries and ducking from Miranda’s sudden lunge for it. With ease, Connor holds Miranda back while Travis indulges in his unhealthy obsession with a satisfied, blissed smile. 

Michael thinks of the half Travis threw into the fire and before he knows it, he’s saying, “You really love strawberries, don’t you?” 

Travis nods, mouth full. “Favorite food in the world.”

“Then you must like your—” 

But Travis’s eyes shoot to a girl entering the pavilion, heading straight towards the table with the plant-speaking kid, and Michael knows his words are falling on deaf ears. Travis nudges Connor and whispers into his ear, a shit-eating grin sprouting on Connor’s face as he looks over his shoulder. 

Miranda catches their grins and stands, yelling, “Katie, wait!”

But Katie sits down and Michael hears what is probably the world’s loudest, strongest whoopee cushion rip through the pavilion. Travis and Connor laugh as Katie stands back up, cushion in hand and face flushed tomato red.

“Welcome back, Miss Tattletale!” Travis yells. 

“That was months ago, you pieces of — of — fertilizers! Give me a break!” Katie roars. The ground rumbles as a tree sprouts beside the table, hooking Travis and Connor up by the back of their shirts. They’re way too calm as they’re dangling several feet in the air. In unison, both brothers pull out squirt guns and aim them at Katie. 

And it is definitely not water judging by the smell. 

[9 AM, Sword Fighting]

Lee said he was a demigod. That monsters are real. And that they sometimes must fight off the monsters that come to eat them. 

Michael never really thought about what it entailed. What they’re supposed to fight the monsters with. 

Dimly, he’s aware of his counselors talking. Something about introduction to swordsmanship and the bare basics plus safety today, then tomorrow they will be training with Ares? Apollo? ‘Some god with the letter A’ cabin and learning a few techniques. He isn’t really paying attention to them as he stares at the blade in his hands. 

It’s real. It’s a real, metal blade. And by the looks of it, everyone has one. Even the little 9-year-old. What the fuck? That’s how old the twins, Sam and Carly, are and holy shit. The thought of them with a real sword? The thought of them having to use it to battle some mythical monster? It's enough to make him vomit. 

“Michael? Michael, hey.” Someone is snapping their fingers in front of his eyes and he knocks the hand away, glaring at … at … well, it’s either Travis or Connor, staring at him blankly, but he can’t tell who’s who yet. They should have worn nametags. 

“What?”

“Have you ever used a sword before?”

Michael kinda felt it should have been obvious, but he shakes his head. 

“Okay, well imagine you’re holding a kitchen knife and you’re cutting some veggies for a veggie soup but instead of a broccoli, it’s a monster and instead of small dainty cuts, you’re making big, wide, full power slashes. So nothing like what I told you to imagine. Forget I said that. You want to grip it like this with both hands—” Connor (or Travis?) demonstrates and Michael mimics the action, “—for the most control. You can try one-handed but the strikes tend to be flimsy at best unless you’re gifted like Clarisse or Percy. You want to kill the monsters as fast and in one go as you can while still being safe. Here’s—” he is walked over to a hand-made, hand-stuffed dummy with straws sticking out its seams. A happy face on a yellow sticky note stuck to where it’s head is. “—a practice dummy for you. Give it a few swings and get a feel for the weapon. I’ll be right back with more pointers after helping everyone. You good to be by yourself a bit?”

Then Travis (Connor?) is leaving after Michael hesitates to say ‘no, I’m not good’, taking off with a thumbs up and a crooked grin.

Michael almost called him back, but they’re a big cabin.  Only a quarter of them have been gotten too, the other three-fourths goofing around while waiting their turn. Michael has never been to a summer camp before, nevermind one as strange as this, but he guesses they’re on a tight schedule. 

So he looks down, readjusts his grip, and swings, missing spectacularly, losing his balance, and nearly taking his eye out. 

[10:00 AM, Archery]

Michael didn’t need much help here.

The bow feels right in his hands. His body knows what to do, his arms pull back the bow like it has done this a million times and his first shot lands dead center in the bullseye. 

The next five shots are the same.

“Woah,” his counselor mutters, face scrunched in thought before it lightens up, blue eyes shining with a gleam. “You’re a natural. Hey, you wanna be the archery tutor? I’ve never seen anyone aim so well and had such perfect form. Not even Annabeth.”

Michael lowers the bow and tries to figure out how he did what he just did despite never once using a bow before in his life. 

[11:00 AM, Greek Mythology]

Michael knew Lee was a decent teacher, tutoring him in both English and Math, so it’s no surprise he’s decent at teaching Greek mythology too. All the campers are in the amphitheater with hand made wooden desks courtesy of the girl from breakfast. Lee is in the center with an overhead projector just having the time of his life explaining what each of the 12 Olympians plus Hades represents with a mind map. 

He tries to pay attention. He really did. He gets through listening to Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and part of Demeter’s history before his attention is pulled away by Travis and Connor. They’re far away from the group, beside the cabins,  hunched over a … birdbath? It looks like they’re arguing to the birdbath, but Michael squints and with his perfect vision sees that there is a person. On the surface of the birdbath. A girl with blonde hair. There’s a girl in the water of the birdbath. 

There’s a girl. In the water. Of a birdbath. 

Maybe he shouldn’t be so surprised. Food pops into existence with a thought. A girl can grow fullass trees without blinking an eye. Miranda can toss a boy almost twice her weight over her shoulder.

So what if the camp has a Moaning Myrtle?

Before he knows it, Lee is done, Michael misses the other 8 Olympian’s tales, and everybody is packing up their notes to head back to their respective cabins.

They’re ending early to have enough time for a tour of the camp. Which is kind of telling where their priorities are when they hold training first over the tour. 

It’s kind of even more telling what the camp’s view of safety is when there’s a climbing wall that spews lava and when asked about why there’s lava, Travis and Connor say cheerfully in unison,  ‘it’s more exciting that way.’

“Hey, Travis,” a kid starts, tugging on one of the brother’s sleeves. 

“I’m Connor, but yeah?” Connor corrects, turning to face the camper.

“Um, I heard from someone in the Ares Cabin that because of us, we’re in war with Kro—K.K. Is that true?”

Connor smiles and shakes his head. “No. We didn’t do anything.”

He didn’t refute the war part though. 

And as if Connor hears his thoughts, he addresses the cabin, “You don’t have to fight if you don’t want to. But monsters are still a thing so you still have to go to the morning training. No way out of those. Sorry.”

[12:30, Lunch]

Michael is starting to think Travis is some kind of strawberry fanatic and that’s putting it lightly. 

There’s another concerning amount of strawberries on his plate coupled with a grilled cheese sandwich and a salad, yes, but that’s way too many strawberries for one day.

“No such thing,” Travis says, scraping half of his ungodly amount into the fire. 

“I think there is a limit though.” Connor shrugs, tossing a bag of M&M right after.

Michael follows them to the table, even more cramped now. Five new campers, unclaimed, arrived late because of road traffic. He tucks himself into the first opening he sees, shoulder to shoulder and elbow to elbow. Many inches too close in his opinion. 

“Travis,” Michael starts, thinking back to breakfast, “You’re claimed, right? You know who your godly parent is?”

“Yup, Hermes. God of Pranksters,” Travis says, stabbing his fork into a lettuce and turning to wave it at Lee’s table which is much more roomier. Lee catches the action and nudges a boy beside him with an elbow, snickering. The boy turns and rolls his eyes at Travis. 

“You like your dad, right?” Michael asks. 

A quarter of the cabin immediately stops talking and not really subtly turns to them. He’s pretty sure he’s breaking some sort of taboo. Not that it bothers Michael all that much. 

“Yeah, of course I do. He’s pretty cool,” Travis responds, rolling a cherry tomato around with a fork and not looking him in the eye. 

“Why?” It feels like everyone in the cabin is staring at them now, but even then Michael can’t stop.

“‘Why?’” Travis repeats, twirling the fork. Michael can’t help but notice Connor gripping his fork tighter and he has a vivid image of the boy stabbing it into him. Connor seems like the type. “He’s my dad. I think I’m supposed to like him.”

“But he never talked with you though, right? He has never been there for you. How could you possibly like him?”

Travis shrugs. “He’s a god. He’s probably busy.”

Michael frowns. His mom is busy too. Granted, busy with normal things like a job but she still finds the time to tuck his siblings to bed. Still finds the time to cook breakfast and dinner for them. Still finds the time to make movie nights. Still tell them every day, without fail, that she loves them. Is still there for him and his siblings. 

“So it doesn’t bother you? The way your relationship is with him right now?” Michael pushes. 

Travis fidgets with his strawberries, muttering something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like French. 

“What was—” Michael starts to say, but Connor glares, hard. Michael thinks he can see the promise of pain and suffering Connor will inflict upon him. Guess he’d just written his name in Connor’s bad book in Sharpie. 

“Look, Michael, it’s the social norm around here to not talk about our godly parents. Especially in ways that demean them.”

Social norm? Like he cares about something as trivial as that. 

