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nileqt87 · 3 years

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Ramblings about Lucifer referencing Bones, “Close your eyes.” and shows influencing each other

That was never just a Bones reference being made and the season finale admitted it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv_1dJk5yEM

David Boreanaz played the ironically-named Angel on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: the Series. His character has *so many* parallels with Lucifer (far more than Booth outside of the law enforcement/crime procedural connection).

Angel's spinoff also has noir crime drama aspects mixed with the supernatural starring an immortal protagonist with a dark past and infamously villainous reputation fighting evil as a supernatural private detective in the City of Angels (a city known for its dark underbelly juxtaposed with fame and glamor, broken dreams and chasing eternal youth) and navigating human law (including the LAPD and evil lawyers) while not legally existing.

Angel also fell in love with a blonde human heroine (Buffy Summers) after lifetimes of self-destructive, not-so-heroic behaviors (getting his soul back did *not* make Angel a hero and human Liam was a lecherous drunk with unfulfilled ambitions and father issues) who inspired him to become a better man and make human connections.

AtS made heavy use of sprawling nighttime Downtown L.A. cityscape shots, which Lucifer also shared an abundance of.

During both of their first cases, they failed to save the troubled blonde girl they were trying to help (Tina and Delilah, respectively). They also have a connection inside the LAPD through a blonde cop who also takes their identity secrets pretty badly (Kate Lockley in Angel's case).

Note that Buffy not only screamed (twice, given it repeated during her memory loss in Halloween), but also came after Angel with a crossbow when she thought he'd attacked her mother (it was Darla), so Chloe taking the Devil face reveal (Monster Reveals are iconic old horror imagery) poorly to the point of considering poisoning is par for the course. However, it only took Buffy seven episodes instead of three seasons to get the identity reveal via seeing the horrific second face (arguably also an accident on Angel's part).

They are metaphorically or literally Hell's angels. They also had long stays in Hell or a hell dimension.

Lucifer and Angel are also both Prodigal Sons with long-held grudges against their long-absent fathers (patricide in Liam/Angel(us)'s case) and they're later faced with a situation where they have unexpected, thought-impossible offspring who show up as adults (neither got to raise their miracle child) wanting revenge. Yup, major Connor/Rory parallel there.

Angel is also in a constant struggle with the Powers that Be manipulating his fate and free will (like Lucifer, he's a champion of free will no matter the cost) and making him prophecy's bitch.

Bones famously got jokes about how Booth is Angel getting his Shanshu (made human), since the character is given constant Angel-isms like references to a dark past having killed people (Booth is also named after a historical murderer, in addition to having been a sniper), both being Catholics full of Catholic guilt (note that the Buffyverse is most accurately polytheistic, though Angel does face off against a take on the antichrist--Angel has constant biblical imagery/themes and not just because of vampire iconography), kicking down doors (just not off their entire frames--LOL), turning on a dime and threatening people up against walls, constant wink-wink references to the Buffyverse (familiar casting, references to the Hyperion Hotel, etc...), etc...

The Lucifer finale used the words "Close your eyes." right before Lucifer is sent to Hell. This is literally the BtVS season 2 finale where Buffy kisses Angel and sends him to hell for a century with a stab to the gut (see the season 5 finale, not to mention Lucifer giving up his life for Chloe's à la I Will Remember You).

Note that D.B. Woodside was on BtVS (playing Robin Wood, whose Slayer mother Nikki Wood was killed by Spike). Aimee Garcia was in both episodes of AtS (Birthday--she's older than she looks!) and Bones. See her also playing a cross-wearing religious girl on Supernatural who was slaughtered in a police precinct by Lilith. Kevin Alejandro was also in an episode of Bones.

Tricia Helfer was in an episode of Supernatural playing a ghost who reenacts the night of her death every year. BtVS also had an episode along those lines, but with Buffy and Angelus possessed (not to mention Phantom Dennis!). Lucifer having Dan as a ghost is yet another thing they all have in common (ditto referencing Ghost, Patrick Swayze and/or Unchained Melody--Vincent Schiavelli a.k.a. Ghost's subway ghost was Jenny's uncle Enyos, whom Angelus killed).

Lucifer name-checked Castiel and Supernatural referenced Lucifer using their Lucifer (crime-fighting angel in L.A. made it a double-reference whammy). Supernatural returned the favor again by having Castiel forced to sing in Enochian. Lucifer's reference to his singing voice was already a zing about Misha Collins having to put on that monotone gravel voice and Enochian being far from melodious.

Russell T Davies was quite heavily inspired by the Buffyverse when he revived Doctor Who and spun off Torchwood, so there are absolute tons of Buffy, Angel and Spike respectively in Rose Tyler, the 9th/10th Doctors, Captain Jack Harkness and Captain John Hart (right down to the actor). School Reunion is the episode where the Buffyverse inspiration is most on the nose, complete with Anthony Stewart Head saying "shooty dog thing" in a school setting and a Mayor/Angel-esque speech about the curse of immortality. The Time War gave the Doctor a huge genocide-level guilt complex. Note that the creator of DC comics' version of Lucifer, Neil Gaiman, has also written for Doctor Who and is also the co-creator of Good Omens (the show is brimming with Doctor Who Easter eggs thanks to David Tennant). A barely-recognizable Tom Ellis played Martha Jones' ex-fiancé Tom Milligan during the Year that Never Was, as well.

