#it has been ages since we got TDD like this

[hydranomago]

► TDD Legend [9th Live]

[Live Vids Masterlist]

#hypnosis mic #hypmic #seiyuu #drb #9th live #the dirty dawg #tdd #kimura subaru #asanuma shintaro #shirai yusuke #hayami shou #ichiro yamada #samatoki aohitsugi #ramuda amemura #jakurai jinguji #it has been ages since we got TDD like this #how to be at that event feeling all the ENERGY #cries in broke

[unseelie-grimalkin]

How do you write magic the way you do? Your MC seems to have a grab bag of abilities that make sense but don't make sense, you feel me? I'm not being aggro, I just wanna know the things and how your brain works.

So this ask has been sitting in my ask box for ages, and I've been fiddling with it in my drafts while I've been suffering in math.

So okay: we know NDM deals with seasonal magic.

But seasonal affiliations aren’t necessarily a whole thing in the Mythological Cycle of Irish Mythology. It’s more of a newer association with the fey folk in general; as Morgan Daimler mentions in 21st Century Fairy: The Good Folk in the new millennium,

“This [the idea of Seasonal Fairy Courts] is something that has grown out of urban fantasy across the last several decades, jumping off the older ideas of the Scottish Seelie and Unseelie courts but removing any moral implications in the names and simply tying them to seasons.”

Another good note Daimler makes that’s relevant to NDM as a whole (and, despite everything, is relevant to answering your question):

“The Seelie and Unseelie Courts themselves and the entire idea of two courts as such is probably comparatively newer as well only really coming in within the last 200 years or so.”

So, with this being a relatively modern idea, I assume that this choice for the seasonal is a world-building feature of Na Daoine Maithe rather than a misrepresentation or anything less than charitable. Why? Because they’ve made the Seelie/Unseelie labels a world-building choice as well, incorporating the inherent morality of the labels (since I believe that in Scots, Seelie can mean Blessed/Holy/Good depending on the context, while Unseelie can mean Mischievous/Evil-Doing) into the general spin that Seelie courtiers and the like put on the current political conflict in the setting.

Like, while I’m not here with a tin-foil hat and a set of pedestals for the developers with a blanket statement carved into said pedestals that declare that they can do no wrong (gods, what a ridiculous curse that one could put on any person...), Moirai Myths has shown that they’ve got a solid bit of research under their belts, so the most charitable assumption I am going to make both out of respect and for my own fun is that things are on purpose, actually.

So: seasonal magic.

The ask we have with the most information about magic in our setting is this one right here. Let’s break it down, shall we?

There are a few kinds of magic in our game overall, but that run down would be long and semi-spoilery, so let’s focus on the main magic system that the Tuatha Dé Danann are known for: Seasonal magic. Seasonal magic is regarded most highly among the TDD, since it was taught to the Tuatha Dé by the goddess Danu herself. It can involve rituals or incantations, but strongly relies on the power of voice (i.e., song) as a medium through which this form of magic is cast. Ergo, the range of one’s voice impacts your affinity or aptitude toward a given seasonal discipline, so high ranging voices tend to yield stronger results with spring or summer magic, and conversely, low ranging voices yield stronger results with autumn or winter magic.

So, important bullet points already:

Seasonal magic is simply what the TDD are known for, stylistically (with the implication that there are non-seasonal styles as well, which we need to keep a pin in for Aífe, specifically)

Seasonal magic is thought to be given by Danu (which is. Such a HOT BUTTON for me and my brain, given Danu’s...EVERYTHING! I’ll get into that later)

Somatic components (your voice) is the medium of seasonal magic. Singing is given as the example, and it’s one that I cannot and shan’t dispute: the game draws a lot of inspiration from Lebor Gabála Érenn, which has its clearest example of an incantation called The Song of Amergin so like...yeah, I want to see some early 2000’s song-fics up in this bitch! I wanna have people incorporate lyrics of their favorite songs into the prose! It’s textually supported! Grimalkin-Approved!

Vocal ranges impact your seasonal affinity/aptitude (we know from the RO affinities and their vocal ranges [speaking {this was before VO work, so take that ask as you wish} & singing] that spring probably has the highest pitch, summer a high pitch, autumn a low pitch, and winter the lowest pitch)

It is worth noting that seasonal magic is not exclusively “nature magic”, but rather covers a broad range of concepts associated with the “essence” of a season as well. For example, spring magic denotes growth and renewal, ergo it can entail the manipulation of plant life as well as healing magic, among other things. There’s a lot of variance and overlap in places, though - especially with the aligned seasons. If you’re a top notch winter magic sort of person, for instance, chances are you’ll be able to dabble in some autumn magic as well.

So the italics are what was originally there, but that bolded formatting is mine because I really want to draw attention to that word in particular as I start to probe your brain with thoughts and questions.

This supports my usual take on magic: that magic should not be treated as a cut-and-dry formalized system but as a living narrative force where the more you try to make rules, the more magic defies said rules. To put you into the mindset of how I think about magic, I’m going to borrow some words from @/cryptotheism (not actually tagging them in this fandom meta-analysis post for a niche dating sim, but credit needs to be given):

“What is a home without a house? A painting without a canvas? A lover without a body?”

It is extremely tempting to answer that the answer is emotions, that emotions are the answer. But that's not entirely true, is it? Because then what emotions would make a home without a house, a painting without a canvas, a lover without a body? No, the answer is in the narrative force that surrounds those things and how our minds process the stories we tell ourselves, and how there are layers to those stories that make having exacting answers troublesome. Because it's not simply just the stories we tell ourselves and each other. It's in how we have these concepts and in how we communicate these concepts: a home is different from a house and can be further specialized into different things that all mean something else; a cottage is different than a shack and a shack is different from a condo and a condo is different from a hotel room, but they can all be home to someone, and we can all understand that and what that concept can be. But we also know that all those things (a cottage, a shack, a condo, a hotel room) aren't all automatically someone's home; just that they can be and that the state of home can be as permanent or as temporary as things shake out for any one person.

And, with this idea of narrative magic, this idea of liminality in concepts fresh in your head and rotating (because that's not really a thing I can teach or fully explain so much plant and let you digest it), I need to get into the rest of that paragraph from that ask.

We have this textual emphasis that seasonal magic is not exclusively nature magic but is tied to each season’s essence. But I ask anyone reading this: who defines each season’s essence? Was it Danu when she gifted it? Was it the druids who potentially formalized the style? Like. My tin-foil hat theory is that this is all a mythologized fabrication by the Order of the Eternal Flame to stagnate and control the flow of the populace’s magic, but really? We don’t know. For as much noise as I’ll make beating my metaphorical pans together and yelling about druids at 2 am in the liminal hallway that we call the NDM Discord Server, that’s speculation at best, and I know it.

This paragraph gives us an example for spring: since spring’s essence is defined as growth and renewal, it can do plant magic, healing magic, and “other things”. So, say you are writing a fic and want to define those other things yourself and ask yourself, “What would an Unseelie Grimalkin do in my place?”

My usual first step for this is, admittedly, unorthodox.

I make my merry way down to the Superpower Wiki. I find the seasonal-related wiki pages that I’m looking for (in this case: anything to do with Spring), see what has been assembled, and pick what I want and what is relevant to my writing. So, if I wanted to give Shae a potential spell that’s not in the listed things the ask on magic lists for spring magic, I’d cross reference things I’d guess would be passed down in their family (something domestic, I’d wager), and then brainstorm from there. For example, maybe I’d deal with Spring’s association with Purification and wonder if Shae might have a spell to keep away and get rid of mold or similar impurities in their food, passed down from generation to generation.

To break down what spells I’ve had Tríona cast in particular, you can look at the Autumn pages on the Superpower Wiki. The parts of Autumn she has a natural inclination for have mainly been what the Wiki notes as “Enhanced Preparedness”: you can trace the concept of Hunter’s Intuition in Chapter 4 of The Five Times He Had to Engage in Purely Tactical Revision, While She Turned From a Fairy Tale, while she juggles between Prey Instinct and Predator Instinct in Meeting the Pack as she spars with Dermot. The summoning of the nearby dire wolf isn't listed on the Wiki, because I then asked myself: what else do I associate with autumn? And the answer was hunting. And what pack animal, one laden in magical association, do I associate with hunting? Wolves.

But therein lies the trickiness of this system, one that the devs have addressed: there’s overlap between the seasons (take hunting as a concept: sure, there’s a lot of hunting done in autumn to prepare for winter, but you can hunt in any season. I’d argue the season specifies what kind of hunting takes place and how it’s characterized, and I want you to think about that with NDM’s magic system a lot because it unlocks a lot of potentials). I think there’s an overlap more considerable than what is addressed (which is not bad! Not only is it fun for fics, it could be a plot point).

So, here's where they address it (and give us more lore nuggets to crunch):

Contrary to gut-impulse, no one discipline is inherently regarded as more “good” or “evil” than the other, as there is no inherent “good” or “evil” in nature. As such, it is possible to create blessings and curses from any of the seasons, and curses are broadly regarded as a taboo no matter what form they take. Protective wards are associated with winter magic, denoting perseverance and repose. Summer magic, denoting zeal and freedom, can be used to inflict insomnia.

There is no morality in nature (aye, true, the wolf isn't exactly apologizing to the deer for eating it), so any seasonal style can do blessings and curses. Fair and valid and honestly refreshing (I am. So tired. Of winter magic being considered the evil magic in fantasy).

But I'd like to inspire a counterthought in your head: the protective wards outlined here come from perseverance and repose. Valid. I'm not disputing that. But can't that same zeal from summer be used defensively? Especially in a land of eternal summer, where summer is not associated with a flitting moment but a timeless burn? Maybe not in the exact same way as winter, but to note another potential example: autumn's associated with preservation and preparation. Can't that be used in the same manner as perseverance and repose, to be funneled into protective wards?

And even the earlier idea that spring magic is the only magic that can heal because spring is associated with growth and renewal: maybe the healing isn't the same, but isn't there a healing quality to the restful hibernation of winter?

The semantics can go on forever, for as many questions as you and I can come up with. They can get as petty and niche as you'd like, because, the more you put a microscope on this all, the more questions come up that all come back to the big one:

“Who, in the setting of Na Daoine Maithe, defines what each season's essence is?”

And I legitimately think that's a plot question that goes back to my originally noted hot button: Danu.

As the seasonal magics are regarded as Danu’s gift to her people, it is commonly regarded as exclusive to the Tuatha Dé, but… Well. Danu did choose her people, after all. Have you tried asking?

That “Have you tried asking?” prompted me to write my first NDM fic, for the record. Thanks, Clotho! You did that! To me! Thanks, legitimately!

But yeah, let's get into Danu quickly because her context is...honestly? Vitally important for how I interpret NDM's magical landscape.

So, the name Danu itself is a reconstructed name, built off of the Danann from the title Tuatha Dé Danann. However, you must understand that this is a hypothetical name not found in any medieval Irish text. Largely, you see the Danann slapped onto the name Tuatha Dé because it CHANGES the whole meaning of the title.

Tuatha Dé means “The God Tribe”. Tuatha Dé Danann means “The Tribe of the Goddess Danu” in the reconstructed sense. This title change actively takes away the divinity in the title. In IRL scripts, we see Tuatha Dé Danann overtake the title Tuatha Dé because it made the Christian scribes feel more comfortable about what they were writing.

Danu never makes an appearance in the Lebor Gabála Érenn. At all! So, where does she come from? That’s! A hotly debated topic! One that’s been around since the 19th century. It doesn’t help that the Victorians did as they were want to do: overwrite existing folklore of the people they oppressed with whatever the hell they wanted (Danu made for a good comparison point to Demeter, and this is a standard colonialist system: overwrite other gods by shallow comparisons to Greek/Roman gods [a page directly taken from Roman trade books]. I believe this is where we get Sun God Lugh from, despite all text suggesting otherwise: people went Lugh = Apollo/Hermes/Thoth for too long, and it baked into some folks).

Now, for the closest possible equivalents to Danu that could've been recycled into her, we’ve got:

Anu from Cormac’s Glossary, who is noted as the mother of the gods of Ireland (which should sound familiar to the credit Danu is given, but also…Anu is sometimes another name for the Morrígan, and the name is conflated with many other goddesses, and it’s never clear in the text which potential one they’re referring to).

Danand, who actually appears in the Lebor Gabála Érenn and is actually accredited in that work for where the Danann comes from (at least, from a Watsonian perspective): Danand has three sons. They may be familiar to any who has studied Lugh: they’re the same three who kill Lugh’s father and get sent off on a suicide mission, actually. And these three are, in specific, called “The Gods of Dannan”.

So uh…this is where we have to ask: is the story we’re being told, that Danu is the mother goddess of the TD in NDM…is that true? Do we take that as truth, or is that simply the information we’re being presented because it’s the societal truth primarily believed by the populace? And if it is the latter, then…are seasonal magic styles actually given and taught by the Order of the Eternal Flame, who provided this fantastical story to avoid seeming too powerful, to prevent something? Or maybe…to power something?

This is my bit and bindle here: we have to interrogate the limitations of this system. Play in the mud of semantics. Because, for me at least, it makes you realize that something is very wrong here, and it’s nothing fey related: it’s not the magic of true names, it's not the locking of life to a realm through food, it’s not the weakness to iron. Instead, it’s absolute stagnation, apparent not only in TNN’s sky that acts more as a stage prop than anything living but also in how regions are held in eternal seasons.

And…well, we have seasonal magic.

How powerful do you reckon a spell is one that could hold a network of regions locked in specific seasons? I’d say pretty powerful, given its size and scope of it. How clever would it be, to power this spell, by locking the populace into the same stagnation as the regions by tricking them into limiting their magic through seasonal spellcasting, through locking them into specific associations based on something as arbitrary as vocal range?