“I just want—”

“Drop it, Michael. Travis’s relationship with our dad is none of your business,” Connor snaps. 

Travis is quiet, a hand resting on a cheek as he stabs into a strawberry, red juices spattering over lettuce and grilled cheese. 

“I want his approval. He’s my dad. What kid doesn’t want their parent’s approval?” 

Lee pulls him aside as lunch wraps up, leading them a bit away from the others.

“Michael, can you chill with the public grilling for a bit?”

“I just don’t get the worship around here for them though,” he argues. 

Lee falters, thinking about his words. “Michael, for some of us, our godly parent is the only one that cares.”

“Wait, are you saying your dad talks to you here?” Michael says. He doesn’t really know what the whole deal is going on with Lee and his mom, but he knows enough to know that Ms. Fletcher deserves the worst mom of the century award. 

Lee frowns a bit and shakes his head. “We talked once when I was claimed but other than that, no. Not really. And none of my half-siblings said anything to me about him either. But he’s already doing so much more than the other gods.”

“Really? Like what?” 

And Lee answers without hesitating, “He claims us as his.”

Michael recalls the talk before breakfast and the questions. About claiming. About waiting. About giving up. The bitterness in their voices. The longing. The yearning. And a sinking feeling grows in the pit of his stomach. 

“How long did it take for you to be claimed?” he asks. 

“I was claimed the second I stepped onto Camp. Apollo tends to be rather fast when it comes to claiming his children. The longest he ever went without claiming is one week. Demeter claims fast during the fall and winter months when Persephone is away. Hephaestus takes on average a month or so to claim.”

“And the slowest god at claiming?” 

Lee’s eyes narrow in thought. “Let’s see… Ares, Athena, Aphrodite, and Hermes seem to be the slowest.”

“How slow?”

“Slow as in… months, years.”

“Why?”

Lee looks away in discomfort. “Who knows? We shouldn’t speculate though. That’s just asking for a curse.”

He catches up to his cabin gathering for the next event and when he asks around about the claiming rate, he gets a mixture of answers. 

“Because we’re not their favorites,” Miranda says cheerfully, while arm-wrestling (and clearly winning) with a flushed Sherman. 

“Because we have to prove ourselves first,” the kid with the glasses states, eyes fixed on his shoes.

“Because they forgot we existed,” others say. 

“Because they want something from us.”

“Because they don’t want the responsibilities of a parent.”

“Because they don’t care.”

“Because they don’t think we’re worth it.”

“It’s because they suck ass,” one of the older campers says with dead serious eyes as Travis chokes on his strawberry, tossing the rest of the fruits into the fire, plate and all. 

“Shh! Celise, you’re gonna get cursed! Everybody, no bad-mouthing the gods or you’ll be turned into a snail and as cute as snails are, I like you all as humans.” 

The camper shrugs and whispers, it’s true . 

Trust me, they whisper next as they’re pulled aside by Travis’s frantic tugging.

They don’t care.

All of this is truly making him appreciate the gods more. 

Connor whistles for everybody’s attention, standing on top of a rock with a piece of paper. 

“It’s free choice from now until 3:30. Each counselor is hosting a different event. Travis and I are doing canoeing. Silena will be hosting horseback — that needs to be changed to pegasi — riding. Malcolm, you will take over for Annabeth since she isn’t here yet for the intro to Origami. Katie will be watching over the wall climbing. Lee, intro to guitar and lyres. Beckendorf, intro to welding. Pollux will be taking over Clarisse’s place at the arena for additional sword and archery lessons. And Castor will be teaching DIY soda. Here’s a map for each of you where everything is. Any questions? Yes, you, in the back. Hao, right?”

Michael takes the map, finds Lee’s name, finds the corresponding location, and then crumples the flimsy paper in his hands. 

But before he can walk away, Miranda is there in front of him and tugging him by the arm with a beaming smile. 

“Follow me for a sec? I want to show you something. It will be quick, I promise.” 

 [1:30 PM, Free Choice]

“Everybody gets a celestial weapon,” Miranda explains as they walk to the armory, “It KOs the monster and turns them into gold dust if it nicks them in the flesh just enough.”

Gold dust… like the gold dust Lee comes back sometimes covered in? 

She leads him to an unassuming building beside one of the cabins, opening the door and revealing shelves stocked full of weapons. Miranda strides to the back without a double-take. Like it’s normal for a summer camp with children to have a stockpile meant for war. 

“Do you have a preference?”

“I… uh…”

“Want some help? Based on what I saw in training, I think you’re better suited with something long-range. You looked uncomfortable with a sword. Aha! What about this?“

Then Miranda pulls out a rifle from one of the boxes. 

Michael stares at it for a full second, wondering if he’s imagining it, wondering if Miranda is kidding, wondering if this whole day is just one big funny dream. But, no, Miranda remains standing there with a big ol’ grin and rifle in hand and waiting for them to say something.

“No.”

“What? Why not?”

“First of all, it’s a gun. Second of all, I share a room with two of my siblings who get into my shit all the time. Third, my mom would literally kill me if she sees me holding a rifle. And fourth, it’s a fucking gun .”

”It’s okay. This is a magic rifle. If you engage the safety and remove the magazine clip, it turns into a telescope.” Miranda demonstrates it for him and would you look at that. It actually became a telescope. “See? No problem. Mom won’t find out and plus! It actually works as a telescope! You can go stargazing with this thing and also kick any monster-butt.”

“What happens if it goes off and a bullet hits someone?”

“That’s okay too. The bullets are made of celestial metal. It can’t harm mortals.”

“But it’s a gun. And I don’t have a license.”

Miranda shrugs. “You can’t kill a mortal though. I don’t think you need a license if you seriously can’t hurt anyone. But if you don’t want a gun, then we can get you a bow. Apollo’s cabin is full of them. Come on.”

And as Michael follows Miranda out, he mutters under his breath, “Why are you all like this?”

Miranda laughs, spinning around her heels to face him. 

“And you’re like a completely normal kid. If you didn’t pass the barrier, I would have thought Lee brought someone fully human.” 

[2:20 PM, Free Choice]

“What is that?”

Lee does only a cursory glance at where Michael is pointing before going back to tuning his guitar engraved with his name and last initial on the Big House’s porch. “It’s Thalia’s Pine. Someone poisoned it unfortunately. A couple years ago a girl sacrificed herself to save her friends. Her father turned her dying body into a magic tree that protects all of camp. We’re trying to fix it, but it’s kinda slow-going right now.”

“That’s cool. That’s cool, but I’m talking about that .” 

And Lee really looks at where Michael is pointing at. A … well, he doesn’t want to say robotic because there’s no way a robot can move that fluidly, but fine. A metallic bull the size of an elephant is charging towards them, running full speed but going nowhere. It’s like an invisible wall is holding it back. Just a bit aways are five people in a line in full bronze armor and a variety of weapons with two more people running towards them. A girl with a gruff voice is ordering to get into position. 

“Is this some sort of play?” Michael asks, waiting for Lee’s answers but when there’s none, he turns to face him. “Lee?” 

Lee is pale. His guitar falls out of his hands as he stands. 

Michael tenses, alarmed. “Lee?” 

“Shit,” Lee curses for the first time ever. “Fuck.”

Now Michael is really worried. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?” 

Lee whirs to face him and Michael doesn’t like the fear, the panic he sees in Lee’s usually calm eyes. 

“Michael, Beckendorf is in the forge. Get him first. Tell him there is a Colchis Bull at Half Blood Hill. Then go get Travis and Connor next — Hey? Michael, are you there?”

A second bull crashes into the invisible wall and they break through. They’re breathing fire. People are being set on fire. People are having their armor melted off. People are being burned. People are being trampled on. People are— 

“Michael!” Lee shakes him hard by the shoulder. “Don’t look at it. Just go run and get Beckendorf.”

Then he’s forcibly turned around and pushed away to the sound of terrified screams and dying cries.  

[3:00 PM, Free Choice]

So that’s a monster. 

And he’s expected to fight one of them? 

The guy who took out the first bull —Percy he thinks is the name — Percy did it with a little help with a flame-resistant man and Percy is about the same age as him. And Clarisse took out the second bull all by herself. So it’s definitely possible. With training and maybe a bow instead of a sword, Michael can do it. 

He can do it. 

…

Just because it’s possible, doesn’t mean it’s right. Doesn‘t mean it’s normal and fuck. 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. 

How can anyone not see how messed up this whole thing is? Monsters exist and they eat twerps like him? They’ll hunt him for as long as he lives? He’s always going to have to watch his back? He’s always going to have a weapon on him? This is what his day will be like every day? This is normal?  This is what being a demigod means? 

From the porch of the Big House, Michael watches Travis and Connor, amongst a few others with just as many beads on their necklaces, triaging the injured. Passing around nectar bottles and ambrosia brownies, helping them stand, checking their wounds all with an air of professionalism.

They were trained for this. They prepared for this. 

Michael doesn’t like that little fact. 