A lot of shows take inspiration from the Buffyverse and you've probably seen some of them. It isn't just the copycat vampire romance stories either.

Angel's forerunners in turn were a mix of guilt-stricken, rat-eating Louis de Pointe du Lac (his Jekyll/Hyde-esque alter-ego Angelus is closer to the pre-retcon, fully-evil Lestat de Lioncourt, who got woobified into an antihero rocker not unlike Spike--the entire Fanged Four mirror Anne Rice's character lineup), sword-wielding, immortality trope-influencers Connor/Duncan MacLeod of Highlander fighting for the Prize of humanity (akin to Pinocchio becoming a "real boy"--see also Barnabas Collins of Dark Shadows, though he was before vampires became antihero superheroes, not just sympathetic antivillains) and Nick Knight of Forever Knight (vampire detective).

Additionally, Tom Welling was famously the longest-serving Clark Kent of them all (Smallville) on the old WB (there's that DC comics connection, too), so it's not just a Fox shows thing (though Fox, not just Warner Brothers, did indeed own the Buffyverse). One of the least-known things about Clark is that he also has an immortality problem where he wouldn't age parallel to Lois (they wouldn't be able to have kids either) without a workaround. The Kryptonite line directed at Cain/Pierce by Lucifer was quite on the nose! Lucifer and Smallville sort of crossed over even further in Crisis on Infinite Earths, so Tom is canonically the face of both Clark and Cain in parallel universes of the DC multiverse.

Supernatural had quite recently had their own takes on Cain (played by Timothy Omundson, who also played God Johnson) and the Mark of Cain when Lucifer did it. Dan's killer Le Mec was, of course, Rob Benedict, who was God a.k.a. Chuck Shurley, the ultimate villain of Supernatural. Richard Speight, Jr., who was archangel Gabriel/Loki the Trickster, directed a lot of Lucifer's later episodes in addition to being a prolific Supernatural director.

Supernatural and Lucifer use the exact same font for their titles (Supernatural Knight).

The X-Files (which Supernatural referenced constantly) and Supernatural also had stories about nephilim (see the apocryphal Book of Enoch). Lucifer ultimately had two nephilim (forbidden interspecies offspring of angels and humans), even if not saying so as a known concept. Connor can also be compared to the vampire equivalent of being something like a dhampir, though he's not quite that (mostly-but-not-quite-human offspring of two vampires instead of a human/vampire hybrid--see Blade for an actual dhampir). Supernatural has also covered the even rarer cambion species (human/demon hybrid).

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thetaoofbetty · 4 years

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Milady I wanted to ask you this for a long time do you think bh fit the chilhood crush/chilhood friends to lovers trope, I think bh have so much inconsistency in that part of their story that most of the time we assume or its just fanon, I have pretty clear that a writer confirmed that jug had a crush on betty for a long time before kiss her but sadly that doesn't make it canon. I would like to know you thoughts about this?

Hello you delightful 🎃booberry🎃 muffin!

Honestly, I have to say it depends on how you think of childhood friends to lovers. For me, bughead is childhood friends to lovers but it’s subjective I suppose.

And, to be fair, the inconsistencies are mostly with Riverdale. The comics have given a lot of authors a solid childhood background story to pull from. Riverdale, as a whole is horrifically inconsistent. Cheryl is...2 years older? A year older? And they just forgot? I’d bet money that if they didn’t need the 2 episodes of Archie/Betty/Veronica drama in s1, mostly because of awareness of the comic dynamic, I doubt it would have been thought of much at all.

(not because i don’t think there’s precedence for betty/archie to have teenage drama born from an unrequited crush, it’s because the writers really don’t think past what they need for the plot in the moment. truly, if they wanted anyone but a small subset of shippers to really buy the archie/betty stuff, they should have gotten b/archie out of the way earlier or actually dedicate an entire plot arc to it because now they’re using it in what looks like a 2nd act spiral of the darkness before the light. and i’m not saying that because i’m a bughead shipper, i’m saying that because everything we know about s5 shows that the characters are not in a good place. if a b/a shipper wants us to buy that jug and veronica will be miserable but b/a will be perfectly content, i’d like them to expand their media outside of riverdale, because they need a new perspective)

As for the writer confirming Jughead had a crush so it’s not canon, I feel like that’s where subtext comes in. He confirmed it because we saw it. I’m not sure why people need to be handfed subtext into text when it comes to shows or movies, but it’s wild. Maybe it’s a confirmation thing shippers need to give themselves a leg up on the people who argue with them but I sort of weep for the people who can’t process stories without every single detail being handed to them on a spreadsheet.

And, to be honest, the thing with Riverdale is...it’s Archie comics fanfiction. Sanctioned fanfiction, sure, but fanfiction nonetheless. That (mostly male) creators get to decide what’s legitimate or what’s fact in some sort of perceived canon of stories that already existed because Hollywood gives them millions of dollars to do so is mostly just baffling to me. Fanfiction is legitimate writing, fanart is legitimate art. Arthurian legends, Marvel, DC, etc, are all stories being told from stories that have already been told. Does RAS actually tell any stories right now that haven’t already been told (i am being serious, sabrina, riverdale, katy keene, etc, all existed before)? Because it sort of seems like he’s a low rent JJ Abrams (who has now famously been ripped for ruining star trek, star wars, and got his hands on lord of the rings- godspeed lotr fandom) who will fail up until someone stops him, ha. God love him for giving us bughead but he’s not giving us anything we couldn’t already get in another form of media.