Like. I cannot stress this enough. When the magic being used by the TD is described in Irish folklore, there is no seasonal association. The Morrigan just Does Shit. The Dagda? Just Fucks Things Up (he literally stops everyone from perceiving that 9 months go by just so Boan is not caught having his baby). Aengus? Just sings, and things Happen. Fúamnach quite literally turns a woman into a fly because she's angry. Whenever you read about a druid sorcerer, they just Do Things. Without limit. Their only limit is their skill, knowledge, and who taught them. Maybe their parentage? But there is no moment they ponder the essence of a season and if this is in their wheelhouse.

And while yes, you can point at that ask and go, “But there’s not just seasonal magic in NDM, Grim, please look at the ask before you lose your mind.” I also have to point out that seasonal magic is noted as the primary magic system that the NDM TDD are best known for, is the most highly regarded, and has the most ties to the central religion of current-day TNN.

Just like the discrepancy in using the Seelie/Unseelie titles in a game labeled and marketed as based on Irish mythology and making that discrepancy mean something (I do know the official site also says Celtic folklore, I know this, I have that statement in front of me as I type this, but also when I've got this ask right here that cites Lebor Gabála Érenn and the other cycles as main inspirations for world-building, I gotta focus on that rather than barking up unnamed and unknown trees because just saying Celtic is like saying they've got umbrellas made of swords: what kind of swords? Greatswords? Gladium? Parrying swords? The answer changes that umbrella for you, in your head, doesn't it? Same thing with Celtic: Celtic's a damn big umbrella word), this focus on the TD of the setting having normalized and mythologized seasonal magic probably means something.

I also want to draw attention to my absolute favorite sorceress: Aífe

Let's Talk About Aífe & How Her Takes Expand What Magic Is Like In My Head

You probably thought I name-dropped Aífe earlier and would never get back to her. Nope!

Because not only is she the one in the demo to note that you do not have to be a druid to learn magic, but she also has a couple of interestingly anti-Eternal Flame stances. Like yes, yes we all know about Time Conspiracist Aífe, we love Time Conspiracist Aífe, but I mean that she's a noted atheist and has a hidden talent for taboo magic (which could mean seasonal curses, I mean, she knows what a very specifically relevant one to her feels like to cast, but also remember: seasonal magic isn't the only type of magic, and Aífe has this association with magic we don't see play out in fey-typical media [I went THIS LONG without mentioning Warlock of the Fiend Aífe, I'm getting myself a treat for self-control, but I also mean the magical girl ask too]).

Like. All these puzzle pieces together and the whole magic system makes me like

So YEAH this is why magic comes up in my NDM fics so much and why it's probably a little wild, I think about the socio-political everything of NDM magic a lot.

#na daoine maithe #the good people vn #ndm theorycraft

[kanri-tea]

The TDD get punted into the world of Demon Slayer via illegal microphone, starring:

Ramuda as Tanjiro

Jakurai as Nezuko

Ichiro as Zenitsu

Samatoki as Inosuke

None of them know what's going on and they're all disasters (they blame Ichiro though, this anime-esque shit has got to be Ichiro's fault). The only mostly responsible one has been turned into a demon and Ramuda is panic-screeching in his mind.

Ramuda and Jakurai live together. Jakurai runs a small cliniic and orphanage which he's been running for quite some time before he stumbled upon a child Ramuda and took him in.

Ramuda was not a happy camper when he comes to and comes face to face with Jakurai, but since they're in the Edo period ("We are in the Taisho era, Amemura-kun" "Ugh, whatever! Close enough!"), he figures it'll be safer if he sticks with the old man.

Ichiro is an orphan that gets picked up by Kuwajima like Zenitsu, but no electrocution for this boy. He's a diligent student, but can't seem to really pick up any other of the Thunder Breathing forms other than the first one because of plot device

Samatoki grows up in the forest as well, but he is a civilized person no matter what anyone may say. Plus, he has some experience of survival cooking thanks to Rio. His Beast Breathing is a combination of influence from the wild animals that he grows up with and memories of Rio and Jyuto

Ramuda returns from selling coal when Muzan kills everyone at the clinic and turns Jakurai into a demon, paralleling canon with Tanjiro and Nezuko. Jakurai doesn't recognize Ramuda at first, mind still stuck in the in-between of human and demon. He doesn't eat anyone but he does nearly attack Ramuda when he gets back but regains his mind at the last second.

After an encounter with Giyuu and Jakurai proving that he's still very much himself, Ramuda travels to find Urokodaki with a child sized Jakurai in a basket. It is very awkward for both of them and Ramuda promises that he'll find a way to turn Jakurai back into a human

Ramuda is very much panicking and screeching in his mind because what the fuck is going on and why the fuck do demons of all things suddenly exist and Ichiro, this is totally your fault, what is this, an anime???

Jakurai is a very tired (tm) and kinda pissed that he has to rely on Ramuda now. He's also a little mad about having to be the size of a toddler most of the time

Ramuda learns Water Breathing while Jakurai starts rehoning his assassin skills. He might be a healer now, but with how dangerous this world seems to be, well, someone has to watch Ramuda's back.

Along the way, Ramuda figures out that he can use his microphone's ability along with Water Breathing. His sense of smell is also ridiculously good for some reason, which is helpful to find demons, he supposes. Jakurai on the other hand, finds out that not only can he use blood demon arts, but also use his microphone's ability, except it's more like he can help others regenerate/heal fast. They're both really weirded out, but hey, at least its useful???

Ramuda ends up meeting Ichiro on his way to Tsuzumi Mansion. To say that they're surprised would be a huge understatement. Ichiro had assumed that he was alone while Ramuda had assumed that it was only him and Jakurai. Jakurai is conveniently asleep in the box when this happens and it slips Ramuda's mind to tell Ichiro. Ichiro is slightly suspicious though, because his sense of hearing is really good and he's pretty sure there's a demon in there, but Ramuda wasn't saying anything???

Samatoki is trapped in Tsuzumi Mansion and cursing himself for rushing in without a plan when he encounters Ichiro with a civilian kid. While surprised to see each other, they nearly start fighting before being reminded that hey, they're kinda in a demon lair right now.

When Ramuda, Ichiro, and Samatoki finally reunite, it's a bit bittersweet because on one hand, they're really glad they're not the only ones here, but on the other hand, why are they in this weird ass world?

Also, Ichiro and Samatoki question, if the three of them were here, where was Jakurai?

"Uhhh... Yeeeah... About that... The old man is kinda, uh." Ramuda sweats his way through this conversation, "I'll tell you guys when we get to the Wisteria house, 'kay?"

When they finally get to the House with the Wisteria family crest ("Holy shit, that old lady is creepy." "Stop being a baby, Ichiro.") Ramuda finally reluctantly reveals what happened to Jakurai.

"So, about the old man. We kinda ended up together," Ramuda starts explaining, "Like he ran a clinic and everything and I lived there for a while."

"Eh, did he stay behind?" Ichiro questioned, confused to where this conversation was going. Samatoki is nodding next to him, confused.

"About two years back, we... the clinic got attacked by a demon. Muzan," Ramuda breaths, "And the old man..."

Ichiro and Samatoki's eyes widen. Was Jakurai dead?

"... Jakurai got turned into a demon," Ramuda finally admits. He turns towards the box and raps his knuckles on it.

"Yo, old man. Are you coming out or not? You've been asleep in there for ages!"

The door of the box swings open, a tiny hand revealing itself before its owner crawls out, purple hair splayed everywhere.

"What," Samatoki breathlessly stares, "the fuck."

A toddler-sized Jinguji Jakurai stares back, muzzled mouth quirking down and an unimpressed look plastered on his child-like face.

Both Ichiro and Samatoki are very, very surprised. They quickly agree to help Ramuda find a way to turn Jakurai back into a human. If they happen to spend a couple minutes cooing over how cute he looks, well that's no one else's business, now is it?

They learn that while Jakura has retained his mind, his body is still very much like a demon's. He can't stand in sunlight or eat human food. His energy comes from sleeping and while he can speak, but only when he's in his adult form. He's more or less non-verbal as a child.

Ichiro stews in his thoughts in the meantime. He's fairly sure this is the plot of an anime he saw once... He keeps quiet though because he's not 100% certain, but did the illegal mic seriously punt them into an anime?

Jakurai is very unhappy with what happened at Natagumo mountain and is even more unhappy with being stabbed multiple times while in the box while being put on trial. Honestly, what sort of barbaric trial is this? Hitoya would be so dissapointed.

When Sanemi tries to bait Jakurai using his own blood, Jakurai just sends a "I'm very exhausted and exasperated" look at Ramuda

"Oyakata-sama," Jakurai hears someone scream, "I will present to you the ugliness of what we call demons!"

He's mildly cranky at being woken up by all this chattering and being suddenly stabbed, but even that isn't able to distract him from the sudden scent of blood seeping into the box.

Sweet... But, no, Jakurai had sworn that he would not fall prey to these demonic temptations.

"Hey demon! It's time to eat! Sink your teeth on this!"

As the door of the box is ripped open, Jakurai frowns at the rudeness. The blood is tempting, yes, but more importantly...

Jakurai tilts his head to look at Ramuda. Are they serious?

No fucking duh! The look Ramuda shoots back is scathing and furious, though more because he was being restrained by the man with the snake then at Jakurai.

"Shinazugawa-kun, was it," he sighs as the people watching gasp. He's well aware that he's rather tall, even in the modern age.

"You shouldn't needlessly injure yourself," he grabs a roll of bandages and starts wrapping the young man's wound. The boy looks rather shocked and angry, but Jakurai didn't really have the energy to really care.

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

Jakurai hears the confusion around him, but chose to ignore it. Giyuu and Ramuda could deal with the questions later, he decided, Jakurai was already exhausted from Natagumo mountain.

"Wait a second!"

Jakurai turns, finishing up wrapping the young man's arm.

"I thought the box was stupidly heavy, but you're like the size of a toddler normally," Ramuda starts, "Have I been basically carrying a shit-ton of medical supplies?!"

Jakurai rolled his eyes, shooting the most unimpressed look he could at the pink-haired gremlin, "Well someone has to take care of your injuries, no?"

"You - you stupid old man! I can't believe anyone calls you saint! Aaughh!! I hope you break your back!"

"That would most assuredly be very difficult to do with my regeneration. Though, I suppose object permanence is rather difficult for children like you."

Maybe they should tone down their arguments a little... nah. It effectively derails the meeting, which was the entire point of Ramuda's outburst, of course.

When Ramuda and Jakurai finally arrive at the Butterfly estate, they find Ichiro with shrunken limbs ("The medicine sucks, but it's nothing worse than what sensei's given me before...") and Samatoki with a crushed throat ("Fuck... I was so weak..."). Ramuda is also in a lot of pain. Jakurai manages to recover fairly quickly with lots of sleep and spends a lot of their recovery time assisting the nurses.

Ramuda tries to figure out why he can do Hinokami Kagura and is very confused. Jakurai tiredly reminds him that it's probably because he used to watch Tanjuro, a former patient who lived at the clinic, do it. While Jakurai only knows about Hinokami Kagura as a ritual dance, he is reminded that the sick and frail man had died and left behind a pair of strange-looking earrings.

When training begins, Ichiro, Samatoki, Ramuda are motivated and stubborn to a fault, so they manage to learn Total Concentration: Constant. Ramuda also has a conversation with the Butterfly pillar, Shinobu ("Please do your best, Ramuda-kun. When I see you doing your best in my stead, I feel much better."), it makes him think back on his relationship with the Chuuoku. These people... They care a lot and they're fighting for their lives and humanity every day. They aren't even comparable to manipulations and cruelty of the Chuuoku, and Ramuda wonders a bit if he even wants to go back. Sure, there's Gentaro and Dice, but... here, he's not sick. He's not living day-to-day wondering if he'll outlive his usefulness. Here... he's able to stay at Jakurai's side.

Jakurai is the one to become friends with Kanao is this universe, because let's be honest here, Ramuda is really not the type to be nice out of the goodness of his heart, and Ichiro would probably do it, but he's kinda still recovering from nearly becoming a spider.

"You should listen to your own heart," the purple-haired demon hums. He's talking to her, but Kanao doesn't know why. The demon - Jakurai, she thinks - had been taking time out of his day since he'd recovered to talk to her.

She doesn't respond often. Her coin doesn't land on tails that often, but it doesn't seem to bother the tall demon. And tall he is, his height easily looming over her, but there's an aura of kindness and gentleness that tells Kanao that this demon wouldn't hurt her. It's a strange thing to think about a demon.

It's Jakurai's last day here. The other demon slayers, including the one that Jakurai travels with is leaving. Kanao isn't sure, but she thinks she might be a little sad about it. The demon has been good company, she has to admit to herself a little.

"People," she hears him breathe, "are driven by their hearts. If you live by your heart, your heart will grow stronger than ever."

Jakurai smiles down at her. It's gentle and warm and his eyes crinkle a little bit at the edges. He ruffles her hair a bit, a familiar motion over the course of the month.

She knows it's time for him to leave when he gets up. He leans over and straighten outs the butterfly in her hair, giving one last kind smile.

"Live by your heart's desire, Kanao. And stay healthy."

With that, he leaves, leaving Kanao behind contemplating his words. Could she really live like that? Live by her heart's desires...? There was something in the kind demon's words and smiles that made her think that maybe, just maybe... she could.

Samatoki and Ramuda's first impression of Rengoku is that he's a weirdo. Ichiro on the other hand thinks he's kinda cool. Jakurai is asleep and therefore doesn't care.

When they're put asleep by Enmu, they end up dreaming about their respective division (sans Jakurai). It's also a bit of a harsh awakening that they've all gotten pretty complacent of this world and that they need to find a way to get back to the modern age ASAP.

When Rengoku is nearly dead because of Akaza, Ichiro, Samatoki, and Ramuda are inconveniently a little bit attached to the strange Hashira. As a desperate last resort, Ramuda gets Jakurai to try and heal the man. After all, they were all sick of the people they cared about dying and if this could save him...