And speaking of little facts he doesn’t like, one just sits down next to him. When he’s not standing around like a dumbass, he goes to get more nectar bottles from the infirmary where a team of two people is running around tending to the patients. One is Lee. The other, and the clear leader, is the boy in blue scrubs and yellow flip flops. The kid barked orders left and right, telling people where to go, where to place the patients, how to treat the minor wounds until he can get there, basically keeping everything orderly and efficient, all with this air of confidence and calmness. It would have been very reassuring if the kid himself wasn’t this little, baby-faced 11-year-old.

And said 11-year-old is now sitting down beside him, downing a bottle of water then downing half a bottle of red Gatorade. 

Michael is starting to see why Lee doesn’t want his mom to know where Camp Half Blood is. If she ever visited and saw how the camp is being run primarily by pre-teens and teens… well… she’ll probably lose it. 

“Hey,” the kid says.

“Hey,” Michael replies, cautiously. 

Then, silence.

The most awkward silence he has ever experienced as they just sit side by side. 

The kid takes another sip from the Gatorade. 

“You’re Michael, right? You’re Lee’s upstairs friend?”

Michael bristles at the words. “How did you—“

“When the cabins burned down, we stayed at Lee’s apartment for a couple days,” the kid explains, staring at Travis and Connor milling about the battlegrounds. He fidgets with a bandaid on the back of his hand. “This is going to sound really weird, but I thought I heard his voice and your last names match so it might not be my imagination. But do you have a younger brother named Raphael?”

“Yeah, I do. How do you know that?” Michael says, trying and failing to tone back the defensiveness in his voice. God please don’t let Raphie be a demigod like him. 

The kid breaks into a big smile and it really makes him look like the child he is. “We used to be in a class together with Mrs. Rem. How is he by the way? Is he still watching Ninja Turtles? What did he think of the newest episode?”

Distantly, from a dinner chat a long time ago, Raphael mentioned a ‘Will’ who left class because of a stomach ache and was never seen again. He remembered Raphael being really worried. He remembered Raphael even saying that ‘Will doesn’t ever get sick’ and he remembered dismissively saying, “Don’t worry. The kid’s probably fine.” 

There’s no way the kid next to him is that Will. It has to be a coincidence. It got to be. Forget how this kid knows Raphael is a fan of Ninja Turtles. It’s a popular show right now. Somewhere, in this 6.6 billion populated planet, there’s got to be a Will and a Raphael who both go to the same school with a 5th-grade teacher named Mrs. Rem and both watch Ninja Turtles and both love Raphael the sai-welding turtle.

“You went to Hodgkins Elementary School?”

“Yeah.” 

There’s still a chance this is all a coincidence. 

“Your favorite turtle is Raph?”

“Well, it’s Leo now but I used to like Raph.”

Still a coincidence.

“And your name’s Will?”

“It is.”

Just one big coincidence. 

“And you left the classroom—” Michael wracks his brain — when, when did Raphael talked about the kid? — “Because of a stomach ache back in October?” 

For a minute, Will is silent. A minute filled with nothing but the whistle of the wind and commanding yells of campers. Will chuckles, low, as the plastic bottle crinkles in his hands. But when Will speaks, his voice is carefully blank, devoid of emotion. “Not exactly, no. I saw something strange at school that nobody could see and I called my mom, er, my aunt. But she raised me so I considered her my mom. She said to get out, even if I have to lie. So I did. A stomach ache was the easiest to fake. She picked me up from school. I think she was going to take me to camp. But on the drive here… a cyclops showed up and totaled the car. We ran. She told me to go ahead and get help. And I did. Without looking back. I found Lee and he took care of the cyclops but mom… ” 

The kid’s voice is still blank. Emotionless. 

“She died because of me.”

A bitter smile. 

“Because I was too weak. Because I was too scared.”

The bottle bursts in his hand, the red dripping off his hand and staining his scrubs. 

“No one is ever going to die because of me. Not again. Not ever.”

The kid leaves, running back inside when someone screams bloody murder and another voice yells, “Solace!” 

(“Will’s last name was on our vocab lists,” Raphael had said a long time ago. “Solace. It means comfort. That’s so cool. No way can I forget that.”)

Michael continues to sit there, watching the battlefield empty out one camper at a time until everyone injured has been attended to. 

(“She died. Because of me. Weak. Scared.”)

Weak. He understands. Too scared. He understands that too. He experienced all that today with the bulls. 

If it had been at home with his family, at school with his classmates, even at the park with random strangers, what would have happened? He would have fought, right? Adrenaline would have kicked in and he would do something. Or would he have frozen? Just like he did today? Just stood there, watching his family be stomped and kicked and lit on fire until someone kicked him into gear? (“Run, Michael. Don’t look back.”)

No. 

No. Fuck no. Three months. He has three months of this summer camp / orphanage / ‘let’s-all-become-child-soldiers-together!’ hellhole.  He has three months to kick this stupid deer in the headlights reaction. 

(“She died because of me.”)

He’s not going to let anyone die.

[5:00 PM, Free Time]

He finds them in the cabin, one slumped on the bed with an arm over his eyes and the other sitting at the foot with a sketch of the cabin in one hand and a pencil in the other. 

They’re talking about something secret because as soon as Michael slams the cabin door open, their conversation stops. He catches the last sentence though. Are the nightmares getting worse? And god, if these two are okay with everything that just happened today, just handled it all with a face that says this is nothing, then Michael doesn’t want to know what kind of nightmares are troubling them. 

“What’s up?” Connor or Travis, the one on his back, asks, trying and failing to get upright. The arm moves and tired eyes peek at him from underneath. 

“Is it Lee? Does he need us again?” the other asks, tossing the drawing under the bed. 

“You said, whatever problems we have, we can come to you two,” Michael starts. 

They nod together in sync. 

“Then I want you guys to train me until I drop dead. Now until the end of summer.”

[6:00 PM, Dinner]

He barely has his food on the plate when a bright light shines over his head. Flashy. Illuminating. Almost eye-blinding. Michael looks up, squints, and sees the sun with 21 arrows surrounding it, representing the sun’s rays. 

Distantly, he’s aware of a bored voice proclaiming him as a child of Apollo. But all he’s really focused on is his cabin’s, ex-cabin now he guesses, reactions. He can see all their faces down the line. Most are happy. They smile and cheer for him, patting on him on the back and congratulating him. But he can see it, beneath their grins, beneath the genuine elation, is frustration, jealousy, longing. 

(“It's been years.”)

Travis, with his pile of strawberries, bumps him in the shoulder with his own. “Hey, congratulations. Apollo cabin is a lot roomier than ours so you get to actually sleep on a bed.”

Connor nods, tossing an M&M bag into the flames. “Too bad you’re gonna miss the experience of being crammed like sardines on the floor. It’s actually pretty cozy.”

Michael frowns as he conjures up a PB and J sandwich exactly how Mom would make it, cuts it into halves, and toss it in . “Are you guys still going—”

“We’ll still help you,” Travis interrupts, but his smile is impish, borderline devilish.  “But—”

“It comes with a price now.” Connor follows with a just as sordid grin. “Two conditions. One, you have to help us with archery. We’re not bad but we’re not good either and could use a bit more work. Annabeth and I have this sparring contest every week to see who is more proficient in what weapon. She beats me every single time when it comes to archery, but that’s ending this year. And two, you have to be our inside man.”

“Inside man?” Michael asks, already kind of knowing what that means.

“Let us into your cabin. Help us set up pranks in your cabin. Tell us everything we want to know about your cabin. You know. That sort of thing,” Travis says flippantly. 

And before Michael can reject, accept, do literally anything, Travis turns around and walks to the table with this unbearably cheerful hum. “Will is going to regret ever messing with my diet.”

Connor falls in step with a fond smile. “But seriously, Will has a point. You need to balance your meals a bit more.”

For such nice people , Michael thinks as he’s corralled towards the Apollo table by an ecstatic Lee , they can be such dicks. 

[7:00 PM, Volleyball]

“Hey, Lee, when did the monsters start coming for me?” Michael asks as he twirls the volleyball in his hands once, twice and tosses it to Lee. In the background, Michael can hear the yells and cheers of the far more serious, far more competitive match going on. Apparently, there’s a tournament between the cabins and the winner gets bragging rights and no cabin inspection next month. 

Lee isn’t participating. “Our cabin is always clean and orderly,” he had said with pride, though that didn’t stop his half-siblings ( my half-siblings) from making a team and participating. 

“Eh? The monsters? Uh, l-last year,” Lee says, fumbling the ball just like he’s fumbling the lie. 

So it’s been more than a year. 

Michael bites his cheeks as he bends his knees and extends his arms to bounce the ball back.

“And you’ve been taking care of them all this time?” 

“Well, not all of them,” Lee admits, catching the ball with both hands. “A lot of them went away on their own.”

Liar , sings his guts. He’s lying . 

Because Lee is way too nice. Way too selfless. Way too noble to tell the truth that would most definitely hurt. 

“Why? Why didn’t you take me to camp earlier? When the monster started coming? Why now?” he bites out, just barely holding back the snarl. You could have saved yourself years of pain, years of trouble. 