Thanks for the ask, lovely!💜

#besos!#i feel like it's not #but just in case #rd negativity #i side eye a lot of stuff gotta be honest #just so much #long post #frutifantastiko

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haec-est-fides · 3 years

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Filodox’s Trials of Apollo Reactions [Part I]

Welcome to part one of a reflective journey through Trials of Apollo ft. my original ebook annotations! I’ll be your host, 2020!filodox.

For this first episode, we’ll be going back to May 2016, the beginning of it all: The Hidden Oracle.

Annotations for this round are brought to you by 2016!filodox.

Is there anything we should know before we begin, 2016!me?

2016!filodox: I swore on the Styx never to read another Riordan book after he killed Octavian. And yet here we are.

... Alright then! Let’s get started.

But first, a more detailed overview on how this series will work: I will excerpt bits and pieces of the books based on what I highlighted / annotated on my first read. Beneath each quote, I will share what I wrote in the annotation. Below that, I will (occasionally) laugh at my past self, clarify the note, or say how my view has changed.

I encourage questions, comments, and concerns (of which there may be many), so go ahead and use that replies feature if you feel so inclined! However, these are just my opinions and (occasionally) emotional reactions, so no hate pls. <3 (Or, if you do send hate, pls make it funny.)

Now, diving right in with Riordan’s dedication!

To The Muse Calliope. This is long overdue. Please don’t hurt me.

2016!filodox: Hurt him. He didn’t even name the chapters.

As you can see, I had yet to experience Lester’s haiku and was already mad based on the table of contents alone. I went into this series very salty...

I inflicted a plague on the Greeks who besieged Troy.

2016!filodox: At least he did something right. Once.

I was just,,,extremely ready to die on Octavian’s hill. (Though I was a huge Troy / Aeneas stan before all this, just to be clear.)

Is anything sadder than the sound of a god hitting a pile of garbage bags?

2016!filodox: I actually find this particular god crashing into a dumpster quite amusing.

I also blamed Apollo for what happened to Octavian. I think that had a lot to do with how Apollo acted on Delos in Heroes of Olympus, basically disowning Octavian and whining about how some “creature” scammed him? That was bullshit. Apollo needed to own the fact that he blessed Octavian, but he just abandoned him and denied all the blame. TL;DR I had a grudge, okay?

My mind stewed in confusion, but one memory floated to the surface -- the voice of my father, Zeus: YOUR FAULT. YOUR PUNISHMENT.

2016!filodox: Wait, is this bc everyone blames Octavian and therefore Apollo? Bc lol but also no?

*cough* Octavian did nothing wrong 2k16 *cough*

Zeus will reconsider, I told myself. He’s just trying to scare me. Any moment, he will yank me back to Olympus and let me off with a warning.

“Yes...” My voice sounded hollow and desperate. “Yes, that’s it.”

2016!filodox: Apollo is a self centered frat boy, I forgot...but it is slightly...endearing? *narrows eyes*

Ah, how close I was to stanning Lester in the first chapter, when he was at his most “goddy”. You know, I actually made a rule for myself when I started reading Trials of Apollo that I would not under any circumstances stan Apollo. That was a naive goal, because it was never really a danger.

Regardless, Zeus had held me responsible for Octavian’s delusions of grandeur. Zeus seemed to consider egotism a trait the boy had inherited from me. Which is ridiculous. I am much too self-aware to be egotistical.

2016!filodox: I am going to Murder him.

*chef kiss* the hypocrisy ! the lack of self-awareness !

“I just...I assumed -- I hoped this would be taken care of by now.”

“You mean by demigods,” Percy said, “going on a big quest to reclaim the Oracle of Delphi?”

2016!filodox: That sounds like a decent quest, or you know, QUESTING FOR THE SIBYLLINE BOOKS

I’ve always said I can see the future but an inch to the left. Also, I don’t like Ella.

It warmed my heart that my children had the right priorities: their skills, their images, their views on YouTube. Say what you will about gods being absentee parents; our children inherit many of our finest personality traits.

2016!filodox: AND HE’S MAD ABOUT OCTAVIAN?!

I mean ?

Apollo, when Austin and Kayla show ambition: THEY GOT THAT FROM ME <3

Apollo, when Octavian (or Nero, or Caligula) shows ambition: srry i don’t know him ??

He had a weak jawline, an overlarge nose, and a beard that wrapped around his double chin like a helmet strap. His hair was curly and dark like mine, except not as fashionably tousled or luxuriant. His lips curled as if he smelled something unpleasant. Perhaps it was the burning seats of the bus.

2016!filodox: Nero ???

Not quite sure how to feel looking back at this moment. Call out post @ myself for instantly recognizing Nero, when afaik this scene was before we had any hints that Roman emperors were even a plot point? But here’s the thing: I don’t remember why I could recognize him so easily. I don’t remember where 2016!me obtained this ancient Rome knowledge. A mystery.

On another note entirely, did Nero really like,,,astral project into Apollo’s fever dream to address him directly? Because Rhea does. And sometimes Python does. But Nero? Can he do that?

The man laughed as flames licked at his purple sleeves. “You’re not sorry yet, but you will be. Find me the gates. Lead me to the Oracle. I’ll enjoy burning it down!”