"There's no point in shouting now," Ramuda hears the hashira call out from behind him. His vision is blurry from tears, and distantly, he recognizes the resigned tone in the man's voice. Rengoku Kyoujuro was had already accepted his death as inevitable.

"The wound on my stomach is opening," the man tells Ramuda, "And your injuries aren't minor either."

Samatoki is watching silently and Ramuda can see out of the corner of eye that Ichiro is making sure Jakurai doesn't get killed by the sun.

Wait. Jakurai. The old man could heal Rengoku, right?

It takes a moment of shouting to Samatoki and Ichiro to convey his idea, but even as Rengoku is staring at them with a single, intense eye, they manage to get Jakurai and Rengoku into the shaded trees of the forest nearby.

"Ramuda-kun," Jakurai quietly says, before focusing his attention on Rengoku's injuries. It's not a promise, Ramuda knows, but Jakurai is a doctor through and through. He'll do his best to ensure that Rengoku survives, he knows this.

Rengoku is watching them confused, a couple of protests having spilled out, but he's ignored in favor of getting Jakurai over as quickly as possible.

Ramuda has seen Jakurai heal a couple of people over the years with his ability, but it's always amazing to see it like this rather than through a microphone.

"Hypnosis Microphone: Medication," Jakurai breathes, and as his hands glows, the injuries beneath start to mend themselves. It starts off slow, but as color returns to the hashira's cheeks and breathing evens out, Ramuda knows that it's working. Knows that Jakurai is doing everything he can to heal the man.

There's going to lots and lots of questions later, Ramuda knows, but for now he's glad. He's glad that Jakurai is here, that Ichiro and Samatoki are here, that he's not alone.

He's glad that he doesn't have to see another person that he cares about die.

#hypnosis mic #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #the dirty dawg #jinguji jakurai #amemura ramuda #yamada ichiro #aohitsugi samatoki #crack treated seriously #this was fueled by the demon slayer movie #demon slayer! au #kanao kochou #rengoku kyoujurou

[margridarnauds]

But what would your ideal adaptation of CMT be like?

Thank you for the ask! (And for giving me the chance to talk about my actual child!) 

I meant to get to this yesterday, but I was in the library at the time, then I was at the post office, getting some of my books shipped back to the States before my move back, and then came the news of Level 5 and....Well. I was around town. 

TOUGH question, and one that I’ve been thinking about for ages. CMT IS my baby, so my standards for adapting it are, frankly, both ridiculously low (CMT ON SCREEN!) and ridiculously high (I stg if you do this wrong....) 

Personally, I have two ideas for it, one of which is more serious than the other, so I’ll deal with it first: 

A miniseries. Because I don’t think you can really DO CMT well in the course of a film. You could try, but I don’t think it would work. I would personally want it to be a part of an overarching series that’s just there to adapt the Book of Invasions. That way, there’s context for this. (And because I’m a biased bitch, I’d probably want it to begin with the Fir Bolg, with the previous invasions recounted. You could have Fintan as an overarching narrator, holding the various series together. Have a season dedicated to them, end it on the TDD’s arrival.) 

Now, what I’d want this miniseries to do:  - Have a setup where both Lugh and Bres are given equal amounts of time. A thing that I’ve noticed a lot of retellings doing is to make it so that Lugh is the unambiguous, shining hero and set off with that idea in mind from the beginning, with Bres being a cliched villain, but if you read CMT from the beginning....Bres is given a LOT of traits that we associate with heroes. The story of CMT even begins with his conception and birth. Bres, whether people like it or not, is a protagonist of CMT. He’s a villain protagonist. But a protagonist, right alongside Lugh. You can’t have Lugh without Bres, you can’t have Bres without Lugh, and I would LOVE for an adaptation to get to the heart of that dynamic. Start off with Bres, devote a couple of episodes to him and what makes him tick (while also setting up Lugh’s birth, since that’s taking place during his reign), and then show it all falling down. 

- Have one of the first images being of the Fir Bolg, led by Sreng in retreat. Look, I’ve accepted that the only one who really cares about Sreng as much as me is....me, and the only adaptation that would feature him as much as I would want is one that I’d be writing (IF I EVER ACTUALLY FUCKING WRITE THE FUCKING THING), but, if we CAN’T get him in there as a major character in his own right and Bres’ love interest, I would like to at least start it off with the understanding that the Tuatha Dé’s settlement of Ireland did happen over a LOT of Fir Bolg bodies. It makes their fight with the Fomoire a little more gray, because it’s suddenly less “THE FOMOIRE ARE INVADING THE TUATHA DÉ, HOW EVIL” and more “The TDD’s sins coming back to kick them hard in the ass”. The Fir Bolg had the land, the TDD challenged them for it, the TDD won. By medieval Irish standards, that was justified, as was the subjugation of the Fir Bolg afterward. But this is a modern adaptation, for a modern audience, and that doesn’t mean we have to be objective. Especially given that it forced the Fir Bolg to flee to the Fomoire, for fear of the TDD enslaving them. Ideally, the Fir Bolg’s history with enslavement would have been dealt with in the previous season, which would have started off with the Sons of Dela breaking out of Greece. 

- Present the Fomoire as Vikings. This is BIG to me because it’s VERY easy to make the Fomoire a Generically Evil, Dark Fantasy Race, which makes it very, very easy to do a black and white version of things. But I would rather show the Fomoire as a group of people who have their own priorities, their own cultural mores, but are still PEOPLE. Bres isn’t evil because he’s Fomoire (I hesitate to call him “evil” to begin with, but if we’re going to use that term...); he makes a series of bad judgement calls and turns traitor to his own maternal kin-group. Balor isn’t really evil himself, even if we go into the folktale variation where he wants Lugh killed at birth (personally, I kind of favor the CMT version of it where Lugh was just...born of an arranged marriage), is acting with the authority of a medieval Norse head of the household. Tethra is perfectly willing to go along with the raids in Ireland...but we know, from what happens later, that it isn’t because he has a personal vendetta, it’s just probably more convenient to him. And I wouldn’t expect ALL the Fomoire to get a ton of attention, because we still have to be concerned with time, but just enough to fill them out. 

- The only time I want to make an exception is Ruadan. Because we HAVE to get him fleshed out as well. We’ve got to see him as a young kid under Bres and Bríg’s feet, we’ve got to see the two of them pausing from the arguments that dominate their relationship during Bres’ kingship when they see him standing at the door, we’ve got to see him trying to adjust to the Fomoire, not QUITE fitting in (just like his father before him), but trying so, so hard. We’ve got to see Bres clinging onto him during the twenty years in exile, promising him that, one day, it’ll be worth it. Got to see Bres trying to not show the exhaustion from those twenty years in front of his son, even if we can see on Ruadan’s face that he knows. We’ve got to understand WHY he takes the mission up, the mission that he has to know will destroy his reputation if he fails (and if he succeeds), and we’ve got to understand why Bríg screams out in anguish when she sees his broken body “in his father’s presence”, Bres helplessly rocking him back and forth. I know we probably can’t get all of Bres’ kids (which is a pity because, honestly, Dui Temen and Indusa are probably my favorites), but if we can’t get all six of the Sibs, we’ve got to make sure that Ruadan is given a ton of fleshing out and development to make that one, horrifying moment strike true. Because that’s honestly, in my opinion, the single most poignant moment of the text and, if we don’t establish Ruadan off the bat, it loses that importance. 

--Indech, Indech, Indech as the primary villain. I love this Fomorian bitch so much and he gets no respect, generally being shafted for Balor. I know, limited time, but I would at least like to give him one or two scenes to establish himself as THE king of the Fomoire, next to Elatha, give him a bit of time to establish himself as a bitch, and give him his moment of “Their bones will be dust soon.” Because, let’s be real, that’s a kind of metal moment. Bonus if, when Bres is standing next to him, there’s this distinct moment of “Oh, shit, I did NOT think this through.” Possibly change the timeline around so that his.......”kidneys of valor” (THAT ARE NOT HIS TESTICLES, ABSOLUTELY NOT) are removed by the Morrigan AFTER Macha’s death, so that there’s this sense of catharsis. 

- Potentially controversial, but I like Early Modern Nuada, who, by the time of CMT, is a broken, jealous king. Have him decide not to try Dían Cecht for Miach’s death because, hey, they need him, and he DID do Nuada a favor. Have him hand over the throne to Lugh so that he can get rid of the Fomoire, yeah, but have him have doubts. Have him be jealous at the easy love that Lugh gains, while he can’t save his own people. Have him be paranoid about Lugh taking everything for himself and leaving him with nothing. Have him, as in the Early Modern recession of CMT, getting the TDD to drug Lugh before the battle, because, in that one moment, it doesn’t matter if the TDD win or lose, all he wants is for Lugh to be *gone*. And then have him redeem himself by challenging Balor to single combat, only to lose. Have Lugh, in those last few moments, promise to look after the TDD, whatever it takes. 

-Speaking of the Bitch, I REALLY want to see Lugh’s ruthless side. I know, even with a full miniseries, that we can’t get into, say, the Sons of Tuireann, because even though I’d love to spend a whole episode on that....places to go, people to see. But I would like to see at least a little of that part of Lugh that is willing to do anything, ANYTHING for the sake of the TDD, and that makes him do, arguably, worse things than even Balor and Bres for the sake of it. When Bres goes to plead for his life at the end, I want Lugh staring down at him, completely impassive. Around the two of them, there are bodies scattered EVERYWHERE, the ground absolutely drenched in blood, Bres himself is absolutely covered in blood and gore, his body held to the ground by an Ogham stone that Ogma put there (in my ideal world, where we get to establish the brothers and their relationship, it would be his one, last ditch effort to save Bres from himself), and there’s Lugh, totally pristine, his blonde hair perfectly curled, looking down at him like you would at a cockroach. When he says “Less will save you”, I want him to not even really be looking at Bres, but more at his goblet of wine, and then, when he accepts Bres’ terms, I want a zoom-in on that wine goblet, and specifically the dark red liquid in it, as an ominous theme begins to play. (I KNOW we can’t get to Bres’ death, but also....let me have at least a call forward to it. There’s a lot of Dindshenchas CMT-aligned material that I would LOVE to see, including Duirgen, Carn Hui Néit, Nás, and Carmun, but that...well. Time. Which is a pity because Carmun is probably my FAVORITE of the Dindshenchas stories.)

- A little bit of screen time for the ladies. Again, time is time, but it’s very easy to turn CMT into a boys’ story, which isn’t helped by the message of the original being quite patriarchal (THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LET LADIES GET INTO POLITICS: A HOT MESS). But I actually really am interested in the women of the text. Ériu loves her son SO MUCH that she’s willing to turn her back on her people for him, and I’d love at least one flashback sequence, probably when Bres is making the decision to leave the TDD, around the end of....episode 3-4 I want to say, and we get to see Ériu as a young mother, holding Bres in her arms and smiling, even as the rest of the TDD look on her with anxiety, with her promising her that, no matter what, they’ll have each other. I want to see the Morrigan and Macha both trying to convince her to abandon Bres, because they don’t want to lose their sister, but Ériu standing firm in her decision. (She isn’t a warrior like them, but she’s strong in an entirely different way, with a spine of steel, and the other two know it.) I want to see Macha’s death at Balor’s hands and see the Morrigan and Badb losing their absolute SHIT for the first time (as a future archnemesis of theirs would say: “All sport, all play until......” The battle’s been FUN up until this point, but then suddenly it becomes very, very real to them.) If we could get a little of Tailtiu’s fosterage of Lugh, her status as an outsider (the Spanish widow to the last king of the Fir Bolg, trying to find her way among the invaders, dealing with the loss of her only biological son), and her own trace of ruthlessness, I would be VERY happy, especially since you can....see how Lugh turns out the way he does. Both the good and the bad. And we could probably handle that in just one scene, possibly in around episodes 2-3 during Bres’ reign. I’d also LOVE it if we could get a moment where, after Ruadan’s death, she’s the one to go over to Bríg and clasp her hand. Because, even if their husbands (possibly ex-husband in Bríg’s case, depending on how we deal with her dynamic with Bres) hated one another, Tailtiu knows fully well how it feels to lose a son, and it gives a chance for there to be a moment of humanity in a text that can be very inhumane at times. I’d love to see Cethlenn BEGGING Balor to not go to the battle, since she does have the power of foresight, but for it to be very obvious in her eyes that she knows that he isn’t going to accept it and then for her to straighten her back and wish him well. Because their love story is built as much on shared duty as it is on passion, and she knows that it has to be this way, he’s got to choose this, and she’s got to let him and keep her dignity. 

-This is probably highly wishful thinking, but I kind of liked Vikings’ idea of switching between English and the historically accurate dialogue, depending on the perspective. I think it would be HARD to pull off, but I’d love to see it going between Old Irish, English, and Old Norse, just to really show off that these are two very different cultures. IDEALLY, I’d also, in my absolute, ideal world, have audio dubbing in Gaeilge as well. It would be a hell of a venture, but I’m very firmly of the belief that this is an Irish story, it deserves to be told in Irish. 

-Relating to that: Irish cast (for the TDD/Fir Bolg, Scandinavian for the Fomoire), as much as you can possibly do. (Given that the total population of the entire island’s around 5 million, it’s a tall order, but hey.) IDEALLY, I’d want there to be also be regional variation in the accents: The Dagda will always, to me, have a Dublin accent, Ogma coming from Roscommon, Bres having a Northern Irish accent. If Sreng shows up, I’d want him to have a Cork or a Limerick accent, etc. Again, it’s a tall order, and one that I don’t think could be easily done, but a girl can dream. My ultimate goal would be to at least have a higher Irish: English ratio than The Tudors. That’s my dream. (I have but one really HARD casting decision and that’s Sarah Bolger as Airmed. Please. Please. GIVE HER THE ANGST. GIVE HER THE QUIET TERROR AND THE DADDY ISSUES. WE KNOW SHE CAN DO IT. That and Ruth Negga as Tailtiu.) 