“Because…” Lee looks over to the courts, to where Travis and Connor are arguing with Annabeth (the moaning myrtle girl, Michael realizes). Something about which team Percy should be on. 

(“Your dad is the god of Athletes. Your cabin already have an advantage.”)

(“Okay, but consider this, only Travis and I are claimed. Everyone else on the team could be anyone’s child. And your team is completely made up of god-tier and gifted strategists.”)

(“Your #4 is literally speaking ten languages. He’s got to be a son of Hermes.”)

(“That is a stereotype. Abraham could just be remarkably smart.”)

Lee’s eyes go back to him. “Because I wanted you to have a normal life, to know that there’s more to life than just this. Besides, I’ve been watching you for years. You learn how to do something like it’s nothing after a few minutes. It’s kind of ridiculous and I am lowkey jealous. But if you feel like you’re not ready, I can always—”

“Shut up, idiot. You’re not dropping out of school for me,” Michael grumbles, Lee’s stupid chuckle not at all comforting. 

“I heard you guys are in a war,” Michael says, “Are you fighting in it?”

Lee serves the ball over, high and easy to hit. “Yeah. It feels wrong not to.”

And Michael spikes it back as hard as he can. “But you’re going to college in a few months.”

Lee shrugs, easily leaning forward and kicking it back high into the air for another easy hit. “Julliard is close enough to camp.” 

Michael catches it, tucking it under an arm. “That’s not what I meant. What’s the point of going to college if you might lose an arm or leg fighting in this stupid war? You should just focus on school.”

Lee laughs of all things. “That’s nothing. Will fixed worse.”

Michael bristles at Lee's casualness. “Well, if you’re gonna fight, then I am going too.”

Lee laughs again, tenser this time. “You think your mom is gonna let you?”

“She lets you!”

“Because she doesn’t know what I’m doing. And I’m not the one living with her. Besides, do you even know what we are fighting for?”

“Of course, I do! The enemy is K—” Crap. He never got the full name or title of the bad guy. And somehow he feels like saying Cabin 11’s made up name isn’t going to make Lee take him any more seriously. “I’ll learn more about it. Besides, you’re a great guy. I’m sure you’re fighting for the good guys.”

“Michael, your faith in me is nice but getting involved without knowing the full story is dumb. You’re not fighting.”

“Yes, I am.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yes, I —”

Lee’s face hardened the way it does when he’s mad or worried or dead serious. Like that one time Leo microwaved a spoon. Like when Raphael tried to jump down a flight of stairs for a dare. Like when Carly and Sam ran onto the streets without looking. And crap. Michael is 14, practically an adult. He shouldn’t be cowing under Lee’s hard stare anymore. But he is and he’s (slightly, only just slightly) scared. 

“No, you’re not,” Lee says, “Because I don’t want you to fight when you have so little experience. Because your mom will literally kill me if something, anything happens to you. Because something bad will happen to you if you do join this fight. So no. You’re not going to fight. You’re not going to participate. You’re only here to train and enjoy camp life.”

“Fine. Fine. I won’t,” Michael grumbles, ducking his head. “Sheesh, you make it sound like if I join, the camp is done for.”

The hard stare melts back into that familiar, soft, (almost) carefree aura with a shrug and small smile. “I just have a feeling. It’s good to trust your instincts.”

And my instincts are telling me right now that you need to quit. But Michael is pretty sure Lee won’t appreciate it and moves the conversation to the climbing wall and why it’s on fire. 

[9:00 PM, Campfire Song]

“Mom,” Michael says, the phone pressed against his ears. He looks out the window, watching the vibrant flame of the bonfire climb high into the starry skies and the circles of cheerful campers surrounding it. 

“Michael, I was wondering when you would call. How’s camp? Do you like it?” 

“Camp is…Camp is great. Lots of activity. Really unique. I—” I like it dies on his tongue. He doesn’t like it. He might have if there was a bit less training. Luckily his mother didn’t catch that pause.  

“That’s great! Made any new — Carly Yew, are those markers I see in your hands? You better not draw on the walls. Get some paper, baby, okay? Made any new friends?”

“A few.”

“You should invite them over! We can have a nice little movie night together.” 

Michael frowns as he recalls someone, somewhere, saying not to gather in more than threes outside the barrier. It attracts the monsters apparently and Michael isn’t about to test that. “They can't. They’re busy. They’re like—um—they’re head counselors, you see, and have a lot of duties.” Like practically running the camp but he doesn’t think Mom would appreciate knowing that. 

“Well, it’s nice to see you make friends even if they’re a bit older.”

Are Travis and Connor older than him? Possibly. They exude confidence that no normal teen has. Or maybe they have just been here for a long time. And that is all kinds of sad. 

His mom asks him about his day, what he did, if he has something he really likes, and for the next hour, Michael goes into a heavily censored, G-rated, parent-safe tale of his first day at Camp Half Blood. It could have been worse. On his way to the Big House to use the phone, he overheard an older boy telling a couple newbies how a kid fought a Minotaur on his first day here and a girl having to sacrifice herself for her friends. 

Wow, it would suck to be them. 

[11:00 PM]

He meets dad in his dreams. 

Michael doesn’t know why, but he thought Apollo to be a refined god. A serious god. A graceful god. 

Instead he sees a teenager sporting pilot shades and leaning on a flaming red sports car in the dingy parking lot of Camp Half Blood with the early morning sun just breaking the horizon. 

“Dad?” Michael says, (who else could it be?) but still not really sure. “Uh, Apollo?”

And the teen waves, flashing a smile that nearly blinds him. “Michael! It’s so good to finally meet you.”

Before Michael could react, the teen — Apollo — dad — pulls him into a crushing hug that knocks all the air out of his lungs.

Apollo is strangely… warm. But not overbearingly warm. Warm like first snuggling into bed under the covers. Plus he smells like laurel leaves, sweet and bright. And Michael has a vivid flashback of his mom — younger, much much younger —  in the hospital bed smiling at a man in his mid-twenties with a bundle of sheets in his arm.

Michael blinks as Apollo pulls away, holding him at arm's length and looking him up and down with a musing stare. 

“You resemble your mom more than me,” Apollo says with a nod, “Most of my children tend to take after my looks, but you’re different, Mike. I have to say, I like it! I can’t stay long. Godly matters I have to attend to, you know? Here, I got you a gift for making it so far in life. Tell Audrey I miss her and think sweetly about the time we spent together.” 

Apollo is pressing a guitar into his hands with his name engraved in the body and stepping back to get into his car. It’s exactly the same as the guitar Lee has except for the engraving. So not unique by any means. But it is a gift. And mom would kill him for rejecting a gift. It’s rude she says, but Michael doesn’t care about Apollo enough yet to give a fuck. Besides if Lee’s experience is anything to go by, this is probably the last time he’ll ever talk to his dad. He needs to make this moment count for something. 

“Wait.”

Apollo pauses just as the engine roars to life, purring sweetly and the window rolled down. 

“I want to ask for something else.”

Apollo blinks and Michael can see the inkling of annoyance in the young face, but Apollo nods and says without a lick of irritation in his voice, “Sure, shoot.” 

“I want you to spend more time with Lee.” Then Michael has a realization. “You know who Lee is, right? The oldest one in the cabin? About to go to Julliard? Want to become a teacher?”

Now Apollo is definitely irked, a telltale wrinkle in his brow. Michael can now add ‘gods’ to the list of people he can make pissed off. “Of course I know Lee, my little music enthusiast child. How could I not? But I’m a God, Michael. There’s only so much free time I have.”

“Then just a few minutes a week, or even a month. So he knows you care.”

Again a slight scowl, but it lingers for a few seconds more. 

“I do care but okay. Okay, I will.” Apollo shifts the car into drive still a little annoyed. Michael thought that was it. Any minute now he’s going to wake up and start the day, but Apollo sighs, leans back in the leather seat, and hangs an elbow out the window. “Michael, you’re so much like your mother. Caring. Gutsy. Compassionate. It’s crazy how much you resemble her. You’re going to do great things. You’re—” The annoyance drops and for a brief second, Apollo looks grief-stricken. And once again, Michael dreams of falling, of a bridge, of a boat wafting through a chasm of fire. But Apollo smiles that blinding smile, fond, and shakes his head. 

“Don’t worry so much about your family. They’re going to be fine. You’re going to be fine.”

Michael wakes up just as the car drives off, his gut itching. 

Apollo is lying to you.

#fanfiction #ao3 #archive of our own #my writing #travis stoll #connor stoll #michael yew #lee fletcher #will solace #miranda gardiner #pjo #percy jackson

[frankics]

hello  all  you  lovely  lovely  people  !  thanks  again  for  applying  to  this  rp,  you  have  NO  idea  how  excited  i  am  to  get  this  going.  i’m  lily,  i’m  newly  20,  in  the  est  timezone  and  my  pronouns  are  she/her.  i  love  trash  tv,  my  puppies,  and  the  collected  works  of  the  greatest  band  in  history  (one  direction).  this  is  my  trash  daughter  frankie,  she  truly  belongs  in  the  garbage  but  i  love  her  so  much.  below  the  cut  is  my  long  ass  intro  for  her,  i  forgive  you  if  you  don’t  read  it  all  because  looking  at  it  now  i  wouldn’t  want  to  either  !  anyway,  if  you’re  interested  in  plotting  with  me  and  frankie,  hmu  on  discord  and  you  can  check  this  blog  for  some connections  i  would  love  to  see  !