2016!filodox: I too enjoy burning things down. # Nero confirmed

My only comment here is “oh you sweet summer child,,,”

Oh. Perhaps some of you are wondering how I felt seeing [Will] with a boyfriend rather than a girlfriend.

2016!filodox: No, actually. I wasn’t wondering. I was plotting how to kill you, them, and quite a few other people. Do you think I could trade you for Octavian?

Oh man, back at it again with the salt. XD

I could only remember my conversations with Octavian, the way he’d turned my head with his flattery and promises. That stupid boy...it was his fault I was here.

A voice whispered in the back of my mind. This time I thought it might be my conscience: Who was the stupid boy? It wasn’t Octavian.

2016!filodox: I can’t really...explain my emotions upon reading this. I’m still not quite okay, but this...it’s bittersweet in a way. I don’t know if this is a poor attempt at a proper closure, the author’s way of beating a dead horse, or just a way to make Apollo seem pitiable. Whatever it is... Octavian was important enough to remain in Apollo’s mortal memory. He somehow made promises to a god and had Apollo wrapped around his finger. And despite being so much like Apollo, the god blames him. Like everyone blames him. But Apollo also realizes, accepts on an infinitesimal scale, that “it wasn’t Octavian”. He wasn’t perfect, but neither is Apollo. Apollo is (at least) subconsciously admitting his own guilt in the whole affair.

...yeah. I will note that this bit isn’t meant to develop Octavian, but rather uses Octavian as a prop to support Apollo’s development? Which is why it still stings. Like thanks, I guess.

“Your judgement in the past has been...questionable. I wonder if you have chosen the right tools for this job. Have you learned from your past mistakes?”

2016!filodox: Nero has made plenty of mistakes to learn from

Love how I just assumed it was Nero back in chapter 10 and went with it, zero hesitation. Also love how I heard Python say Nero has made mistakes and went “oh absolutely”. In fact, here’s something funny in retrospect that will become more and more apparent: I did not like Nero in 2016. Or, at least, I thought I didn’t. There’s something really odd going on here that baffles me, looking back...

“A triumvirate is a ruling council of three,” I said. “At least, that’s what it meant in ancient Rome.”

“Which is interesting,” Rachel said, “because of this next shot.” She tapped her screen. The new photo zoomed in on the building’s penthouse terrace, where three shadowy figures stood talking together....

2016!filodox: Is it bad that I’m smirking? Because it’s getting interesting ~ *clear malicious intent*

Wow, edgy. Triumvirates are just a neat, Roman thing and I stanned.

“The last triumvirate I dealt with included Lepidus, Marc Antony, and my son, the original Octavian. A triumvirate is a very Roman concept...like patriotism, skullduggery, and assassination.”

2016!filodox: THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL EVERYONE. MODERN OCTAVIAN IS A VERY GOOD ANCIENT ROMAN. POLITICS, ESPECIALLY SHADY AF POLITICS AND POWERPLAYS, ARE QUINTESSENTIALLY ROMAN. Also, I’d like to note that it’s confirmed, in this universe’s canon, that Augustus was a son of Apollo.

Ohhhh, wait. I think I’d watched the HBO series Rome by 2016, which would at least partially explain my ancient Rome knowledge. (Amazing tv show btw!)

“He heard them talking in Latin.”

“Latin? Were they campers?”

Pete spread his hands. “I--I don’t think so. Paulie described them like they were adults. He said one of them was the leader. The other two addressed him as imperator.”

2016!filodox: !!!! (obligatory 💕)

I was such a simp for Latin in high school. And the Roman Empire. Still am, but hey.

“The Beast is planning some kind of attack on your camp. I don’t know what it is, but it’s going to be big.”

2016!filodox: Runs in the family I guess

The Octavian / Triumvirate parallels are everywhere... 👀

“The emperors made themselves gods. They had their own temples and altars. They encouraged the people to worship them.”

2016!filodox: # deify me

*smacking my past self with a stick* You stop that! Edgy child!

Anyway, a much better point here is like,,,the Imperial cult was huge in the ancient Roman world. Looking at Apollo’s explanation here, why did only the “worst” three emperors get to be immortal? Did famously “good” emperors like Augustus and Marcus Aurelius have the option of becoming minor gods, but they chose Elysium or something? Are there slightly less infamous emperors just hanging around anywhere as minor gods? A lot of Roman emperors live on in human memory is all I’m saying.

“Wait!” Will said as I reached the door. “Who is the Beast? Which emperor are we dealing with?”

“The worst of my descendants.” My fingers dug into the doorframe. “The Christians called him the Beast because he burned them alive. Our enemy is Emperor Nero.”

2016!filodox: I honestly can’t believe it took this long to reveal this? Was anyone surprised?

Nero’s reveal is rather late in the book compared to Commodus, Caligula, and even Tarquin iirc? But it makes sense, being the first book of the series. Also love how 16-year-old me was like “this reveal is silly because everyone, like me, recognizes Nero on sight” and didn’t question that assumption at all.

“Germani.” Instinctively, I moved in front of Meg. The elite imperial bodyguards had been cold-blooded death reapers in ancient Rome. I doubted they’d gotten any sweeter over the centuries.

2016!filodox: BITCH. See? This is why I love Rome. They knew what they were doing.