- Also, ideally, I would like to have a situation where you have experts in archaeology, medieval Ireland and, specifically, Irish mythology on set to make sure that it’s as historically accurate to the 9th century as you can get without becoming bogged down in it. (Medieval Irish costumes...aren’t really.....glamorous, but I would like to see a nice streamlining of it that keeps the feel of the era while also, frankly, looking really, really cool.) For Nuada’s hall, I’d want to make sure that we actually had a reconstruction of the Great Hall at Tara (WHICH IS REALLY COOL IF YOU EVER FIND YOURSELF IN TARA, NGL) as people in the middle ages would have imagined it. This long, narrow hall lit by torches, Lugh almost having to walk over a few people’s legs to get to the front, and there, at the head of it all, is the king. People from UCD, UCC, Trinity, etc. (Maybe even get some people from Maynooth, if they promise to behave.) If I know my fellow Celticists well enough, I think a few of them would even jump at the opportunity to be a part of something like this. (I know of at least one expert in Old Irish who actually translated a spell for the Grimm TV show.) Basically, medieval Ireland almost NEVER gets put on screen (Pilgrimage is the last example that I can really think of, if we’re not counting Secret of the Kells, which we probably should because, tbh, awesome), and Irish Mythology gets it even less, so this would, theoretically, probably be our ONE CHANCE to get this done and get this done right.  

-Animated opening screen, Secret of the Kells style, in the style of an illuminated manuscript. PLEASE. I NEED IT. Either that or, if we can’t get something like that, I would love to see something that covers the entirety of Ireland, matching up the different characters to different locations, since the landscape is SUCH a huge part of these myths. You know. Like. That one fantasy show. The one with the dragons. And the zombies. 

Now, for my SECOND idea for an adaptation: 

A musical. Of COURSE I would want a musical. Like, it’s a no-brainer for me. Musicals thrive off of emotion and drama, and CMT has a TON of it. Now, what type of musical? That is the question.

And I’m actually being serious when I say this. 

Even though it’s going to sound cracky and tbh, it definitely is. But it’s also me. And what is CMT if not a 9th century scribe’s crackfic of Irish Mythology, put to contemporary political themes and using traces of Indo-European tradition? 

.....

A Takarazuka style musical. Because, goddammit, with their high focus on glitter, I feel like they’re the only ones who could TRULY put Bres and Lugh on stage, and their habit of letting pretty villains off the hook could work really, really well in Bres’ favor. That and I find the idea of them trying to adapt a myth with as much blood, guts, and sex in it as CMT personally hilarious. Lugh/Bui becomes the Top Star combo. Does Bui have all that much to do in the original CMT? No. But she’s our love interest. So she gets Top Star role, and at least one solo song. That’s probably all about how she’ll wait for Lugh no matter what. (We, of course, ignore her cheating on him.) Bres gets only one song, but it’s a showstopper, probably when he decides to fuck off to the Fomoire, and he and Lugh have OODLES of homoerotic tension. (If it were an adaptation of the first battle, Bres and Sreng would get. So. So much. But, alas.) If we don’t have Bres acting like a jealous boyfriend whenever he sees the TDD supporting Lugh, causing him to break out into a song about how much he HATES stupidly-hot Lugh, what’s the point? (Also: The chance for Goth!Bres. Which is, tbh, the Bres that I need in my life.) Also: Glorious costumes all around. 

The Dagda is the hapless comic relief character, who goes on PG-at-most antics. Probably involving eating a lot of porridge, hitting on every lady in sight (but of course not doing ANYTHING else) and passing out. He and Tsundere!Morrigan function as the Beta couple. 

Elatha is like. The Older Villain character, along the lines of, say, Mazarin in All For One, Talleyrand in Robespierre, Don Ferdinando in El Japón, etc. Balor probably wouldn’t be able to make it on screen, but...as an admitted and confirmed Bres Stan...........I’ve seen so many adaptations that don’t include Bres and make Balor the principle villain that...................sorry :) Balor :) That’s :) Very :) Tragic :) For :) You :) I LIKE Balor, but if he and Bres were dangling off a cliff....I’ve got to go for the pretty one with daddy issues and poor life choices, sorry Balor. 

Personally, I WOULD rather have Bres as the viewpoint character, with a Frozen “Monster”-esque number where he realizes that he’s the villain of the story but, unlike Elsa, decides to succumb to it, but I also know fully well that Lugh is basically MADE for the Takarazuka stage as a hero so...

The last time Takarazuka did something Irish-themed was in....I want to say 1994, with the Afterglow of Eire, and you know what? It’s time. If they did this for me, I would buy the DVD and force every single Celticist I know to watch it. And then make enough gifsets that you wouldn’t be able to THINK about Takarazuka on here without also thinking of “CMT” and vice versa. I would love it so, so much, no matter what they did. And I would, of course, relentlessly make fun of it as well. But in a loving way. (Even if they went the predictable route and went for Creepy!Bres.)

Alright, I said “two” but ngl, I came up with a third while I was writing this up:  A comic book. Because I feel like, in some ways, it’s the only way you can really capture that larger than life aspect. (Ditto for works like the Táin, which can only really be done either via comic book or anime. Not that I’m opposed to an anime with Bishounen!Lugh/Bres. Which wasn’t intended to be a slash ship but I said what I said. Cursed. But hey.)  

#irish mythology #long post #Anonymous

[thechillicount]

Some HypMic thoughts

That's it. Just me ranting and giving my opinion and stuff.

It's actually just my amazing, soft, talented brothers. Love them to death. Because it's their month so I'm talking about them. I really love talking about them and analyzing them. Lol.

I feel so much meaning and character growth in those new songs and I can't wait to hear Saburo!

With Ichi's Break the Wall I honestly feel like it's more him. Like he has grown and now understands things better than before. Ore ga Ichiro might have been a song that reflected how he felt at the beggining: very excited, ready to take down strong opponents etc. Now he understands it's not so easy. Especially since now everyone kinda knows that there's something going on.

Also side note, I bet ya after the anime comes out he'll be listed as the "main character" on MyAnimeList. You know he will be.

As for the revolution subtext, I think Ichi realized that he can't do this alone. Hence the lyrics of "All together now", "We can do it" and "C'mon boys and girls" on top of what we haven't heard yet. And from this my Naughty Busters break up theory starts tingling! I think that after Ichiro joined TDD he started thinking that he can be strong on his own, he can make the revolution all on his own, how amazing he is etc. Basically getting too big of an ego boost. He forgot how amazing his team with Kuko was and so Kuko got mad and decided to leave Ichiro. [edited] Because Kuko said thay he's gonna follow Ichiro anywhere, but Ichiro himself never said that he's gonna do the same. Which would explain Kuko's line "Just you wait Ichiro" in BAT's drama track. Kuko basically wants to show his ex-teammate that he's just as capable and that Ichi joining TDD was a mistake on his part. I also think that this mindset of being better alone was present in all TDD members, hence why they couldn't work as a group anymore. Each one wanted to do things his own way.

This mindset was definitely present in Ichi up until the 1st D.R.B. I mean, he had the audacity to literally call his solo I'm Ichiro. His raps also seemed very about how he can do shit so don't mess with him and his brothers. It seems to kinda run in the family, as Saburo up until now seemed like the kid that thinks he's the shit. Same with Jiro actually. Now I really think that Ichi knows he needs more people with him. Will he ask Kuko for a hand in breaking the wall while admitting that he was in the wrong during their break out? I sure hope so.

I always loved him despite knowing that he does have flaws and as much as I want him to be perfect, he's not. I was just waiting for the moment in which he'd turn around. Now I can proudly say that I love this boy and my ego will be filled.

Now Jiro! Oh boy! He's matured!! 😢 I'm so proud.

You can clearly hear it. It's so different from Sensenfukoku that I was very shocked as I played it. But that's a good thing! You'd never think of a song like this from this goofball. I really love how it sounds (i adore haruki ishiya) and this little unclear message on who Jiro wants to be, unlike in his first solo where he was just enjoying himself. Well, he's 17 so there may be something in him that yells "WHO THE F*** DO YOU WANNA BE IN THE FUTURE??!!!!" Also peer pressure. Kids in his class have their lives already figured out but poor JiJi doesn't really know what he wants to do himself. He can rap, he can play soccer, but is it really all he can do? What kind of future will that give him? What about after CW is beaten? What will he do then? I definitely understand how that feels as I'm 17 myself and constantly struggling about my future plans and my paths. What is available, what I can do to shape my future, what I would want to do etc.

Also, I always had a headcanon that Jiro has some kind of ability to make others feel better. He surely makes me feel better!

I think you could already figure out from one manga chapter where Jiro in his own way makes sure that Saburo is fine after they lost to MTC. You realize that he's a good boy and Saburo realizes that his big brother truly cares about him, not in a joking way.

We're gonna get Saburo on Sunday but let me already tell you something. This MAY BE controversial and I MAY BE biased because they're my favorite, but:

I feel that Buster Bros are in the best place to win the next D.R.B

don't @ me please aaaah!!

But we still have 3 other divisions to listen to. And I have no idea if something changed in them as well or not. Is Samatoki still Samatoki or did he have some kind of change of heart? I can't tell you that at all!

Now, what I think Saburo's new solo is gonna be about? It will definitely have something to do with growth as we can see from his big bros. Something completely opposite from what Saburo seemed like until now. And I hope that the message is gonna be something about him realizing that he has flaws, he's no perfect genius. It may sound depressing but I doubt anything could make Saburo depressed. I also hope that something about him realizing that he low-key wants to act more his age, be a kid and stuff. I also really hope for something about realizing that he's here now because of his two amazing big brothers! :3

In short, Saburo singing and rapping how he's no longer the New Star in the sky.

#i'm kinda proud of myself??? #ramblings #hypmic ramblings #buster bros #buster bros!!! #ichiro yamada #yamada ichiro #jiro yamada #yamada jiro #saburo yamada #yamada saburo #hypmic ichiro #hypmic jiro #hypmic saburo #hypmic #hypnosis mic #hypnosis microphone

[kaoarika]

I have been thinking in the HPMI guidebook as of lately. 

Thankfully, giving it a push for another 3 months might polish the bundled CD even more, although I’m kinda fearing it would be considered a “rare track” as the manga LE bundled CDs, making it not that much widely available internationally unless you own the thing (and trust me, I want to own the bundled thing... and understandibly, it’s an expensive invesment).

Stuff that I kinda wish was considered in the guidebook:

- Firstly, I kiiiinda wish it might be a guidebook probably written out from a Chuuoku/Central Ward like POV. It could be interesting, because it gives it “in depth” from how Party of Words see them. The whole story (might be edited to benefit CW), their reasons to take out the govenrment towards a H-era... basically, like an in-story propaganda media, giving the audience (us, lol) WHAT they want, but not putting themselves out as the bad guys (because, in case you might have forgotten, they -POW/CW- are?). CW has data on them. Probably secrets, too. And that also could lead to more “mysticism”, “secrecy” on what is CW doing inside their walls.

(and, I mean, the live events had official CW merchandise as if they were sold from CW itself, the binoculars, the mirror... it’s highly possible to see this happen... and with the bundled CW CD and Drama Track... aesthetic theme, I presume?)

-Or, if not the whole book, sections of it. You know those official manga fanbooks/databooks? Those that have sections written in the “perspective” of some characters? Pointing out details that you could have paid attention for an instant, but forgot about them? Yeah. Something like that.

-In the same train of thoughts, sections written from the Divisions’ POV. Could not be really about data, but how they see their surroundings, background, stuff like that. Oh, and music. Kinda like those magazine features written by experts on “if you like them, you might like these too!” from IRL musicians releases.

-ILLUSTRATION GALLERY. Most of the official stuff is already online (profiles, CD covers)... but there are lots of others that while technically online, they were exclusive illustrations for magazine and merchandise (i.e. the magazines covers that were released during Spring and part of Fall 2019; the anan alternative casual outfits). Heck, I wish we could have original sketches for the characters (like the pre-release trailer’s Ichiro and Samatoki). I know not EVERYTHING would be there... (collabs merchandise, exclusive magazine sections’ illustrations), but, please?

-”The story so far”. A “chronology” of important events. That kind of stuff. With the release push foward, I wonder if they could polish or edit a bit including what the Before the Battle and the DH & BAT manga will cover that seem “important” for the story, including why TDD separated, giving that the former its reaching its foregone conclusion’s climax.

- A catalogue? of official merch (not collabs, however) that has been released so far, lol. Sure, pics would be small, but, hey, it gives an idea.

-Similar to the manga,content that somewhat is tied in to the CD, despite you not buying the CD. 

For the CD, my questions to be answered falls as following:

-Probably stuff about Nemu - if she has been brainwashed for a year or so... how much of it is REALLY her “own will”, and how much she has been stayed brainwashed there. PROBABLY want to know how she got that high ranking role in the government as such young age, as well? The reason she no longer carries her bracelet would be because it is a mental trigger that would return her to normal? Stuff like that.

- CW’s real intentions about doing the Division Rap Battles. Or more like a confirmation - it’s obvious they want control of the entire country (and that’s the reason they shut down TDD as soon as they were rebelling)... and the DRBs basically bring money considering that things haven’t changed that much outside their walls. But, besides wealth earnings, why are they doing this as an spectacle?

-Why POW really took power of Japan, two/three years prior present timeline. (Basically, some POW lore before CW was under their power).

-Answering about who is Otome’s son (although it’s 95% confirmed it is Dice)

-More stuff about the Amemura project and how much Amayado fits in this equation. Also, stuff about the Hypnosis Mics’ production in the first place, too?

- Sneak peek of what MIGHT happen in the 2nd DRBs, especially since... 1) The trust bonding between the Yamada siblings is threaten again. 2) MTC’s trust bonding has been revitalized as they have more future goals to look forward (especially in regards to the Nemu’s reveal) 3) FP’s bonding feels like has strengthen, especially since it looks like Ramuda is going to start acting on his own, w/o his CWs involvement. 4) Jakurai has been threaten by POW to ally them as a way to save Yotsutsuji. 5) DH doesn’t have really bad blood against the other teams, really (afaik), especially his former Mad Comic Dialogue s teammates. Amayado, obviously acting as some puppetmaster, though. 6) BAT seems to flow in their own rhythm, too? There’s... not really much that they have against the others, too...? 