( alisha boe, cisfemale, she/her, MUSE E ) — oh my god, i totally just saw FRANCESCA ARCHER walking through greenwich village! you know, she plays SKYLAR ELLIS on that new netflix show, the village? i can’t believe they’re already famous at TWENTY-ONE. i’ve watched all of their interviews, and they totally come off as IMPERTINENT and RECKLESS, but they can also be ROMANTIC and WITTY. based on their social media, i’d describe FRANKIE like ( worn out black high-tops, mischievous smiles, nails painted different colors, peach vodka, swimming in an ocean during a storm ) — totally makes sense that people call them THE SPITFIRE.

important links: bio. statistics. filmography. muse posts. social media. 

warning: death tw on the 5th bullet point!!

the frankie archer story begins in 1996, when her mother yasmiin moves from her home of somalia to brooklyn to pursue an art career. she moved into a tiny apartment halfway across the world, knowing nothing and no one, looking for inspiration. she found it in the form of lorenzo archer, her next door neighbor. they dated for two years, but neither family approved of the other as a match: yasmiin’s family wanted her to return to somalia, and lorenzo’s roman catholic family were not pleased about their son selecting a non-catholic woman. but lorenzo and yasmiin didn’t care, and got married at new york city hall with the court appointed witness. two weeks later, yasmiin was pregnant with frankie. 

francesca simone archer was born on june 9, 1999. she is a gemini sun, a scorpio moon, and an aries rising. she was named francesca for her grandmother on the paternal side, and simone after nina simone, the singer that was playing on lorenzo’s record player when they first met. her two siblings, nala archer and zahi archer, were born in 2001 and 2003 respectively. 

her childhood is generally quite happy. lorenzo and yasmiin were born to be parents and they love frankie, nala, and zahi endlessly, the type of supportive love that makes children thrive. frankie possesses a natural wit and excels academically, nala is the star athlete, and zahi is a wizard with watercolor. frankie loves the movies and decides she wants to be an actress when she grows up, so lorenzo and yasmiin enroll her in acting classes and improv camps. things chug along in the archer family beautifully. 

that is, until frankie gets a high school scholarship to packer collegiate institute, located in the affluent neighborhood of brooklyn heights. she takes it, of course, with her parents’ full support. but she is nothing like anyone else who attends packer, and for a 14 year old who wants to blend in, that is the worst possible thing. she is suddenly, painfully aware of her worn-out clothes, her used books, her strange mother with paint stains on her bleached out jeans. frankie lashes out, screaming and storming off and slamming doors. she and her mother are hurricanes and the rest of the family simply battens down the hatches. one day when frankie is 15, she tells her mother that this family is her worst nightmare. it is the last words she will ever speak to her mother. 

a few hours after, the archers get a call that yasmiin has been in an accident. it was a hit and run: a drunk driver t-boned her, and they’re rushing her to the hospital. when the family arrives, the doctors break the news that yasmiin is comatose and that things aren’t looking good. lorenzo refuses to take her off life support, insisting she’ll recover. she is in a coma for nearly a year and a half before he is convinced to pull the plug. 

and now, the part of the frankie archer story that everyone knows, the serendipitous hollywood beginning. she’s just a charming, talented, grieving, all-american girl from brooklyn, heading off to juilliard in the fall. on her 18th birthday, the first one spent without her mother, she attends an open call for a role in an indie film called thursday mourning. she thinks it’ll be a fun way to spend the day, or at least distracting enough. and then she gets the fucking part. 

long story short, the film blows up. it’s shown at venice, winning the golden lion and a prize for frankie as the most promising young actor in the festival. it’s nominated for four oscars, including a best supporting actress nom for frankie. she doesn’t win, but it’s created a path for her to do whatever she wants, acting-wise. she does three more films in the next two years, gaining a reputation as an indie darling before realizing that indie films don’t make all that much money. 

and she needs money, because her father is drowning in hospital bills from yasmiin’s death that he can’t pay. that’s when the offer comes through from her agent: a starring role in an ensemble cast netflix show called the village. she’s planning on throwing the script away. she’s not interested in any television show, much less a teen drama. she’s a serious actress and she certainly doesn’t want to be the next veronica lodge, made fun of on the internet by strangers with discerning taste. but with a little coaxing from her agent, she reads the script, and the role is good, the writing strong. so she takes the village, even though she wants to do movies more, even though she might get memed into oblivion. one episode will halve her father’s debt. 

frankie was tapped for the village because while she’s definitely not as famous as some of her other castmates, nor does she have the hollywood background, she has consistently received acclaim for her performances. the producers think it will bring them some clout with the critics, and she has a sterling reputation as a hard worker on set.

so that’s the basic bio of frankie! now onto her personality >:-)

first of all, and most importantly, if you call her francesca you are DEAD.

frankie’s described by the media as a spitfire, and she definitely lives up to that description. she’s not particularly patient with interviews or paparazzi, she has a nasty mouth and an acerbic sense of humor, and to the general public she probably comes across as quite guarded and private about her life. she got into this business to be an actress, not a celebrity. 

nevertheless, if she wanted to be a celebrity, she could probably be a pretty beloved one. frankie has a very charismatic, charming way about her, that probably lets her get away with more in the public eye than she should. there’s just something about that hollywood story that makes people relate to her and root for her. 

the number one defining characteristic of frankie is her passion. she throws herself intensely into everything she does, feels emotions too vividly, fights for what she wants. she cares so much about everything. acting is her main passion, her forever love. it’s why she’s so good at what she does: she’s not the most talented, she doesn’t have the most training, but she feels so intensely. it also makes her very emotional (classic cancer!) if you’re close with her

also because of this passion, she’s probably the most competitive person you’ll ever meet in your entire life. she’s like, slightly insane about it? she wants to win everything, but she hates losing even more than she likes winning. she’s the type to throw a tiny tantrum if she loses a game of uno. 

frankie’s always been bold, likes to live life on the edge, but it became something much uglier after her mother’s death. she’s reckless to the nth degree: doing her own stunts, drinking and partying the night away. she’s not suicidal, but in some ways, it’s like she doesn’t have a huge regard for her own life. 

in her private life, frankie is pretty different. it’s not so much that her negative qualities disappear -- she still swears like a sailor and is less than patient. but rather, the flaws become less apparent when you get to know her. she’s sort of a goofy little marshmallow wearing a giant suit of spiky armor. 

one of the most loyal people you will ever meet, because she throws herself headlong into friendships and relationships. she’s sort of an all or nothing type gal, so if you befriend frankie expect it to be a very close relationship whether you like it or not. 

she is kind of the crazy friend? she’s baby? like she’s absolutely the person who’s encouraging everyone else to do dumb shit, and she’s always coming up with ridiculous ideas and pranks. side note give frankie a prank buddy on set!

she’s really quite witty. she absolutely loves twitter, which is basically the only glimpse the general public would get as to who frankie is in private. her twitter filled with her dumb jokes and random thoughts. in another life, she might have been a twitter comic.

she is a hopeless romantic, which she will never admit to anyone in the world unless it’s layered under 100 miles of sarcasm. the only relationship she’s really ever known is her parents’ relationship, and they were madly in love til the bitter end. she desperately wants something like that, but hasn’t quite found it. she’s been in exactly one pr relationship, but nothing particularly real or long-lasting.

she loves fashion. her mother taught her to sew and she sketches and makes some of her own clothes. her absolute dream is to collab with a designer on a fashion line: some of her favorite labels are marc jacobs, jean paul-gaultier, sies marjan, and moschino! she’s also had a lot of positive press for her red carpet looks. 

she has a dog, who she loves more than anything! his name is duke, he’s a staffie rescue, and she brings him on set frequently. she’s lobbying to get him cast as someone’s dog. 

she’s playing skylar ellis on the village, and because this is literally so long you can find some info about skylar at these links: statistics, muse posts, social media. i haven’t finished writing her entire bio yet but here’s the rundown: skylar appears to everyone like the pretty princess who has everything she could ever want. her parents are rich, she’s beautiful and smart, and she has a perfect relationship with phillip. but on the inside, she’s drowning. her dad wants her to take over the family company but she wants to be a writer, and the worst part is that she’s good at writing and horrible at business! she’s always been content to go with the flow (aka, what her parents want) because things are good in her life, but after her encounter with james over the summer, she’s realizing that she is completely trapped in a life she doesn’t want in the least. now she’s a conflicted mess of emotion trying to figure out what to do. 