Ngl, as someone of Germanic heritage, I felt really represented by the Germani, which is hilarious on so many levels.

He tried to compensate for his ugliness with an expensive Italian suit of purple wool, his gray shirt open to display gold chains. His shoes were hand-tooled leather, not the sort of thing to wear while stomping around in an ant pile. Then again, Nero had always had expensive, impractical tastes.

2016!filodox: I don’t exactly like Nero, and actually think he was quite the shitty emperor, but I guess I mildly respect and “like” him on principle (in this book at least).

OH YOU SWEET SUMMER CHILD. I was so convinced that I didn’t actually like Nero, despite all of the lowkey evidence to the contrary? Who hurt you, past me? (Lmao, it was Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio.) My working theory is that I was too much of an Emperor Augustus stan at the time to admit liking Nero. It’s hysterical. Look at me equivocating like a champ.

I’d been so proud of my son, the original Octavian, later Caesar Augustus. After his death, his descendants became increasingly arrogant and unstable (which I blamed on their mortal DNA; they certainly didn’t get those qualities from me).

2016!filodox: I’m glad Apollo and I can agree on something. Augustus was amazing and those who came after him...significantly less so.

See! The propaganda really got to me, what can I say?

Nero clasped his hands as if in prayer. “Oh, my. It seems we’ve had a slight miscommunication. You see, Apollo, Meg brought you here, just as I asked her to. Well done, my sweet.”

2016!filodox: This was obvious but I still find it...gods, the only word I can think of is “delicious”

. . .

“The Beast killed my father. This is Nero. He’s -- he’s my stepfather.”

I could not fully grasp this before Nero spread his arms.

“That’s right, my darling,” he said. “And you’ve done a wonderful job. Come to Papa.”

2016!filodox: Okay, but we should have known this since it became apparent her weapons were Roman. Also, oof. Also also, WHY did Riordan feel the need to add that last line? Why?

ASDFGHJKL: I CAN’T

“After the fire, we’ll rebuild,” he said. “It will be glorious!”

2016!filodox: The amount of times I have used this very logic is worrying.

For (some) context, Firelord Ozai is my favorite character from AtLA. <3

The scene might have been funny except that the Germani were now back on their feet, five demigods and a geyser spirit were still tied to highly flammable posts, and Nero still had a box of matches.

2016!filodox: Oh, I find this plenty amusing!

The emperor stared at his empty hand. “Meg...?” His voice was as cold as an icicle.

2016!filodox: The various ways his tone / voice have been described throughout this conversation are just 💕

*looks at camera like I’m on The Office*

Seriously, though. Nero’s voice is like the central descriptive element of his character because he’s so manipulative. It’s really cool and a great use of detail.

[Meg] turned to Nero. “You told me never to lower myself to my enemies’ level.”

“No, indeed.” Nero’s tone had frayed like a weathered rope. “We are better. We are stronger. We will build a glorious new world. But these nonsense-spewing trees stand in our way, Meg. Like any invasive weeds, they must be burned. And the only way to do that is with a true conflagration -- flames stoked by blood.”

2016!filodox: Real 👏🏻 Gods 👏🏻 Require 👏🏻 Blood👏🏻

I was way too enthusiastic about this whole situation, wasn’t I?

Nero grinned. “Good-bye, Apollo. Only eleven more Olympians to go.”

2016!filodox: Wait, shit, WHAT

Having read Tower of Nero, this probably had something to do with Python interfering with the Fates, huh? But does that mean it’s more Python’s plan or Nero’s? If this was Nero’s plan (with his 12 kids literally replacing the Olympians) that’s,,,really fucking bold.

Then I heard the screaming from Camp Half-Blood.

2016!filodox: Music to my ears ~

I’m presenting every edgy detail of my annotations so I have a proper case file when I inevitably have to face the question “On a scale of one to ten, how relatable is Emperor Nero and why should you have realized it’s a ten sooner?”

In a flash of silver light, the camp’s magical barriers collapsed. The Colossus lurched forward and brought his foot down on the dining pavilion, smashing it to rubble like so many children’s blocks.

2016!filodox: Payback! Dear gods, I can’t stop smiling! I’m just like “YES!” I know this will all probably get fixed or whatever but I’M HAVING A MOMENT.

I’ve learned to appreciate the small wins. <3

Percy grabbed one of the crown’s sunray spikes. He sliced it off at the base, then jabbed it into the Colossus’ forehead.

2016!filodox: As much as Nero is FAR from my favorite, I really don’t like defacing ancient (or replicas of ancient) statues and art...

This is where I just start laughing at myself tbh. I was so insistent on not liking Nero. Like, I sound like I’m in denial. Peak equivocation. What happened to that heart emoji a few chapters back? Why did I suddenly make it about *checks notes* ancient art? Updated translation: nooo don’t ruin the Colossus Neronis it’s so sexy aha

Just as the [arrow] reached its apex and was about to fall back to earth, a gust of wind caught it...perhaps Zephyros looking kindly on my pitiful attempt. The arrow sailed into the Colossus’ ear canal and rattled in his head with a clink, clink, clink like a pachinko machine.

2016!filodox: HOW MANY EX MACHINAS IS THIS ?! The dryads, the arrow, Percy, the enchantment, and THIS ?