I understand that the other units leaders had more “bad blood” given their pasts... but “disruption”, really? The only things that have caused disruption is Amayado’s role towards BBs, and Ramuda’s reveal about Nemu’s brainwashing. Sure, in some way I could see that Sasara might make Samatoki uncomfortable, and Ichiro would feel the same towards Kukou, but if they all get confirmation that Sasara and Kukou were brainswashed by the true hypmic, and they fought BECAUSE OF THAT...? WELL...

-Or, you know... it could be a sidestory about CW, practically answering part of these questions... or maybe not. I dunno. Your guess is as much as mine, right now. This is all depending in how could KR considers this more, maybe in line of the manga bundled CDs? Or more in the line of the “Enter the Hypnosis Microphone” Drama Track LE edition (which was officially available later in Spotify)?

Hmmm...

I know this turned out to be a long post, but wishlist and thoughts, lol. The guidebook might end up being interesting. New illustration(s), new content... more background data that the manga and drama tracks haven’t revealed yet... And that might be a perfect kick off to the 2nd DRB.

#hypnosis mic #hypmic #buster bros!!! #mad trigger crew #fling posse #matenrou #dotsuitare hompo #bad ass temple #party of words #kao's ramblings

[dumbhypmicheadcanons]

the truth of when hypmic takes place: part one

Alright listen up. We all know the HypMic universe is similar to our own, the main differences being the existence of hypnosis microphones, the fact that it takes place in the near future, and that WWIII happened and women took over the government. However, we’ve never been given a specific timeframe for this. We know that the TDD era was specifically in the year “XXXX AD” and the remaining years are part of the “H Age” but I know the exact year, in our terms, that the HypMic universe really takes place in.

First, the technological advancements after WWIII? Nil. There barely were any. In Chapter One of the manga we see that Samatoki has a regular smartphone. 

Doppo’s hypnosis mic is a flip phone, his speakers are flatscreen monitors. These are just his mic and speakers, but consider Doppo. Does he seem like the kind of guy who would reminisce about the era of flip phones, spend precious time researching past technologies? No, he grew up with that shit.

There might even be more evidence but I’m lazy and don’t feel like putting in more effort but you understand my point, yeah? People have the same technology, they live in the same cities, they wear the same styles of clothing as our modern day. However, this is post WWIII. After any war, especially one of that scale, technologies improve ridiculously. We got military-style planes during WWI, only a few years after the invention of the first working plane. We got TV in between the two wars. We got medical penicillin during the second world war. In addition, the culture of a society changes after war. After the first world war, America isolated itself and had a great economic boom before collapsing entirely. Prohibition tried and failed, jazz happened, we got gangsters like Al Capone, everything was great. It all failed, but hey, we tried. After WWII came and went, we had a boom of people who could afford to move away from their parents immediately after high school and the formation of “nuclear families” became extremely popular and commonplace. Rock n roll became big, we had huge medical breakthroughs, and America was pushing itself in new directions.

After WWIII… women got their own cities and everyone else was pushed into gang fights? Rap battles became the main form of fighting for dominance? Everyone still uses cell phones?

What I’m saying is, nothing changed in the society of the HypMic universe other than what was directly caused by Otome. The war didn’t change the mindsets of anyone, there are still host clubs and the concept of idols still exists despite the apparent horrors of this war. So, if I had to guess…

The war wasn’t very long. Hell, it might not have even been as deadly as everyone was saying. I believe that WWIII was incredibly short-lived and Otome used it as an excuse to take over the government, and she then spread propoganda about how many people died in order to support her cause. The war wasn’t that big, it changed very little. The only change was caused by Otome.

So, if we can assume that there were very few societal or technological changes based on the war, we can also assume that any societal and technological changes that would happen are the kind that would happen naturally. Fashion-wise, almost nothing has changed. The Buster Bros are all wearing clothing that looks like it could have come from any time between the 90s and now, they especially seem to give off vibes from the mid-2000′s hip hop and streetwear styles, such as baggy pants, sports jackets, snapback hats and sneakers. Ramuda hand Dice have an uneccesary number of belts, similar to many styles that have been popular in Japan over the years as well as the unnecessary belts of the 2000s. Doppo, Hifumi, and Jyuto all wear suits which are admittedly related to their jobs but also were quite popular for men during the 2000′s. Jiro and Dice’s ripped jeans? 2000s. Samatoki’s skull things on his shirt? Mid-2000′s Hot Topic. Military-style clothing, such as camo, was all the rage in the 2000s. Who do we know who wears military-style clothing? Rio! If we combine the fact that fashion has been imploding on itself so large-scale fashion changes die out within a month and the fact that generally, fashion tends to come back in cycles of roughly 20 years, we can conclude that, with all of these things plus several 2000s trends you can find on characters that I did not mention, the fashion in this world would cyclically be within the 2020s, the 2040s, etc.

You may be saying, “Hey loser, all of your research is based on America but HypMic takes place in Japan thus you’re invalid” and let me tell you, that’s true but hear me out: Everyone in the HypMic universe is already yelling things in English, Saburo told 2Pac to go to hell in EZ DO RAP, etc. I believe that these idiots are hardcore ingrained in American culture even if they are from Japan, even moreso than the usual Japanese populace, who are already quite aware of American celebrities and such. Thus, I believe we can say that American fashion trends are not the worst evidence I can use.

Back to the argument. Obviously, nothing new has happened technologically, so we can rule out anything 40′s or later. The HypMic Universe has to take place within the 2020′s in order to match up with the resurgence in 2000′s fashion and to still be close enough to justify the lack of advancement.

That was a very long-winded way of backing up my claim. I needed absolutely none of that to prove myself, but I feel that all of that background information will help you to see that the exact date I’ve come up with is actually plausible in the context of the universe. However, I have a much different method of discovering the actual year.

Dice Arisugawa.

Dice is a force that the HypMic universe bends around. The HypMic universe wants everything to be perfectly fitting, it wants everything to have hidden meanings or puns behind them. The Buster Bros all have moles counting the order of their birth, all three of the characters with animal kanji in their names happened to live in Yokohama. However, the universe goes above and beyond to cater to Dice’s 777 number motif. Dice Arisugawa is 77 kilograms, 177 centimeters tall, and his birthday is 7/7. Let’s take this a step further. Dice Arisugawa is 77 kilograms, 177 centimeters tall, and his birthday is 7/7/07.

Does anyone honestly believe that a universe that went so far for his motif would skimp out on making the year match as well? No other year would fit Dice’s gambling motif. One could argue that Dice was born in a different year that ended in 7, but none would fit the established timeline. If he was born in 1997, the HypMic universe would currently be in the year 2017 (since Dice is 20), which would be interesting considering that is when HypMic began but it ultimately does not fit with either the cyclic fashion and also does not fit with the heavy implications that HypMic takes place in the future. If Dice was born in 2017, then the HypMic universe would take place in 2037, which is far too long in the future to justify the technology. Thus, by making Dice’s birth year 2007, the HypMic universe takes place in 2027. This fits the fashion cycle, it’s in the future but not far enough ahead to have allowed extremely significant changes in technology all around, and it fits Dice’s number motif more cleanly than the other options. The universe is far more likely to go with the clean numbers of 07/07/07 than it is to go with something like 07/07/17, right?

It is my belief that the current year in the HypMic universe is 2027. XXXX AD is actually the year 2025. In my next post, I will completely throw Japanese culture out the window and project my own life and experiences onto these rappers because I am fully prepared to not only give you my view on the facts, but to give you the repercussions of these facts too.

#hypmic #hypnosis mic #theory #i am willing to submit under the war/society/technology section but nothing else #shitpost #dumb headcanons #long post #fling posse #matenrou #buster bros #mad trigger crew #otome tohoten #2027 theory

[uniquejennyessays]

Greek Myth In Contemporary Society

For years I have been liking Rick Riordan (Rick)’s works, it seemed like I have not written a review on it yet. So, here’s one on my favorite book series of all time.

HOW AND WHEN DID I START ON THIS SERIES?

It all started during my first year of high school, when I had a fixation on Greek Mythology. I admired the humanized personality of different gods, the adventures of heroes with their tragic end, and the inconsistent romance (either a happy or a miserable end). The passion led me to discover the first series of the Chronicles, Percy Jackson and the Olympians (PJO). I think I borrowed the first two books from the school library and bought the rest from the bookstore. I pretty much spend most of my time reading these novels forth and back.

Then it came the Heroes of Olympus (HOO) series, which Rick introduced Roman Mythology. With a set of new characters and old friends, I was even more absorbed into the series throughout my high-school years. I waited anxiously whenever a new installment was published, and was really content when I got to know the continuation of their adventure (which the author is a troll for cliffhangers, just like how they do for Attack on Titan Season 2). The Blood of Olympus (BOO) was published during my fourth year, which the moment I read it I had a mixed feeling of joy and sorrow. The ending was extremely shocking, from Leo’s plotted death to his revival (He’s the Percy Jackson’s Jesus), I nearly wanted to punch the author. But then, Rick created many mysteries inside the book itself. For example, Apollo’s punishment, the prophecy Ella recited, Nico and Will’s relationship, and Leo and Calypso’s whereabouts. These unexplained mysteries just made me go ‘What the hell’ at the end of the book. There were conspiracies that Rick would make a new series, with all these hints. Yet I fulfill all my needs through fanfictions, seeing what people predicted the future ‘book’ will happened.

Good news rained down on me in my last year of high school. During his tour for Magnus Chase series in 2015, he announced his new Greek Myth series, Trials of Apollo (TOA). The Hidden Oracle (THO) came out when I was studying my A-Levels, I went to the bookstore on the day when it was published. Since shipping required an amount of time, I was informed that the book will arrived one week later. Eventually, I waited patiently, and finally I received it. The book was still amazing as ever, with a God as the narrator and the main character. The other main character, the daughter of Demeter (which I predicted accurately) who can perform badass sword-fighting at the age of 12, sometime out of the ordinary Demeter child people would imagine.

During my A-Levels period, my taste has turned to Victorian classics. Besides, I have started on anime. Thus, my need for the series had lessen. Even I bought the Dark Prophecy (TDP) months ago, I managed to finish it. However, this does not stop me from loving the author’s style of writing and sense of humor.

(Additional note: I have finished TDP on Percy’s birthday.)

(picture of the troll)

WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT?

After pouring all my love for the chronicles, so what are the series all about? Americanized Greek Mythology in the modern world. These demigods live in training camp named Camp Half-Blood (another word for demigod) during summer or for the entire year so they can prepare themselves for the dangerous outside world full of monsters. Since it has 3 different plots for each series, I need to introduce them in detail separately.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2005-2009)

The gateway to the demigod universe. It started off with the Lightning Thief (TLT), through first-point of view of our beloved hero, Percy Jackson. He discovers himself as the remaining demigod son of Poseidon, the Greek god of sea. Due to a great prophecy predicted one of the Big Three (Zeus, Poseidon and Hades) children will bring to the fall of Olympus, his presence was a threat to the Gods. He was also set to vanquish Kronos, King of Titans who is under the aid of another demigod, Luke Castellan.

The five books of the series described his journey to be a living legend, with an amount of betrayals, deaths of his trusted partners, slight romance and awesome fighting scenes. His humorous jokes and comments presented Rick’s unique style of writing, giving the readers memorable images.

The final book, The Last Olympian (TLOl), is the greatest among them all. brings up another prophecy which is the key to the next installment. No matter how much Luke is a villain, his devastating childhood stories and his anger towards the Greek Gods made the readers understand his resentment and yearning for a familiar love. Besides, it also revealed another prophecy, which is the key to the next series.

Heroes of Olympus (2010-2014)

The sequel of the previous series, narrating seven demigods on a quest to defeat an ancient deity in the ancient grounds of Greece and Rome. They meet challenges from the worst monsters, mortals and deities, sailing to stop the wrath of Gaea, the Earth goddess.  

This series, is my favorite series among the three. It does not focus on a main character, or written in 1st person point of view. Instead, we got a third person omniscient from 9 different people, who are the seven main demigods (with Nico and Reyna in the last book). We do not get our beloved son of Poseidon in the first book, but we were given a new set of characters with different background. We also discover the Roman Version of Camp Half -Blood, Camp Jupiter, a rigid military-like camp full of Roman demigods and their descendants. The series narrated two parallel sides of the Greco-Roman Mythology working together against a common enemy.

Unlike the previous series, this brought up many backstories of characters even more tragic than Percy’s. The narration was still amusing, yet there’s a sense of seriousness inside. There was an obvious character development when the series goes on. For example, Piper McLean, who refuses to recognize herself as the daughter of Aphrodite, later accepts her identity and able to use her own inherited powers. Frank Zhang, an insecure demigod with a bad reputation, turned into a confident Roman praetor.  

The thing I would like to complain about is the final fight scene in BOO. It was a few pages long with Piper, Jason and Leo putting Gaea back to her slumber. It was not as majestic as people expected it would be. It could be as fantastic as TLOl!

Trials of Apollo (2016-?)

The latest sequel for the previous series, which feature the sun god Apollo as a powerless mortal, finding his way to gain back immortality. Rick had converted back to the first-person point of view style, with the sun god as the narrator. His choice of narrator gives us an insight to a deity’s mind and opinions, how he sees the world compared to how mortals, having an ephemeral life, perception on their life. It’s a philosophical matter which discuss about life and death, and living an eternal life.

In THO, readers could see the improvement on Apollo’s personality. From the arrogant and narcissistic god who cannot accept on his ‘ugly’ condition, finally learns how to be humble and trying to see the world as how mortals would. We also witness the psychological abuse of Nero on Meg McCaffery. Letting her believe her abuser is another person from her adoptive father, but what she does not know Nero and the ‘Beast’ are the same person.