#click on her name for a fun lil surprise ;) #this is SO LONG i'm sorry

[kierakravec-blog]

After four in a row

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[liquidstar]

You know, I talk A LOT about “heirship” as a theme with my OCs, but never fully broke it down. And…... I want to!!! Fuck it! No one asked, but I’m going to anyway. Maybe for my own indulgence, but hopefully this will interest at least a couple of people! Note: I’m gonna say “heirship” a lot, it’s gonna start sounding like a fake word, and honestly in this context it’s more of an abstract concept. Also this is going to be long so I’m sticking it under the cut.

First of all, what is heirship? In the story it boils down to becoming what you are expected to become or live up to, but it’s different for every person. The topic of being an heir is a neutral thing, it can be both a positive and toxic aspect of a characters life, but mostly the latter. Aspiring to be something or someone you look up to is not an inherently bad thing, and it’s a good motivator and pure cause. However there are ways in which that can be twisted, when heirship is forced onto you in one way or another. It becomes suffocating, toxic, and even abusive at times. When you’re forced (Sometimes by yourself) into a roll regardless of what you want (or think you want) heirship becomes a prison, and no one is really free from this. From being an heir. It’s the most prominent theme and motif in the story, and there’s a reason so many of the characters are literally heirs to thrones or companies. So I’m going to dive into what exactly each of my main characters are “heirs” to, but I do want to note that this affects EVERY character in the story, every single one of them in one way or another (Some more than others) so if you ever wanted to know about a specific one feel free to ask me!

Amary is the main character, so it’s obviously the most fitting for her to be THE heir, the heir to the entire kingdom, she’s it. Amary is a princess, she was designed to have the most frilly “princess” design I could give her without looking to snooty. Her literal heirship is in becoming a queen, that’s what a princess does! But her mother is dead, and she left behind a life for Amary to follow in the footsteps in, always wondering if this is what people would want out of her mother. On the other hand though, her “prison” of heirship is one defined by traditional femininity, one where she’s expected to be a perfect princess and a perfect puppet, submissive and quiet and always listening to what the king says. 

Rue is a bit hard to get into because a lot of her deal isn’t explicitly revealed to other characters until later on. She’s the mysterious goth type, what’re you gonna do? But I still can say that her mother is a big reason she is who she is, in a weird sort of reverse-heirship. One where she denounces everything and rebels, one where she wants to be NOTHING like what she’s supposed to be, so she becomes the exact opposite in a sense. And in trying so hard to be free of this concept, she re-traps herself in it through her own expectations. Her own fears become a self-fulfilling prophecy, because rather than being her true self she just became the opposite of what was expected. In a way… It ends up being the same thing.

Aloe is a good example of heirship, a healthy example. He idolizes his mother, he looks up to her and wants to be like her, and she encourages his goals and helps him no matter what they are. There’s really not all that much to say on that, it’s pretty cut and dry! But I wouldn’t say it’s PERFECT, because he still does struggle with placing a certain ideal of what he should be onto himself, which can sometimes make him feel like he’s not living up to what he should be. He’s got time though, he’ll be ok. 

Sorrel, on the other hand, is an example of extremely toxic and abusive heirship. One where he’s forced into a roll and has to abide by what he should be strictly, or he’s going to get in trouble, and trouble in this case is more than just a time-out. His father’s abuse of him and his siblings is to mold them into perfect wizards to carry on the family legacy, perfect heirs required to do whatever he says. This affected all four of them in different ways, but that’s another post for another time. 

Carnation’s sense of heirship is self-imposed, but still toxic. She has to be the perfect smart girl, because she’s always been, but also because she knows that’s what her mother could have been if she didn’t have her. Carnation has complicated feelings about her mother that I should also probably get into in another post. But the bottom line is she feels like she has to justify her own existence by being perfect, or she feels worthless. She doesn’t understand that at a surface level though, consciously she only knows she has to be smart and perfect because that’s what she should be. Never less than 100%.

Pine’s heirship is COMPLETELY self-imposed, not relent on any parental figure in the slightest, but still perpetuated by them. They’ve always been gifted and talented and an amazing inventor, they’re praised for being a technical wonder-child! So obviously this lead into “Gifted Child Syndrome” where by highschool they’ve completely shut down in almost all categories outside of inventing stuff. Their grades suffer, they don’t eat well, they BARELY get any sleep, all because they started to slip on what they were expected to be. 

Geran is the heir to the sea region, there’s the obvious literal heirship angle to him but that also feeds back into his metaphorical heirship, one where he’s expected to play out a certain role of masculinity and strength. His idea of strength is one directly tied to emotions, where he has to stay stoic, but that’s not really true to who he is, even in his design the water drops in his eyes are meant to look like tear drops. It’s just a roll he felt he had to take on, as an heir, he just has to be “strong”. Him and Amary were always intended to be inverses of each other in this way, even with a subplot where they’re supposed to be fake-engaged, as a literal performance. You know, like how they’re performing heterosexuality, all the time, always. It’s all fake, that’s not who they are, that’s not who he is. 

Fennel has a more unique type of heirship, one not related to a parent’s or his own expectations of himself, but a younger sibling. Fennel’s little brother looked up to him a lot, what little sibling doesn’t? He was his brother’s hero! Notice the past tense though? His brother died while they were still young, and it wasn’t even all that long ago for him. Fennel feels like he’s obligated to live up to that perception of himself through his little brothers eyes, it’s really why he wanted to be a wizard to support his family, of all things. Wizards are heroes after all.

Protea is another example of healthy heirship, and like Aloe’s, hers is a lot simpler. Her moms own a potion shop together, it’s a cute little shop where she grew up and even worked at as a kid (Not WORK work though, it was like chores), and Protea loves her moms a lot and wants to take over the shop one day. She was like their student, learned all the potion making she could from them! It’s fully her choice to do this, she always looked up at them as an example of a happy life, and she wants that too. The downside is waiting to get there though, sometimes that can be so hard. 

Daisy’s form of heirship goes beyond parental figures, she aims to be her village’s new wizard. But she not only has to live up to the old one, she needs to surpass him. The old village wizard was unable to protect them against a monster and died trying, the village needs someone stronger to protect them. Daisy wants to do this because she never wants anyone to ever live through a tragedy like that again. She also has an interesting arc when it comes to heirship, one about progressing from childhood to motherhood because of the symbolism associated with daisies. (I don’t mean literal motherhood, she’s still only 18 by the end and I don’t plan to tackle teen pregnancy with her, for clarification). In her village she was seen as the babysitter for all the children post-monster attack while everyone was rebuilding, even though she was still so young, it’s another reason she feels like village wizard is a position for her.

Gallica and Musk are twins, but Musk was the prodigy, he was the perfect boy when it comes to academics, he always got so much praise for being so successful and gifted. Meanwhile Gallica was lacking in those categories, though she excelled socially and creatively. Their parents always made sure to reward them both for the things they were good at, but they were also busy, and sometimes it would seem unbalanced. For Musk that meant he clung to his sister even harder, but for Gallica it meant envying her brother. Though she doesn’t recognize it at first, she sits on those feelings for a while. Musk feels a lot of pressure to fit into that heirship possession, but Gallica just wants to feel like she’s the favorite, she wants to be that heir without knowing what that really means. 

Maggie is similar to Gallica, she’s an heir to the forest region, but she isn’t the heir apparent. That title goes to her older sister, while Maggie is left as the second in line. In life she’s always compared to the “real” heir, always made out to be second best. She just can’t measure up, but instead of wishing for that position, she gave up. The pain of being “second best” never really went away for her, but she doesn’t want to be the heir, she just wants to be herself. That’s even represented in her design, the rest of her family is green (Like her mother, currently in charge of that region), but she’s yellow (Like her father, who chose his own path that just happened to be marrying into it).

Tam is a bit unique given that what they have to look up to is… dragons. However, it's actually a very healthy example of heirship, because her dragon family took them in when they were a baby, and treated them just like all the other dragons. In a since Tam is an heir to them because their dragon-mom was their leader, but that doesn’t mean they don’t doubt themselves. And it doesn’t mean they don’t sometimes feel like an outsider when it comes to humans AND dragons. But they can do it, they’re just as dragon as the rest of them and they all know it, no need to be nervous. 

Holly was a doll to her parents. When I say that I don’t mean she was sweet to them, I mean they treated her like a doll. It’s not that they didn’t love her, but they were important people that needed to make an important impression, that means using their kid for it. You know, dragging her to big parties, dressing her up all cute (whether she wants to dress that way or not) and forcing her to sit still and behave and act cute. This sort of lead into her needing attention from people to feel validation. Not to mention she’s also literally an heir to their company. But after everything, does she really want that job? Or does she just want approval? Probably the latter, but it’s okay because eventually she’ll be able to live for herself.

Hyacinth’s love for books and reading is because of bedtime stories their mom would read to them when they were little, and although you can say their mother is the source of this heirship, she isn’t the focus of it. No, what Hyacinth looks up to and wants to become is the classic adventurer storybook hero. That’s all they want to be, they want to be like someone from a book. Someone confident, strong, brave, and… Not at all like they are now. They don’t like themselves much. Mostly because they can’t live up to their own ideal, a fictional ideal made up in their own escapist world. This is represented in their magic too, transformation magic. They literally become other people. One day though, being themselves will make them happier than anything. 