One of my criticisms of Trials of Apollo in general is just that the stakes are so much higher and Riordan usually solves that problem by having his heroes win on long odds. The chances of them succeeding at like,,,anything they attempt are astronomical, but of course they manage. It’s not surprising but it does get a little tiring.

“Yo, Nico,” Leo called, “please tell me that’s it for the physical abuse.”

“For now.” Nico smiled. “We’re still trying to get in touch with the West Coast. You’ll have a few dozen people out there who will definitely want to hit you.”

2016!filodox: Oh I’d love to hit him. With the flaming, Imperial gold payload of an onager. Preferably WITHOUT the Pontifex Maximus attached to it -- unless of course you mean the false pontifex, Jason Grace.

Leo was the salt in the wound for this one, ngl. He rekindled my undying ire over Octavian’s death. As I said at the beginning of this, I was extremely ready to die on Octavian’s hill after Heroes of Olympus. That sentiment sticks around for a while...

And we can call that a wrap!

Though it may seem like it, my annotations are not, in fact, a compilation of Nero’s greatest hits. There are a lot of scenes of his that I love (naturally) but I didn’t have anything to say about them when I first read the series. Maybe I’ll share those another time.

In any case, I hope you got something out of this ridiculously long post! Until next time! <3

#trials of apollo #toa #filodox!#I don't know what any of you were expecting but this is what I've got #no these are not all of my annotations #I tried to pick the best ones #oh also #I'm sorry to everyone with hard copies of the books #since I have ebooks it's no problem to search for quotes and page numbers are imaginary #if you want me to put chapters with the quotes I can

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omgericzimmermann · 6 years

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Queer Eye for the Recently Out NHL Player - Pt 2

Read Part One || Read It All on AO3

“So, we’re going to talk about the joys of slow cooking.”

Jack nodded, and tried to ignore the cameras, but Bitty hadn’t looked directly at him once since they met in the park and headed for the grocery store. Now wandering around the Providence farmers’ market to look at fresh produce, Bitty seemed determined not to look in his direction, and Jack had no idea what he’d done. Every so often, Bitty would glance at him from the corner of his eye and then skitter away like a spooked horse. Jack had no idea what to make of it.

“You don’t need to live on just broiled chicken, but I know prep time is a problem, so the genius of the crockpot is that you can just put all your things in there in the morning while you stretch after a run or your morning workout, and by the time it gets to be dinner, you’re set to go,” Bitty said. He carried on for a bit, but most of what he said went in one of Jack’s ears and right out the other. And Bitty still didn’t look at him.

When the cameras finally stepped aside to do some background footage of the market and Jack and Bitty were shuffled back towards the car, Jack cleared his throat.

“Did I do something?” he asked.

Bitty recoiled and finally turned to look at him. “Do something? What do you mean?”

“You just – uh – you wouldn’t look at me while the cameras were on,” Jack said, wondering if he sounded as pathetic as he felt.

Bitty stared at him and then lowered his sunglasses down his nose just far enough that he could look at Jack over the tops of them. “Oh sugar, you did absolutely nothing,” he said. Jack flushed more than he would’ve liked at the endearment. “But with that haircut Derek got you, I was afraid that if I looked at you while the cameras were on they’d pick up me sweating like a sinner in church, and that’s bad for my image.”

Jack had exactly zero idea how to respond to that, and followed Bitty to the car silently. For part of the ride to the shopping district where Bitty would be leaving him with Justin and Adam, Bitty seemed nervous, like he’d maybe overstepped Jack’s boundaries by admitting he thought Jack was attractive.

“I, um, I think you’re cute too,” Jack heard himself say, and then immediately realised he needed to pull his foot out of his mouth. He knew there were cameras in the truck, and surely one of those had just picked up his idiotic confession. “I mean – um – I just – uh--”

Bitty, thankfully, was laughing cheerily at the blush on Jack’s face, and at the next stoplight, leaned across the centre console to press a quick kiss to his cheek.

“Isn’t that going to go on the cameras?” Jack asked, meek.

“Oh, sugar, they are going to edit that one right out, don’t worry your pretty little head,” Bitty said. “It’s all good and fine if we flirt with you so long as we don’t actually mean it, but anything that looks like it’s going to be more than joking they cut. Especially if it’s me, since I’m the only one of us who’s single.”

Jack nodded, somewhat reassured, and rested his hands on his knees to keep from fidgeting.

“You’re, um, single?” he asked.

Bitty’s laughter carried them the rest of the way to the shops.

Shopping with Justin and Adam wasn’t really an experience Jack ever wanted to repeat in his life, but at the very least with the amount of clothes they bought him, he didn’t think he’d ever have to shop again. Jeans, a constant battle thanks to Jack’s hockey butt, were something Justin insisted on getting him, and teaching him how to have them tailored the same way he had his suits tailored. He also made Jack put some colour into his wardrobe, though not so much that Jack might be too spooked to wear it. The end results weren’t actually that bad, if Jack thought about it objectively. But it was absolutely embarrassing to be taken to the Fab Five loft and coerced into modelling his new clothes for the rest of the group. Jack had spent most of his life actively avoiding modelling opportunities.

And then, suddenly, it wasn’t all that embarrassing. The boys whooped and hollered every time Jack stepped into the living room with a new outfit, but Bitty got progressively redder in the face. When Jack turned to leave the room, he heard Bitty get up and say, “I need a drink. Anyone else thirsty?”

Jack’s grin carried him through the rest of the day.