The second book, TDP, probably is my least favorite of the series. There was not much Leo-Calypso endearing moments that I expected it should be. The first half of the book narrating Apollo doing various pet tasks, and remembering his ex-lover, Emperor Commodus. However, I am pleased that Rick put a lesbian couple in the story, which I had no idea that even same-sex relationship is prohibited as well for the Huntress of Artemis. There are old friends from the previous books, which I am delighted to see again.

The third book, The Burning Maze (TBM) will be released next year.

Companion books

As much as the companion books are light and consisted with short stories, I explored the little things that were never mentioned in the main series. Besides fillers, there were information on the demigod world, giving readers a clearer sight of the Greek Mythology and Percy’s world.

The Demigod Files (TDF), narrates how Percy assisted Clarisse on her Ares rite of passage; the discover of the bronze dragon (which later Leo named him Festus); and the children of the Big Three Gods finding the newly forged weapon of Hades (Gods do like causing unnecessary trouble and giving quests to their half-blood offspring).

The Demigod Diaries (TDD), explains the adventure of Luke and Thalia in a trapped mansion, finding Annabeth on their way; the task given by Hermes during Percy-Annabeth’s one-month anniversary date; Leo and his friends’ encounter with the drunken followers of Dionysus; and an extra story written by Rick’s son, with impressive writing style for someone diagnosed with dyslexic and ADHD.

Camp Half-Blood confidential (CHBC) is a collaborated guide ‘made’ by the campers, due to the horrible orientation film directed by Apollo. Poor Nico is the only one who suffered from the film and accidentally humiliates himself in public.

Percy Jackson’s guide to Greek Gods and Greek Heroes are separate two books as a guide introducing to Greek Gods and Heroes. People could actually score Greek Mythology with these two non-boring lecture books.  

Rick also made a crossover on Percy and his Egyptian Mythology counterpart, Carter Kane. They work together to defeat Setne, an Egyptian magician who thirst for divine powers. It was like an official crossover fanfiction.

Diverse Demigods with Dazzling Characteristics

I love the characters in the series, they were just full of animation and so on. I’ll state my top 10 favorites and that one character I truly despise.

First come with my favorite characters of the series: 

(art by viria, she makes the old official arts belongs to the pit of Tartarus)

10. Frank Zhang

One of the cinnamon roll of the series, and the tamest among Mars/Ares children. I’m glad that Rick put a Chinese demigod in it. His Chinese name, Fai Zhang, probably based on Zhang Fei from the Romance of Three Kingdom. He is the only demigod who can read and write normally. He has shape-shifting abilities, inherited from his ancestors, is adapted from the Monkey King from Journey to the West. Like the Greek hero Meleager, his life is depended on a wooden stick, showing his pyrophobia.

Frank started off as shy with low self-esteem. He was raised by his military mother and his strict grandmother who told him various tales of their ancestors. His mother died in a war, giving him a start to train himself as a Roman demigod. In the Son of Neptune (SON), we first see him doing tasks that are undesired by the other campers. He is officially welcomed into the centurion of the fifth cohort, after he was claimed as the son of Mars. His first quest to Alaska causes him slowly gathers courage and discovers his family power. The funniest makeover he has was in the House of Hades (HOH), when Triptomelus rewards him with a buffer and taller figure, saying goodbye to his chubby self. Finally, he is upgraded to praetor.

The dynamic between Leo and Frank plays a vital role. Frank, who is initially afraid of Leo because of his fire power while the latter keeps making fun of him. We can see in the Mark of Athena (MOA), his act of jealousy towards Leo due to his similarities with ‘Sammy Valdez’, Hazel’s first love. As the series continues, Leo gives him a fireproof cloth for him to keep the wood, as a baby step for Frank to give him trust.

I heard that he will be in the subsequent book, as the Dark Prophecy stated him as the ‘changeling lord’. I might see him as a mature praetor on duty alongside with Reyna.

9. Hazel Levesque

Another cinnamon roll in the series. Despite being a daughter of Pluto/Hades, she is the less miserable version of Nico. Originally, she is known to have the abilities of controlling metal and valuables. Her magical abilities in controlling the mist is known in HOH, becoming another useful weapon. Like any child of Hades/Pluto children in the series, Hazel was from the pre-20th century. Her mother, Marie was hungry for wealth, causing her daughter having a cursed ability of attracting metals. Despite Hazel resented her greedy mother, she saved her from raising Gaea. Her heroic deed gave her a token to Elysium, yet she gave up her position to refrain her mother suffer from eternal punishment. As the child of death, she wandered around Asphodel for decades. Until her Greek half-brother discovered her and brought her back to life, giving her another chance to live again, in the 21th century.

In SON, it is revealed that Hazel’s half-brother is Nico. Originally, he wanted to bring his biological sister, Bianca back to life, seeing that the Doors of Death was opened. It was hinted Bianca had chosen a new reincarnated life than staying in the Underworld. Eventually, he learnt about Hazel’s presence and decided to take her back instead. Initially, we thought Hazel as a replacement for Bianca, judging Nico as a selfish person. Slowly, he shows brotherly affection for her in HOH by kissing her forehead, something he would not simply do. In BOO, he accepts Hazel’s relationship with Frank and teases them. He even comforts Hazel when she cries for Leo. It’s a coincidence that their mother almost shared the same name.

As she lived in an era where colored-race were low-key discriminated, with her unusual ability, she was a target of bullying. Her only comfort among these mishaps was Sammy Valdez, who sees her as a diamond. As Leo shares the same looks and last name as Sammy, believing as his reincarnation, she has slight romantic fondness for him. Later, they discover Sammy is Leo’s Great Grandfather.  She finally settles down with Frank, treating Leo as her friend.

Her curse, which will be washed away by a descendent of Poseidon/Neptune, which readers are not sure if it is Percy or Frank. Besides, she probably learns some interesting 21th century stuff she had never seen before. Hopefully she does not craze for fidget spinners (those things are just all over the place!).

8. Annabeth Chase

The Brainiac of the group. Our favorite Wise Girl who is Percy’s love interest and strategist. The architect of Olympus. Someone you would choose as your girlfriend. After meeting her, you will change your views on blonde hair people.

No matter how beautiful and smart she is, she has her own fears and flaws. She has Arachnophobia, based on the feud her mother and Arachne had. In MOA, she faces her greatest fear, mother of spiders Arachne. With her clever trick, she easily defeats Arachne, possibly the first Athena demigod to do so. In SOM, she reveals her fatal flaw is hubris, believing her intelligence and power are beyond the Gods.  

She ran away from home at 7, believing that her father and stepmother had disliked her part god status. On her way, she met Luke and Thalia, who presented her one of her signature weapon, the Celestial Bronze dagger. They were like a parental figure to her, and the first demigods she encountered. In the beginning of TLT, Percy figures Annabeth develops a crush on Luke, who turns out to be a backstabbing traitor and a threat to Camp Half-Blood and Olympus. Her feelings towards Luke varies in the PJO series, we see compassion, sympathy, love, respect, hatred, and regrets. In TLOl, she settles with having a sibling love towards Luke, choosing Percy over him.

The Percy-Annabeth relationship is one of my favorite hetero fictional couple. They treat each other as equal, rather than having Annabeth as his personal sidekick. With her, as the intelligent girlfriend; and him, as the brave puppy-dog boyfriend. We surely remember the first thing she tells Percy in TLT is ‘You drool when you sleep’. Even the rivalry between their parents, Annabeth still treats him as a friend, with one or two disagreements. Of course, I shipped them before they are officially together. In the Titan’s Curse (TTC), we get hints on Percy starting to fancy Annabeth, with Aphrodite’s appearance and her teasing. Next, there was the infamous kiss scene in The Battle of Labyrinth (TBOL), confirming the start of Percy’s romance journey, which becomes true in TLOl (that underwater kiss is so romantic!). After dating for months, Percy is swapped place by Hera/Juno, without any previous memories except for Annabeth. In MOA, she gives him a judo-flip (I laughed at that scene for hours) and spend a night with him in the Argo II stables (Frank does not deserve to see this ‘intimate’ moment).

Besides, do you know that she has a Norse Demigod cousin? Check out Rick’s Norse Myth series to find out.

7. Luke Castellan

You would probably ask why I place him as Number 7, for someone like him as a traitor who almost destroy Olympus and the host for Kronos. He is the anti-hero in the first series, but I like the fact that Rick created someone like him.

Luke is not an entirely a bad person. Normally, he can pass as a protective older brother, a swordsman mentor, or that mischievous and charming friend you want to hang out with. His ambitions to destroy Olympus and feeling of resentment the gods, due to the injustice of the Olympians to their demigod offspring, makes him an antagonist in PJO. He is one of the demigods who can see the flaw of the lawful system, the one who questions the authorities.

Luke constantly seeks for familiar love which his parents failed to give him, with him living with an insane mother and an absent godly father. After he ran away, he was paired with Thalia and Annabeth, giving him a new meaning of family. However, Thalia’s death added as a fuel of his bitterness. His became the head of the Hermes Cabin, leading his half-siblings, but his anger had not fully stopped, with Kronos’s constant impure motivation. He also feels compassion towards minor godly children who have no place in Camp Half-Blood, which most of them serves him during the Titan War.

For most horrible deeds he has made in the PJO series, he finally died as a hero, oppressing Kronos who possessed him. Inspired from his wish, Percy refuses his eternal life by demanding fair treatment for every demigod child.

I ship him with Thalia, which they share a few romantic tensions in a short story in TDD. He is the reason why Thalia declined her offer as a hunter in the first place, and also the reason why Thalia settles down as the lieutenant of Artemis in TTC.

6. The Grace siblings (Thalia and Jason Grace)

It’s a tie. Yes. I could not separate them like how Juno/Hera does. The Grace siblings are the improvised version of their father. We see their father as a womanizing, dramatic and disloyal King of Gods. They showed his best qualities, like leadership. The siblings are very loyal to their partners and masters, like Thalia to Luke and Annabeth in the beginning and Artemis in TTC. Jason, a loyal and supportive friend to his Argo mates and his girlfriend (He did admire Reyna before, but thanks to certain goddess).

Thalia Grace is that cool-looking sister in punk. Her name is from Thalia, one of the Muses. The irony is that she has a great fear of heights, but she can control lightning. Like Percy, Thalia was destined to be the child in the prophecy. She fought the monsters sent by Hades to her death, protecting Luke and Annabeth. Then, she is reborn in the Sea of Monsters. Luckily in TTC, she joined the Huntress. She also been through a rough childhood, with taking care of her baby brother and her irresponsible mother, then with the disappearance of Jason. She had to take the role that her parents failed to perform, yet the Gods accused of her existence before Percy showed up. It’s pretty much Zeus/Jupiter’s fault for not stick with the oath. Not once, but twice! Worst of all, he named his son Jason, like the mortal hero, so he can make his wife happy! Best Dad award for him!

Her brother, Jason, with blonde hair and blue eyes, the typical American boy. The ‘perfect’ boy with duties and leadership, he could live a perfect Roman demigod life in Camp Jupiter. Then, Hera/Juno interfere again. From the Lost Hero (TLH) to BOO, we can see a few changes of him. The rule-following golden boy to a slightly laid-back person with nerd glasses. Most fans expected Percy and Jason had a death-match against each other in MOA, with Percy replaces his position as the praetor in SON and Jason, the legendary son of Jupiter. Unexpectedly, they become best buddies on first sight and gang up against Octavian (We also got that one scene with them fighting while being possessed by eidolons). He also has the most passed out scene in MOA (hence the birth of Brick x Jason). His sympathetic character cares for Nico when he is forced spit out his crush on Percy (who does not have a crush on him, I mean, it’s obvious to fall in love with the greatest hero). He does not question or having a prejudice on the boy’s sexuality. At the end of BOO, him and Piper sit on the roof, remembering his ‘dead’ friend Leo.

These polar-opposite blood-siblings are a unique element of the series. I would like to see more of their interactions, or Thalia spilling out more embarrassing stories of Jason.

5. Leonidas ‘Leo’ Valdez

I called him the second Percy Jackson, with that same level of humor and that friendly attitude. He has a pair of magical hands that can create things and repair broken stuff. In TLH, he modified a simple paper into a small flying helicopter. Leo was partly raised by Hera/Juno, who makes him do dangerous tasks in his childhood (This woman is nuts!). When he was eight years old, Gaea made him believe he caused a fire that kills his mother in her workshop, leaving a scar in his heart.

Leo probably knows himself as the third-wheel, constantly the one being left out. There was a period of time he is jealous of Jason’s charisma and excellent leading abilities, while he is a low-profile mechanic, with no one cares about him. Otherwise, he is a good friend to people who are nice to him. In BOO, Nike/Victoria predicts either Frank, Hazel, Percy or Leo will die in the war. Leo, helping the idea of getting the Physician’s Cure while secretly plotting his own death and his chance of survival.

This guy has a tough time catching the girls’ attention, he keeps falling for the wrong person. In the beginning, he has the hots for Khione, the cold snow goddess who side with the Titans. Next, he falls for Jason’s sister Thalia, who tries her best ignoring him. He has a small chemistry with Echo, a camouflaging nymph who is cursed to repeat people’s sentences (I feel hurtful when Echo disappears). Hazel mistakes him as her first crush Sammy, who happens to be his great-grandfather. Finally in HOH, the Titaness Calypso despise his sudden appearance on her island, later they find themselves being attracted to each other. He is also the first hero who can return to Ogygia and claim Calypso as his girlfriend, and the first demigod known dating an ancient being.    

I need more interaction of Percy and Leo, which was rare in HOO. I expected them to be joking buddies, but in MOA Percy yells at Leo for setting New Rome on fire, not a good start for best friends. Leo also dislike Percy for abandoning Calypso behind, which turned out to be a misunderstanding. I finally get a scene of them making Nike and Adidas joke they made in BOO.