Aster is last, I was gonna do just the main students but I felt like I should mention at least one adult, and she’s the main one after all! Aster was her adoptive father’s protege, he taught her everything she knows. She went down the same path he did, becoming a student, then a wizard, then a knight, and eventually a teacher and surrogate mother figure, but she chose it because she wanted to. She may have gone down the same path but she made it her own, and her dad is proud of her for it because he’s an incredibly doting moron. However Aster’s path was still influenced by Ambrosia, and vice versa.

ANYWAY I rush-wrote this all at 7AM with no sleep on impulse so... I’m sorry if there are typos and it’s not the best written but I just wanted to ramble about my own OCs so... :)

#i use ... so many ... ellipsis (and parenthesizes) im so sorry #finn's ocs #this is longe . im sorry abt that too #but its not like im making anyone read it i just wanted to post it #so its ok :) #thank you all for indulging/tolerating my senseless rambling OC regardless tho <3 #im so tired its almost 9am now im gonna sleep soon. #but i wanna wait a bit after posting this. u kno. even if ppl just skim it a bit i wanna see if any hashtag reviews come in LOL #by that i just mean comments or tags or something btw i dont expect ppl to write full reviews of this LOL i just like peer validation

[hellsparadiseessays]

Aza Brothers Week - Day 3

Part II of my essay on the Aza Brothers, initially posted on r/Jigokuraku back in April/May. Reading it again cracks me up tbh, I usually suck at guessing authors’ intents, but this time it seems I managed to be right on pretty much everything, which still blows my mind. More under the cut!

Aza bros, an analysis – Part II: an essay on Tao, Lord Tensen and how Chôbe may not die so soon

As a disclaimer, three things need to be mentioned. First, thy enter spoiler territory; flee while thy can, new reader! Second, I am not Japanese/Chinese nor raised in Japan/China, so my take is solely based on the academic documents I read, what I know and what I understand. If there’s a mistake in my understanding, please, feel free to address it. Third, English is not my native language, so while I’m fluent in it, I don’t promise a 100% quality and may make some grammar mistakes here and there. On this note, let’s start a needlessly academic write up. I hope you’ll deem it an enjoyable or educative read.

The first part of this essay focused on Chôbe and Toma, their dynamic and how society keeps influencing them despite their rejection of it. Now that this whole part about their past and present is explained, we can turn our attention towards the potential future for them. Well, mostly for Chôbe, since this part of the essay has been modified in light of chapter 54, which gave us Toma’s immediate goal: getting stronger by training with Tamiya, so he can save his brother (and be on equal foot with him, especially when it comes to murdering everybody - Toma, you sneaky bastard, ily but be careful, Shion may be onto you). Things may not end up being that easy considering a whole boat full of ninjas is on its merry way to get Gabimaru’s head, but hey, the group may split up as a consequence of this specific mess. Considering that, the second part of the essay on our good brothers will be focused on Tao, Chôbe and Lord Tensen, and will be more opinion-based than the previous one (though textual evidences will be brought up to explain said opinions).

1. What is Tao and how does it work?

Tao has been defined both in-story and through u/gamria’s posts on this very subreddit (latest post here), so I will mostly sum things up a bit before going on yet another long rant about Chôbae.

Like Gamria summed up, Tao irl means “The Way” and is tied to a philosophy of life that allows one to live in harmony with the world. This state of perfection can be reached through various exercises involving alchemy, physiology and even specific sexual practices to prolong one’s life and reach immortality.

Now I’m not explaining further because you have the aforementioned essays on that matter, and because I’m having trouble wrapping my head around it so giving a clear explanation is tough. Instead, let’s see which elements of Taoism can be found in Jigokuraku and how they are explained in-story.

• Yin and Yang: they represent the duality between everything. Shion explains it well: "Tapping into this power demands a balanced spirit. Not too intense... Not too tranquil...”, “the interstice between rage and serenity... That duality. You must push your spirit to reach such a state.” (chapter 29) Lord Tensen also exemplifies it by switching between feminine and masculine – the energies represented by Yin and Yang.

• Tao: separated from Chi in the manga, yet with a similar function. It’s the life force that, once mastered, allows one to gain strength and perform notably better in battle (among other things).

• Waidan: the Outer Alchemy, one of the two forms of Taoist alchemy. It involves the use and mix of various elements found in nature (mineral, vegetal, animal) and constitutes a way to reach immortality. We’ve seen a lot of examples of it since our band of misfits arrived on the island: the Soshin, Monshin, the way Tan is produced, even Lord Tensen themselves – they are born from the mix between various elements found in nature, to produce something new that ranges from the technical fodder half human-half animal to a sort of elixir of life (Tan) based on humans mixed with plants to Lord Tensen (half plant-half human, with a very precise choice of plant to maximise the potential of Yin and Yang – and thus, of Tao – by having beings that are physically hermaphrodite).

• Neidan: the Inner Alchemy, the other form of Taoist alchemy. A mix of Waidan, cosmology and the Five Elements, it’s a system that makes one perceive their body as a cauldron in which the Three Treasures (Jing – Essence, Qi – Breath, Shen – Spirit) are worked in a manner that’ll allow a physical and emotional improvement through unity, leading to the immortality sought by Taoism.

• Five Elements: we literally got drawings and explanations about that one in the manga, so TL;DR it’s the sequence of Wood – Fire – Earth – Metal – Water constantly generating positive or negative interactions in a cyclic way. Wood feeds Fire, the Ash becomes Earth, from the Earth is born Metal, Metal can bear Water, Water makes Wood grow. Wood cracks Earth, Fire bends Metal, Earth absorbs Water, Metal cuts Wood, Water puts Fire out. These elements are also associated with seasons (Wood/Spring, Fire/Summer, Earth/late Summer (harvests), Metal/Autumn, Water/Winter) as well as moods, planets, colours or even Cardinal directions. As explained by the characters, everybody has one type dominating the others, and can act accordingly to it – be it by figuring out the appropriate strategy in a fight or understanding from which place X physical issue comes from, how to heal it and so on.

I’m probably missing some things, but that’s what caught my attention according to what I gathered from external sources and what I noticed in the manga. I’ll use these points to explain my personal take on Chôbe’s strength and what his future may look like, as well points out some interesting details about Lord Tensen and the way things seem to go in Hourai.

2. Lord Tensen: office politics is also a thing in Paradise

The island, described as Paradise and the place where the Elixir of Life can be found, truly is an amusing place. Its inhabitants are so human, no matter how much they try to get past this condition through all the means they can. First, you have people like Hoko, unfortunate souls who’ve been thoroughly manipulated and clearly seen as utter fools by Lord Tensen. Then you have the Soshin and Monshin, who’re seen as nothing more than failures. Then you have the Doshi, the disciples, who’re not there yet but fine enough to be the optional servants of Lord Tensen. Then you have the seven forms of Lord Tensen, which have displayed individual characteristics in their appearance, abilities and personalities. Zhu Jin is mocked for his loss against Shion (and his loss of Tao as well, which resulted in his body looking older), Ju Fa clearly has a short fuse and a violent disposition, Mu Dan is the local Mad Scientist who’s ready to give one’s a chance if one’s shows the potential for it (hi, Yuzuriha), Ratana Taisei seems to be the local mood maker and Rien is the leader (and Mad Scientist-in-Chief) who’s obeyed by the others without questions. However, Rien doesn’t seem to just be in charge of his fellow Tensen, it looks like he’s also in charge of overseeing the entire island. He’s the one showing distrust about Ju Fa’s confirmation on whether or not Chôbe and Toma were dealt with, and he’s the one who sent one of the Doshi to make sure they were Tan material. Later, when Mu Dan is killed (and since the Doshi sent to the Tan pit didn’t come back), he takes matters into his own hands and that’s how he ends up meeting Chôbe.

And let’s not forget Mei, who’s a proper wrench in the entire system by running around instead of being used as Bochu Jutsu material by the Doshi. No matter how seemingly godly Lord Tensen is, they clearly cannot foresee the consequences their actions may have. Ju Fa’s brutality may cause a rift among the seven, Rien accidentally gave free informations to our band of misfits by banishing Mei for her impurity, forcing her to consume Tan and giving her to the Doshi – thus creating a resentment that’ll come back to bite his backside, probably in the form of a small, fire-using ninja and his gang.

Considering these observations about the local politics of Kotaku, we can consider Chôbe’s future from a perspective larger than the one we get from a single weekly read of the new chapters.

3. Chôbe’s strength and potential: impure or new step forward?

Even before he sets a foot on Kotaku, Chôbe’s strength is pointed out when he literally kicks a man 6 feet in the air. The lad’s crazy physical strength is made obvious first during the fight against the other criminals, then when he deals with the Soshin and even picks a giant axe to clear the place more easily (funnily enough, that axe belonged to an Oni-like Soshin, the implications for Chôbe are amusing).