Jack didn’t recognise his apartment. The only familiar thing about it on first glance was Puck cantering up to him and bouncing and wiggling excitedly until he stooped to scratch her. And then he looked closer. The boxes were gone, replaced by walls of dark bookshelves that held all his books and framed pictures of his parents and his teammates and himself and Puck. The walls, rather than bare, now held expertly framed photographs of Providence that –

“Wait those are my pictures,” he said, abandoning Puck’s fur to look closer at the pictures on the wall. “I took those.”

“Yep!” Adam said, clapping him on the shoulder.

“I picked ones without geese in them, since most people find those somewhat unsettling,” Dex said.

“Geese or pictures of geese?” Bitty asked from the kitchen.

“Both,” Dex and Derek replied.

“And we put this up,” Adam said, steering Jack towards his bedroom. The closet overflowed with the new clothes Justin had picked out, and the ones Jack had previously owned were gone, with the explanation that if he didn’t own anything that made him look like a Burger King bandit, he couldn’t accidentally dress like one. But Adam was pointing at the framed contract on the wall. It was next to Jack’s diploma, and innocuous and ordinary looking, but when Jack got closer, he saw that it was his second contract with the Falcs.

“It’s here to be a reminder,” Adam said. “You’re allowed to put down roots here. You’re allowed to make friends. You and Mashkov both signed eight year no-trade contracts last year. You’re not going anywhere. You get to really make this place yours, you know?”

Jack swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and nodded.

“And besides, you’re thirty, so eight years from now you’re probably gonna be close to retirement unless you pull a Jagir on us, so Providence is really the sort of place that’s going to be your, uh…” Adam floundered for words, and was saved when Puck trotted up to them and sat on their feet. “Your forever home.”

“Thanks,” Jack said quietly, a little surprised he could form sounds at all.

“This is your life here, Jack,” Bitty said, making both him and Adam flinch in surprise. “You are an amazing hockey player, you’re now openly bi, and you’re in Providence to stay, so make it yours. Make it the life you want it to be without worrying it’s all going to disappear in a mid-season trade.”

Jack met Bitty’s eyes for a lot longer than he meant to, and then nodded.

“Now come on, let’s figure out what you’re going to make for the boys on Saturday,” Bitty said, and dragged him off to the kitchen.

When the boys were gone, Jack was left with himself, Puck, and his new apartment. The camera men promised to return for his Saturday dinner with Tater and Thirdy and Marty and their wives, but it was only after the dust settled on Friday evening that he realised he’d forgotten the very crucial step of getting Bitty’s phone number. He wasn’t entirely sure he was allowed to have Bitty’s number, but the boys were right: he was going to be in Providence for the long haul, and so was Bitty, and he got to really be himself from now on, so maybe if he wanted to be himself and do that by asking Eric Bittle on a date, surely there was no harm in that.

He spent Saturday morning in the park with Puck, running and occasionally stopping to take pictures. Maybe if there was a good one of the river, he could have it framed for the bathroom.

The thought took him by surprise, but as soon as he got over the initial shock, it made him smile.

The camera crews had arrived and been let into Jack’s apartment while he was out and were setting up their equipment while Jack headed to the shower. He tolerated the camera following him while he picked one of the new outfits from Justin, and wondered if the boys approved of it from where they were certainly watching this unfold at the Fab Five loft. He wondered if Bitty approved.

The cameras watched while he pulled the ingredients he’d need for dinner from the pantry – which now had food in it that wasn’t just protein powder – and then reached for the fridge. In the centre was a pie with a sticky note on the case’s lid. Jack picked it up curiously.

I thought you could impress your guests with this for dessert - <3 ERB

Jack felt himself grin and flipped the note over. To his great relief, there was an instruction to return the pie dish to Bitty in the immediate future, followed by a phone number.

Queer Eye Scandal?

In the highly-rated show’s fourth season, the so called Fab Five made over the NHL’s Jack Zimmermann, captain of the Providence Falconers, shortly after Zimmermann had hosted a press conference revealing his sexuality to the greater public. Being the first openly LGBT man in the NHL was an unexpected move for the famously reclusive Zimmermann, but it was quickly followed by a similar action from Kent Parson, Captain of the Las Vegas Aces.

However, since the airing of Zimmermann’s Queer Eye episode (Netflix – February 2021), Zimmermann and one of the show’s hosts, Eric Bittle, have been seen together around various Providence locations, sometimes with a dog identified as Zimmermann’s, and occasionally alone in intimate restaurants. To the allegations of impropriety, representatives for both Zimmermann and Bittle have offered “no comment.”

#zimbits #jack zimmermann #eric bittle #zimbits fic #omgcp #queer eye au #the ghost ship scribbles #enjoy if you feel like it #it's mostly fluff #no that's not true #it's entirely fluff

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sinceileftyoublog · 5 years

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Live Picks: 9/4

Astronautalis

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Rap rules.

Astronautalis, Subterranean

We previewed Austronautalis’ set at Subterranean early last year:

“Minneapolis hip hop artist Astronautalis gives new life to the oft maligned term 'rap rock.' My favorite record of his, 2011′s This is Our Science, combines skittering hi-hat beats with bluesy guitars, making it all the more challenging for Astronautalis to spit his highly philosophical musings. His last record, 2016′s Cut the Body Loose, was released on punk label SideOneDummy, which to me says more about his music than the label: It can fit in anywhere because it’s as all-encompassing as music can get. Live, he’ll play from all of his albums and hopefully share a couple new tracks.”