By the way, Team Leo for the win.

4. Piper McLean

I do not get why people would dislike someone like her. There are several fans disliking her characteristics, including an ex-classmate of mine. They think her as the most useless and bland character. I love Rick’s arrangement of her characteristics! What is the point of making her the main character if she does not contribute anything? I mean, she singlehandedly defeats Khione and the Boreads in HOH. When Khione degrades her, she confidently argues with her, proving her strengths.

People stereotyped daughter of Aphrodite as living Barbie dolls, who do nothing but looking into their reflections and gossiping. Sometimes, they either pair people up or break others’ hearts. She breaks that idealistic view as a tomboyish girl who cares less of her look or fashion. She is one of the boldest Aphrodite child who fights for people she loves (the other one is Silena). She is very down-to-Earth about her father’s job as a Hollywood actor, until she is cornered by others. She is also the first person who dauntlessly challenges the cabin leader and oppose the Aphrodite’s rite of passage of breaking other’s heart. Piper is not a dumb-beauty, she already has an abundance of knowledge on Greek Myth and Cheeroke legends which play extremely useful information to other.

That ex-classmate told me Piper is possessive towards Jason. For me, it is very normal for her to be possessive to her ‘boyfriend’, or someone whom she loves, as long as it’s not Yuno Gasai level (see Future Diary for references). Besides, Jason is not the only one she cares about. There is Leo, and her father who is captured by the Giants. There are people dislike her because in MOA, she thinks Percy as cute, but average. Everyone has their own opinion, not everyone fancies the greatest hero on Earth. I really adore her and Percy as best friends, rather than her being another Percy’s admirer.

I would say she has the second-best character development. In TLO, she has the image of an insecure girl. Her adventure as a demigod makes her grow, mending her weaknesses. I love her chemistry with Annabeth in BOO, when fear and phobia prevent Annabeth’s logical reasoning from functioning properly, her feelings guide her to overpower them.

3. Reyna Ramiez-Arellano

Most of the major female characters are taken (except Thalia, the huntress and Rachel, the oracle), she’s the only major female demigod character in the series without a romantic partner. She made a minor appearance in the Sea of Monsters (SOM) as Circe’s apprentice, but soon

Her first appearance in SON gives a dignified and mysterious aura, we barely know her last name and such. She is fearless in battle and a wise leader. In fact, the last book reveals her fear towards ghosts, leading to her haunted childhood of physical abuse. She has moved from home to home, and settles as a praetor in New Rome. Her former sin for patricide might lose her power and trust in New Rome, thus she never speaks of it to anyone except for Nico.  

I am really entertained with the fight between Orion and Reyna. Orion, being the male chauvinist, comments the greatness of male dominance. Reyna proves herself that she can perform as well as a man could do, defeats him by herself while avenging the fallen huntresses and Amazon warriors. ‘You will die at the hands of a girl’, that sentence literally gives me the chills.

She has a successful career, blessed by two divine beings, and having an excellent characteristic. One thing that she does not own is romance, just like Aphrodite/Venus tells her that she will never find romance in half-blood. There might be a chance for her having a mortal lover, or catching the eye of an immortal being.

2. Perseus ‘Percy’ Jackson

He is the key character for us to fall in love with the demigod world with Greek Gods and monsters. He was not only charming, but having a great sense of humor. The dark hair and green eyes of his makes him fall into the category of the stereotypical hot-blooded protagonist with a tragic backstory and secret powers, like Eren Jaeger from Attack On Titan, or Hyakuya Yuuichirou from Seraph of the End. The character is based on Rick’s own son, Hayley Riordan, who suffers from ADHD and dyslexic. Rick used to tell him Greek Mythology as his bedtime stories, until the child gave him the inspiration to create his world with Greek Myth as the base.  

In TLT, he is shown as a troublesome child who gets kicked out of school frequently. He has an abusive stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, a nasty gambler. He does not have any friends except for Grover, who has difficulty in walking, and stands up for him. He nearly loses his mother from a Minotaur. His unfortunate past changes when he knows of his identity as a demigod. From SOM to TLO, we can see improvements in his mortal life, such as gaining a new stepfather, Paul Blofis, able to attend high school, and getting loyal friends. In TOA, it is known that he will have a baby sister.  

Besides his heroic acts and his brave deeds that we all know, he is pretty goofy and sarcastic. We all know of his personality through that first-person point of view about his views on others and the description of his adventures. He is moderately smart and observant, but he can be oblivious in simple stuff around him, like his own romantic encounters. He needs years to realize he is in love with Annabeth, which most of the readers get the clue before him. Reyna confesses her feelings to him in SON, which Percy needs minutes to figure it out. In BOO, when Nico opens up to Percy, Annabeth already gets the point right ahead, leaving him still in a daze.

Percy, despite being the best demigod alive, he acts quite modest and selfless. Most Greek Heroes we all know are portrayed as prideful, arrogant, womanizer or ungrateful. Him, as the son of Poseidon who technically saves the world, he never looks down on anyone. He barely sells himself, except when it’s needed, or in a very sarcastic way. He makes friends with everyone, including non-humans. In SOM, he is a little ashamed that his half-brother is a Cyclops, in the end he accepts him as his brother. The most significant moment is in TLOl, when Zeus offers him immortality. He considers at first, but then realizes the price of it, and turning it down. Instead, he asks for minor deities’ equal rights to claim their demigod children, including Hades, who is not welcomed in Olympus. If I were him I would probably do the same thing, except I might face the wrath of the King of Gods.

**Before revealing my top favorite character, here’s some honorable mentions:

Zoe Nightshade, Bianca di Angelo, Will Solace, Charles Beckendorf, Rachel Dare, the Stolls brother, Ethan Nakamura, Grover Underwood, Tyson, Blackjack, Chiron, Silena Beauregard, Gleeson Hedge, Clarisse La Rue, Calypso

Now here comes my favorite character:

1.Nico di Angelo

I am so sorry, I must put him at number 1 because of my personal bias.

This character has the most noticeable character change and development. He is debuted in TTC, which he is portrayed as carefree 10 years old boy who loves Mythomagic and very curious about everything. The death of his sister, his only known blood relative, caused him fall into despair. Soon, he learnt about his parentage, separating himself from the other demigods.

Despite him as the serious, angry son of Hades with depressing background, he gets a few hilarious moments. He is turned into two types of plants; the Spiderman referenced quote ‘With great power…comes great need to take a nap’; his imagination of Percy joking about farturas; and his confession to Percy.

His personality is mostly seen from other demigods’ views. In TTC, Percy sees him as an annoying little brother and full of curiosity of the demigod world. He seems excited with everything he is involved in, and very eager in participation. He also shows concern for his sister Bianca, asking Percy to protect her. His twist of personality comes in when Percy brings the news of Bianca’s accidental death. In BOTL, he becomes the gloomy, antisocial, and angry child who seeks for revenge and performing necromancy. He also crowns himself as the Ghost King, which the name sounds very Chuunibyou-ish (Chuunibyou is a Japanese term for people who acts like a know-it-all adult and look down on real ones, or believe they have special powers unlike others, see the anime Love, Chuunibyou and other Delusions for more info). In TLOl, he tricks Percy into his father’s lair, which makes Percy angry. He is one of the important ally who aids Percy gaining his Styx River immortality and convincing Hades to fight the Titan army.

There are more demigods involved with his description of personality and people’s opinion of him in HOO. Hazel, seeing him as her savior and brother, showing an amount of respect and admiration. Annabeth, doubting him having a crush on her (which he does not), only sees him as a younger brother. Leo is scared of his necromantic skills, trying to avoid him as best as he could. Frank shows respect and fear to his ‘brother-in-law’, but unexpectedly sharing the same interest in Mythomagic. Jason, originally suggests abandoning him to the Titans while proceeding their main task in MOA, receiving many objections from the other crew members. In HOH, Jason has a sense of sympathy to Nico when Cupid forcefully make him spill out his feelings. He approached the younger boy to befriend him. We also have Reyna, who forms a big sister instinct towards him, and also feels his pain.

We get Nico’s own point of view in BOO. We could not help but to sympathize with his old memories and feelings. We can see his unrequited feelings towards Percy, his moments with Bianca, his hatred towards the Hunters, his intense feelings with his father and the most importantly, his concern towards other demigods. He is not entirely a cold-hearted, unemphatic person like others believed him to be. The way he describes Will, it definitely sounds like a typical boy meets boy fanfiction. Using comparison to other demigods like Jason and Octavian, he has a sense of fondness to the child of Apollo. The Percy-Nico-Will mirrors the Luke-Annabeth-Percy relationship. Both Luke and Percy are the heroic figure to Annabeth and Nico, they are years older than them (technically Nico is older), and they the first demigod they encounter. Annabeth had a love-hate relationship with Luke due to his betrayal; while Nico hates him for breaking their promise and admires him at the same time. Annabeth bickers with Percy like how Nico argues with Will, and they are opposite attractions. In the end of the series, Annabeth tells Luke she sees him as a brother and starts to date Percy in PJO; Nico confesses his past crush towards Percy and sets his eyes on Will, which they end up dating.

I am glad that Riordan arranged Will as his boyfriend. There is a slight change of his personality after they are dating. For example, in CHBC, him and Percy team up and tease Annabeth. In THO, he becomes more participating in camp activities, and willing to socialize with other campers. Plus, he gives an excuse for himself to sit with his boyfriend in the Apollo table. Nice job kid! The loophole of two demigods of the opposite sex cannot stay alone in a cabin gives them a nice chance to spend nights in Hades Cabin, doing stuff.  

The character I despised the most, is none than other:

Octavian

He is purely whiny and annoying, like a fly. I knew he was up to no good when I first know this person. I do not care if he is the descendant of my favorite god (Apollo), this puny auger is terrible. In SON, he reminds Percy as Luke Castellan. In BOO, Nico describes him as a watered-down, unhealthy version of Will Solace. Leo also states he has a girly screaming voice. These descriptions give reader an image of an undesired person, also adding humor in the series.

Octavian is extremely xenophobic. He immediately dislikes Percy, insulting him as graecus scum. He does not show any sign of welcoming to the arrival of the representatives of the Greek camp. Ironically, he fears for Nico, who is a powerful Greek demigod. He discriminates Rachel Dare, Apollo’s chosen oracle, believing she is a fraud who practice sorcery.

His sadistic and prideful side is portrayed in many scenes. For example, he rips off stuffed animals as an offering to the gods. He hopes Percy feel the pain of getting his new SPQR tattoo. When he is in charge as Pontifex, he picks people who are brutal like Bryce Lawrence and strong like Mike Kahle. He casually tells people that his family is wealthy in New Rome and he is a descendent of Augustus.  

In the end, his own pride and lust for fame and power blinds him, giving him a death sentence. His death is graphic and funny. He might receive eternal punishment in the Underworld. My favorite scene of him is when Piper, Jason and Percy tells him to shut his mouth in MOA.

(I almost forgot Gabe Ugliano, who happens to be the worst parent and husband in the fictional world. This man is gone for good!)

Groovy Gods of Olympus

The Greek Gods in Percy Jackson’s world rules the world, which all of them have humanistic personalities. Greek Gods mirrors human’s behavior with their vice and virtues, like Hera’s jealousy, Hephaestus’ diligence, Zeus and Aphrodite’s lust, Hestia and Artemis’s chastity, Zeus and Ares’s wrath, Hestia’s kindness and Dionysus’s sloth. They moved their base from empires to empires, until they found their spot in United States, the world’s superpower nation. Olympus is based on the top floor of the Empire state building, while the entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles. These settings probably make us never see those things the same way again. The gods, adapted to the 21st century lifestyle, with their area of power matches the modern professions.  

Rick still sticks to the original description of the gods, with Athena’s greyish eyes of wisdom, Aphrodite’s changing beauty (depends on different people), Ares’ ruthless behavior, Apollo’s flashy and handsome looks and Hephaestus’s unappealing image. Not all the gods are divine as they should look. Dionysus/Mr. D in PJO series acts as a sluggish camp director. He is banished to Camp Half-Blood due to his flirtatious manners on an off-limit nymph. He does not contribute much to the camp, except for having naps or playing poker with Chiron and a few satyrs. Apollo, the prideful and narcissistic sun god, turns into a mortal by his father in TOA series. He has lost his former glory and powers, leaving him a mortal identity and body to live on Earth. Hestia, the former Olympian in the appearance of a young girl, is easily neglected due to her status.

I would admit that Greek Gods does not make excellent parents. Zeus forbids the gods from visiting their mortal children, except in a few occasions (he is also the douche who broke the oath twice and have 2 demigod children, and he passes most of the blame to Poseidon). Hera, expecting an ideal family, abandons her child Hephaestus because of his ugly appearance. In TLOl, Hades openly declares he prefers Bianca over Nico. However, some gods do care of their children. Poseidon in the series acts as a caring father to Percy (we barely see his angry side like in the myth). Hermes, who has multiple jobs, and countless children, he cares deeply for them. He even kisses Luke on the forehead before the Fates carry his body away. In BOO, it is revealed that Hades has a deep affection for his children, which most of them do not have a happy life. The antisocial and awkward god has difficulties in showing fondness, thus he provides his children gifts (Pluto gave Hazel colored pencils on her 13th birthday while Nico gets a French zombie chauffer).

Usually, gods conceive children like normal human beings. In BOTL, children of Athena are born in a unique way. I was curious at Annabeth and the other Athena’s children birth since their mother is a virgin goddess. There was a story in Greek Myth which she and Hephaestus had a child sprang from her handkerchief (of course they do not have any intimacy). It is told that children of Athena are born from the mind and pure love, not through intimate love and pregnancy. In THO, the daughter of Apollo Kayla Knowles has two fathers. I had to stop and reread that part, and it is true. I still do not get how demigod children are born from same-sex parents. Subjugate mothers? Or maybe like Athena children, sprang out from something. (I need to stop thinking about this or else the complexity will burn my brain cells).