But the real deal about Chôbe’s potential becomes evident during the fight against the Doshi. After having been thrown in the Tan pit and having been somewhat invaded by the plants here, a shift happened and Chôbe became able to wield and read Tao. Not perfectly, but he picked up on it awfully fast, the Doshi openly acknowledged it in chapter 30: “this man is powerful, and yet considerably fatigued. It takes all he has to remain standing. This is only a bluff, a glimpse at his Tao reveals as much” at the beginning of the fight (considering the siblings had been beaten and thrown into the Tan pit some time before, it’s expected for Chôbe to be tired), “he possesses the aptitude, but has far to go” later during their fight, and he even uses the word “astounding” twice in relation to Chôbe’s fighting abilities. In chapter 31, a swift change happens in the way the Doshi perceives Chôbe: “this man’s Tao... It seems to have grown... In such a short period of time?” and “I can tell... This man is dangerous. A threat to Lord Tensen. He must be killed here. Now.” The Doshi even considers Chôbe’s progress and almost instantaneous understanding of the way to wield Tao “impossible”. Well, looks like it is possible when you’re the ever observant Aza Chôbe. Because that man may look and act like a beast, but he is far from being one – save for the fight against Gabimaru (during which he lost his mental balance), he demonstrated how clear his mind is during a fight, and do you know how he started understanding the way Tao works? By seeing it with his right eye. The blind one. As soon as we see him figure it all out, a panel is dedicated to this eye, wide open with a faintly visible pupil. That means he managed to calmly pull off what Shion has been doing for years while in the middle of a fight. Later, during his fight against Gabimaru, he went even further by managing to instinctively master his new form: he managed to turn his left arm into a sort of giant axe, thus showing the readers how he’s slowly managing to transcend his condition as a puny human.

Considering point 2 and what has been aforementioned, we can thus draw some conclusions about the path that may await Chôbe.

First, his growth relies on the balance between his rage and his calm (Professor Shion worded it perfectly), so while I’m not worrying too much about Toma for now, the same may not be said of Chôbe. I was thinking that before, but in light of chapter 54 and Toma’s decision, I suspect Chôbe may need Toma much more than Toma needs him. Plus, while his brother was protected and had time to swallow all the terrible things that happened to them, the same cannot be said of Chôbe, who still has a lot of hangs up (see Part I of this essay), the very hangs up that had him lose his mind while fighting Gabimaru. The entire scene when he finds himself facing that dark mass intrigues me. Is it the result of an imbalance, or the effect of the vines and consumption of Soshin blood that changed something in him? It was a stark opposition with the way Gabimaru’s flashbacks are expressed: while Gabi’s flashbacks tend to have this light about them, Chôbe’s flashback was dark, confused, suffocating. Seeing it caused Chôbe to not see Gabimaru anymore, and just lash out at everything that hurt him regardless of its nature. Our Bandit King will probably have to face all that to find a proper balance and gain further mastery over his new found abilities.

I mentioned the consumption of Soshin blood to stay hydrated, and this is my second point about Chôbe’s potential fate. We could suspect it with the way Tan is produced and consumed by Lord Tensen, but chapter 54 was clear about it: to survive, living beings full of Tao must be consumed, and that’s exactly what Chôbe did out of survival. Rien qualified him of “impure”, just like Mei (who needs to consume Tao from an external source to avoid arborification and had her Tanden destroyed), which has been treated like a failure. But does it really mean Chôbe is a failure? Remember, the Doshi openly found him amazing and even dangerous for Lord Tensen. So where Rien saw failure in Mei, will he see the same in Chôbe? Considering the short amount of time spent on the island (3-4 days), and considering Rien is one of the local Mad Scientists, it is possible that he’ll pick on Chôbe’s abnormal abilities and will take note of it. Maybe he’ll even take him to Hourai, where I’m sure Ratana Taisei would be delighted to meet him again – remember the encounter with her and Ju Fa, back in chapter 16? Taisei openly expressed her interest in Chôbe (“he’s cute”), and we already saw what was going on in the Palace (a literal pool to train and private beds for some Bochu Jutsu). Considering Yuzuriha nearly had a taste of it with Mu Dan, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it was what actually happened to Chôbe. The one thing that worries me about his situation is the issue with arborification, which may or may not end up being a long-term problem for him depending on what may happen if he goes to the Palace and learn more about Tao.

But do you know what would be hilarious about the entire situation with Lord Tensen? Considering his unruly nature and sneaky behaviour (in chapter 30, he stayed down and waited for the Doshi to approach before ripping his throat out), I wouldn’t put it past Chôbe to play the card of the wolf among sheeps, stealing what Lord Tensen has to offer before wrecking some havoc in the Palace. That would be fitting of a Bandit King, don’t you think?

Well, this is all for now, I guess? Like I said, this second part is more me giving my opinion and taking wild guesses based on what I noticed in the manga. It’s also me ranting about Chôbe, because of course that’s what I do ever since I discovered that amazing character. I hope you found this read enjoyable or informative, a part 3 may happen depending on the material we get. In the mean time, I’m totally expecting UG to contradict some of the speculations I made. Oh well, we’ll see. I don’t even think I’ll be mad, because his handling of the story until now has been 10/10 to be honest. Re-reading the manga told me that much.

#jigokuraku #hell's paradise #chôbe #tôma #essay #my stuff

[noliereyes]

TASK 007 // CHARACTER Q&A

What influence has your character’s parent/parents/guardian had on them? Nolie is very influenced by her parents. As the youngest of three, they felt confident by the time she came around of how to parent her. They encouraged her hobbies and talents, and in turn, Nolie was able to confidently pursue anything that gave her joy.

Was your character overprotected as a child, or were they left to fend for themselves? Nolie was definitely doted on as a child (she was undeniably the family favourite)

Are they affectionate? Only with the people she’s closest with: she’s very affectionate with close friends and with Charlie.

What makes them laugh? Charlie, mostly. She’s a sucker for a bad pun, too.

Is your character street-smart or book-smart? (Or both, or neither). Nolie is more street smart. Academics, while she was quite good at them, were never really a priority for her. She learned more in her Academy training that she applies to her everyday life.

How do they see themselves: as smart, as intelligent, uneducated? Nolie is smarter than a lot of people give her credit for.

What would they consider their most defining characteristic? Charlie, probably. He’s almost an extension of her at this point.

What is/was their favourite subject in school? Academy training was her favourite part of school. 

What are their manners like? Very good. Her parents ensured that she and her siblings were polite, and the Academy often taught Capitol etiquette.

What are their hobbies? Dance is Nolie’s main hobby. She also loves training Charlie to do tricks, and likes to help her parents cook.

Who is their best friend? Other than Charlie, Nolie is very close with Lincoln Conway, and becoming closer with Jules Churchill as well. She considers a lot of Victors close friends in the tower.

Describe their ideal romantic partner. Understanding, gentle, good sense of humour, easygoing, playful, kind-hearted.

If they could, would your character want to travel? Where would they go? Nolie enjoys travelling to the Capitol for mentoring and for dance performances. Sometime she’d like to visit Four again: it’d be nice to see it without the pressures of her Victory tour.

How long does it take them to get ready in the morning? Not very long. Nolie’s makeup look is quite simple: brows and mascara, mostly. And unless her stylist is curling her hair, she doesn’t do much with it either. For big events, she takes a while, but for an everyday look she’s ready to go in around 15 minutes.

Does your character want children? If they already have children, would they want to have more children? Why or why not? Nolie might like to have a child or two one day. Living in Two, it’s the safest place in Panem to have kids, so she’d be open to it. 

How does your character react to stressful situations? Not great. Nolie seems to go from 0-100 very quickly when it comes to stress. She panics first and thinks later.

Does your character have a big imagination? Or are they more down-to-earth? Nolie has a huge imagination. She expresses most of her creativity and imagination through her performances: having a good imagination helps her with her choreography and concepts.

How is their sense of humor? Do they have one? Extremely dry. Nolie’s entire brand of humour is dry wit. 

What does your character want most in life right now? To bring Leon or Nike home, and to feel she was a part of it.

Does your character have any secrets? If so, are they holding them back? Absolutely. She wouldn’t say anything to anyone, but that crush on Lincoln isn’t just a Sponsors Weekly rumour.

Do they think first and act later? Or act first and think later? Nolie tends to think before she acts a little more now than she did as a child. 

How tall is your character? How do they feel about their height? Nolie is 5′2″, but she fights with the ferocity of someone far taller. 

Have they ever wanted to be invisible? Often. 

What superpower would they want to have? Invisibility, because sometimes you just want to walk your dog without Capitolites freaking out over you.

If they had to live in a District other than their own, which would it be? Nolie is smart enough to know that in Two she had the best quality of life out of all the Districts. If she had to live elsewhere, she’d live in One: they seem to have it second-best.

#ttwtask #// ft some of her Lincoln feelings that are back #// back?? jk they never left my girl is a disaster bi always