For what it’s worth, on this tour, he’s getting to and from venues entirely on his motorcycle.

Rappers Angel Davanport and Lamon Manuel open.

Tyler, the Creator & Goldlink, Credit Union 1 Arena

Flower Boy was not a fluke: Gone is the deep-voiced, fired-up Tyler, the Creator that was obsessed with shock, sex, violence, and The Neptunes. His new album IGOR, which chronicles the arc of a failed relationship--falling in love, getting obsessed, breaking up, falling out of love, trying to save a friendship--shows Tyler’s humanity through emotion, mirrored by the complexity of his beats and timbres. The album opens with a dark, blaring bass note before a marching drum beat enters. “They gon’ feel this one,” sings guest Lil Uzi Vert, and later Tyler and Solange (!), too. Lesser rappers and artists would make that line an ad lib. Tyler centers the entire record around it.

Whereas in the past Tyler’s vocals were crystal clear, isolated in the mix, more than ever, on IGOR, he plays with pitch and using his voice as an instrument in the narrative. Skittering drum beats and arpeggio synth lines surround his smooth delivery on “RUNNING OUT OF TIME”, illustrating the difficulty of trying to remain calm when you think you have to convince someone to like you. The over-6-minute “GONE, GONE / THANK YOU” centers around a sample of Cullen Omori’s “Hey Girl” and a Cee-Lo Green feature, half of the song gone before Tyler’s main verse. It’s reflective, nostalgic, and sounds like a summer fling.

Don’t get me wrong: There’s still sex here. “You make my earth quake,” Tyler repeats on “EARFQUAKE”. “Do you need bread? Do you need this? Do you need a hug?” Tyler brilliantly winks and nods on “PUPPET”, before actually telling you what "hug” really means on “WHAT’S GOOD”: “Dracula, Dracula, Dracula / Suck me first, I might get back at ya.” But there’s also the soul of Flower Boy. “I think I’ve fallen in love,” he repeats on the yet again Call Me By Your Name-referencing “I THINK”, over Herbie Hancock-esque funky synths. Later in the album, on “I DON’T LOVE YOU ANYMORE”, which later lyrics reveal is a total put-on, Tyler nonetheless has the vocal backing and emotional support of Charlie Wilson, Jessy Wilson, and Solange.

And the one true reference of violence on the album, where Tyler thinks about killing his lover and his ex-girlfriend, is more of an unflinching and honest look at obsession and the darkness within us rather than meant to shock. That song, “NEW MAGIC WAND”, a metaphor for a gun, is followed by “A BOY IS A GUN”. Like Kanye West so famously did on “Bound 2″, Tyler samples The Ponderosa Twins’ “Bound”, smirking as we realize what the gun really is--the power of what’s inside--and as he coos, “You so motherfuckin’ dangerous.” IGOR has its ups and downs, but as Tyler sings on closer “ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?”, “I don’t want this season to end on a bad episode.” It’s recognition that love, lust, jealousy, and instability are stories, universal ones, and it’s that evidence of Tyler’s growth and wisdom that makes him one of today’s essential artists.

Album score: 8.2/10

youtube

With his debut album Diaspora, DMV rapper GoldLink (D’Anthony Carlos) doesn’t want to dwell in the past: He’d rather reflect on how far he’s come and then look forward to conquering the world. For the most part, he successfully scatters both sentiments throughout. On “Maniac”, he admits that he’s done his time on the streets but leaves it at that, instead proclaiming, “Gonna make a million for all my children.” Who are his “children,” then? One could say it’s the black community at large. “GoldLink is a black work of art,” he declares on dancehall track “Yard”, letting the instrumentation do the talking beyond his initial words.

The idea of diaspora to GoldLink is less that those of African descent have been passively dispersed over the world, as is often described in white academia. Instead, it’s that African influence is all powerful. Take the tropical beats of “Joke Ting” or the war chant-featuring “Zulu Screams”, which both show that seemingly region-specific sounds aren’t as localized as you think, blending seamlessly with contemporary hip hop production. GoldLink juxtaposes DMV rapper Lil Nei with Chinese rapper Jackson Wang on the trap banger “Rumble”; “I keep my energy calibrated,” he repeats, daring us to question how much he’s giving.

What prevents Diaspora from being great, then, is its uneven tone. Essentially, GoldLink breaks his own promise, too often indeed looking back without communicating how he’s grown. There’s value in reflecting on growing up with violence (“Turned 13, had my first stick / Ride around the city with the stolen whips / Fought ni**as ‘fore I had a first kiss”), and GoldLink does it with such impressive flow and lyrical dexterity that these songs in a vacuum are fantastic. They just don’t fit with what makes Diaspora exciting. Especially pointless is the Pusha T-featuring “Cokewhite”, simply another opportunity for the otherwise amazing Virginia rapper to talk about his dope-moving exploits.

Still, when GoldLink does flex with appropriate perspective, it’s remarkably effective. He begins closer “Swoosh” by rapping, “They didn't think a king could do it all again / Like he supposed to came and went like the ni**as before him.” On Diaspora, he shows enough promise such that he may have an album in him that really does completely defy our expectations.

Album score: 7.2/10

Twitter master Jaden Smith opens.

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