Controversies

There’s a few controversies I have heard around.

Similarities of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter

This one was all over the place. People keep comparing Percy Jackson to Harry Potter. Some complaint that Rick copied the characters Rowling owned. These are the examples people brought up.

1.Percy has green eyes and black hair, living with an abusive parent. He does not know of his parentage. Harry, who has green eyes and black hair, living with abusive relatives.

2.Annabeth plays the smart one in the first trio. She is constantly compared to Hermione, the brightest witch in the Wizarding World.

3.Grover is the timid person of the trio, and the first supporter and companion to the main character. Another character in Harry Potter with the similar personality, Ron Weasley.

4.Chiron, the knowledgeable and caring mentor in the series, like Dumbledore in Harry Potter.

5. Luke, blond hair, the anti-hero. Draco, the anti-hero to Harry.

6. The mischievous Stolls brother, who keeps pranking on people. The Weasley twins, pranksters duo of Hogwarts.

7. Camp Half-Blood that is invisible to mortal’s eye, a haven for Greek demigods to learn defensive skills. Hogwarts, unknown to muggles and where young witches and wizards lean magic.

Maybe the author was not stable with the characterization in the first place, he might get references from the series itself. However, Rick has not confirmed that his characters are based on the Harry Potter series. The characterization became better later.

To be frank, I prefer Percy Jackson than Harry Potter. I love the diversity shown in the book, with good humor in it. Otherwise, Harry Potter gets the best language form.

The Percy Jackson movies

Movie adaptations are barely good, this is one of the examples. Even Rick himself acknowledge that the movie is horrible. I watched both movies, the plotline itself is good, but it cannot satisfy us fans.

The producers casted young adult actors for the roles than 12 years old. They could actually make the actors grow up with the movie, just how they did for Harry Potter. I’m alright with the Percy Jackson actor, I have no prejudice over Movie Grover’s race, Luke’s actor is fine (where’s the scar). I just have problems with the casting on female characters. Firstly, Annabeth Chase. In the first movie, she’s a brunette with blue eyes. I legit thought that’s a random daughter of Aphrodite. Where is the blonde hair and blue eyes? It does not mean I dislike the actress herself, it just her signature curly blonde hair with grey eyes are gone! This mistake was soon corrected in the 2nd movie. In the SOM movie, the Clarisse’s actor looked like a Victoria Secret Super Model, rather than the buff, mean-looking leader of the Ares Cabin.

There is a stark difference from the movie settings and the book settings. Instead of having cabins based on their godly parentage, each member has their own cabin. What is this? Luxury camp for the godly children? There is also no rule on camp clothing, where’s the orange camp shirt? The worst of all, why do they have advanced technologies? It is said that technologies attract monsters, which is unusable for demigods.  

All of these flaws made me prefer a sophisticated anime adaptation than a real-life movie or TV-show.

LGBT+ characters

(whoever made this edit deserves a thumbs up)

This is a recent controversy after the publicize of THO. Mostly from parent readers, they complained on the god’s sexuality and Nico and Will dating. I understand that some parents don’t want their children to knowing much about human sexuality at an early age. What makes me feel mad about the people who complained about having same-sex couple or characters in the LGBT+ spectrum does not realize that homosexuality is accepted in the ancient times.  

It is true that Apollo is bisexual, who has countless affairs with women and men. Other gods are not 100% straight, even Zeus fancied Ganymede. (I know, Greek Myth is one hell of a messed-up pit!)

Besides, I have nothing against Nico and Will dating (Solangelo shipper here!). Rick does not use words like ‘gay’, ‘queer’, ‘homosexual’ to identify their sexualities, which he does not want to label them as a specific identity. In Ancient Greco-Roman, same-sex relationship is highly encouraged in the army to strength the bonds between teammates. Also, as someone in the LGBT+ spectrum, I appreciate Rick’s decision to take the risk and promoting diversity. One thing I am mad about him is the vagueness of Nico and Will relationship. There are so many gaps in between BOO and THO which there’s no description on when they started dating, who confessed first and how do they get together! I need to know more about their relationship! I will be glad if there’s a side story of them. Also, Kayla’s mysterious birth from same-sex parents.

I love the fact that Rick does not give a dam (I simply just put a pun here) about the people who complained. He straight on inserted a kick-ass elderly lesbian couple in TDP.

How the series made an impact on me? My hopes on the franchise.

It is one of the reason why I took the path of writing. The story, and the writing-style had inspired me to be a writer myself. Looking at the vivid image of modernized Greek Gods brought some magic into my dull high-school life. I would also like to cosplay those female demigods in the future. As an anime fan, I hope this series can be created into an anime series, just like how they did for the Powerpuff Girls back then. I also hope I can meet more PJO/HOO fans in my country.

 Jenny (14-21 Aug 2017)

Author’s Note: My first essay describing on a fictional work I like. I tried to avoid any grammatical mistakes and add as much vocabulary as I can in it. The one week of writing this essay gives me neck pain (from looking too much on my laptop), and a better insight to the character and the story. I took a hiatus in the PJO/HOO fandom since I started on Hetalia and other anime. The day I decided to write this fic, I realized there are so many details I have forgotten, thus I need to check the Wikia and the books for references. This is a pleasant experience for me to start on writing reviews and simple creative writing. I might write more reviews or analytical essays for other book series and anime.  

#percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #rick riordan #pjo #hoo #toa #jason grace #leo valdez #piper mclean #reyna avila ramirez arellano #thalia grace #octavian #nico di angelo #hazel levesque #frank zhang #annabeth chase #luke castellan #teen fiction #jenny's fictional essay

[iwrotethisforanyone-blog]

San Francisco, California February 3rd , 2016          Sadness does strange things to a person, so does loneliness. Today marked the day of her twenty one years on this earth. For most women her age that would mean celebrating with friends, clubs, alcohol and bad decisions; for Billie, she sat on the chipping linoleum of her kitchen floor in her cheap and shabby apartment. It was a mess; literally and metaphorically, papers strewn across the furniture, boxes that were never completely unpacked, she’d finally settled upon a neat stack in front of her, but when it came time to read them her vision was blurred with the same tears that stained her cheeks. See, she wasn’t always like this. Usually she would have been like the majority, but where was the fun when you only had yourself as company? Sure she had the girls at the work, but they didn’t know her, not like he did.           Nearly three years had passed since she’d lost him, her father, Remi Cole. Three years and guilt still had ridden her like the plague, draining every ounce of happiness from her body as she recounted all of the time she had to save him, and how he’d constantly refused her help. He was always a man of honor, and he was adamant that her ‘gifts’ not interrupt ‘fates’ plan. She hated that word, both of them honestly; and wondered if her ‘gift’ hadn’t existed that maybe she’d had found comfort by now. But instead she was left wondering, if everything had a purpose why did her father have to die when he was nothing but a blessing?             She’d chosen the kitchen because clean up was easiest. Blood dripped from her sliced palm  onto the creased map lain out in front of her, pooling in the center before wiping off the remaining crimson on a nearby dish towel. Her throat cleared; unscathed hand wiping at tears that adorned her blotchy face, she murmured, “Phasmatos tribum nas ex veras, sequita saguines, ementas asten mihan ega petous.” It had been a while since Billie had preformed a tracking spell, or any locator spell for that matter, but this was a moment of pure weakness. It didn’t surprise her when she had to start over several different times, if the witches of New Orleans had taught her anything it was that pronunciation mattered – it was the difference in looking for someone or making that someone disappear. But when she finally got it right, she still had doubts.  “That isn’t right.” She whispered, getting ready to scrap this map and go to another. On her second try, the results stayed the same. Her blood would crawl slowly up the map and then soon stopped, remaining in the San Francisco area.          Her mother was in San Francisco all along.             The other side of town was a twenty minute drive, twenty minutes for Billie to reminisce about the memories of her mother, or more accurately the memories of her father telling her about her mother. He had always said she was a spitting image of Elisabeth; which wasn’t a shock to him, apparently all of her mother’s family members shared similar features, light hair and eyes so clear they were crystal. He didn’t speak of her much, though, she could only assume how much it hurt him when she left, Billie had the advantage of being too young to remember the abandonment, Remi had to feel it for the both of them. Blue hues glanced down at the GPS that directed her to the small subdivision; ten minutes. Ten minutes to be reunited with her biological mother, to be so close to someone who shared her DNA.            Her heart was heavy in her chest, anxiety crippling her core, but she just had to see her. She had to know, now that she had nothing to lose. She wanted to see what her father meant, to know if he was being honest in their similarities. That’s all, just that. She would see if they looked alike, and she would leave. No need to make conversation. When she pulled onto the street; she had to turn around a couple of times, all of the houses looked so similar, when she finally stopped in front of it though, she felt a twinge of pain in her chest. She could have grown up here. It looked like every suburban home,  tanned siding with a darker shingle on the roof, windows all covered in sheer white curtains. The garage was closed and a small black car was parked in the driveway that she didn’t dare pull into. She sat in her baby blue Ford Anglia that her father had fixed up for her time and time again,  staring at the front door to see if she’d come out, while also fighting up the courage to go and knock. A half hour ticked by before she eventually plucked up the guts to unbuckle her seat belt; step one. A further ten minutes and she had opened the car door to stand outside of it, the Southern California air unseasonably hot against her already tacky skin. Three minutes on and she was walking up the steps with a finger hovering over the bell, before pulling her hand back to her side. Fists clenched as she warred within herself, turning on her heel and proceeding to walk away from the door. Her foot had barely hit the last step when she swore she heard a voice behind the wood; she stopped in her tracks and walked back up to the door, knocking three times and regretting each and every one.           She pondered if it were too late to drive off; though someone knew she was here now, and had probably seen her performance. Swallowing hard, she watched the door open to reveal a young girl around her own age, dark haired and olive skinned. There was a gut wrenching feeling, but she wasn’t blonde so it couldn’t be. She chose not to freak out, not yet. “Hi…does Elisabeth live here?”                                                          ***         “Stanford has always been the dream, mom.  Just because I come home on the weekends doesn’t mean I hate it.” Words trailed from a brunettes’ mouth; being replaced with a small grin. Feet danced down familiar stairs, catching sight of the little blue car that had been parked on the street for the last hour. “That car is still there, at what point do we burn it?” These words earned a freshly folded towel thrown at her head, she’d dodged it barely, looking up the stairs with a prideful smirk. “And besides, I have friends – no, before you ask there are no boys.” Her only response was a muffled huff before they set out on their own agendas.          Before there was even a sound she heard her mother shout from the other end of the house to get the door, rolling emerald orbs when she heard the knocking.  She passed photos of the two of them hung in the foyer, a memory for each awkward phase of her life painted on these walls. An inch from the doorknob her hand stopped, why did opening this door feel like it would unravel these walls?          The door hesitantly opened to reveal the blonde that stood before her, looking like she’d seen cleaner and more well rested days, but she wasn’t going to judge. Blue car driver, it was a correct guess. She felt the girl looked eerily familiar, but dismissed her thoughts when the blonde spoke.         “Elisabeth Delacroix? Yeah, just a second.” Billie watched the brunette turn towards a tall staircase just a couple feet from the front door, having a fleeting thought about how stupid this design was, opening so many opportunities for you to die in a home invasion…not the time for this, Billie. “Mom!” A stab, metaphorical but ever as painful, make that multiple metaphorical stabs at the fact this girl called her mother ‘Mom,’ Billie’s ‘mom.’ Which meant she had a sister and judging from her appearance, not long after she’d ditched her and her father. In that realization, had she not been paralyzed on the spot, Billie would have run away in both rejection and betrayal, her mother abandoned her but had another daughter; how could she? By the time she realized the brunette allowed her inside, it was already too long of a pause to make her shuffling feet less awkward.            “Billie Jean.” She’d been so lost in her thoughts boiling with rage, that she hadn’t even noticed the new face that stood atop the staircase, but when she saw it, she knew it was the being that young Billie had dreamt about in every ‘I want my mother’ scenario. She almost openly gawked at the woman descending down the stairs. “I knew it was you.” The next thing she noticed was her voice, not southern at all like her own, no trace of New Orleans left; except her magic.          “Uh, I… I’m…” Stuttering, she had grown out of it at age nine. Her father had said the only way to avoid being bullied was to laugh at it too or train herself out of it; she chose both.          Elisabeth Delacroix, in the flesh – traitor, mother.          Managing to pull ocean orbs away from the figure and to where her feet shuffled nervously, she saw the mud stains already forming on the cream rug, instantly she wished to run away, or to be invisible, or both.  “I’m so sorry, oh my god.”

TDD, 

        Chapter One

[cristoph00cdc]

Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott will rock Trudeau’s re-election bid

INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation 18 Napier Road 285510 Singapore

 @SCC_eng

@CanadianBarAssociation

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 Nathan VanderKlippe

  STAFF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT ASIA CORRESPONDENT BEIJING, CHINA

[email protected]

  RCMP study finds hundreds of cases of corruption in Mounties | The Star

Toronto Star

A total of 204 regular RCMP members were involved in the 322 incidents of corruption found

70 years and half a trillion dollars later: what has the UN achieved?

 The United Nations has saved millions of lives and boosted health and education across the world. But it is bloated, undemocratic – and very expensive.

The United Nations,“was created not to lead mankind to heaven but to save humanity from hell”. Dag Hammarskjöld

The United Nations, has also been dismissed as a shameful den of dictatorships. It has infuriated with its numbing bureaucracy, its institutional cover-ups of corruption and the undemocratic politics of its security council. It goes to war in the name of peace but has been a bystander through genocide. It has spent more than half a trillion dollars in 70 years the UN addresses them – have come to the fore as the organization struggles to define its role in the 21st century.

Tensions between western governments, which see the UN as bloated and inefficient, and developing countries, which regard it as undemocratic and dominated by the rich, have rippled across the organization as ballooning costs drive the push for reform.Even accounting for inflation, annual UN expenditure is 40 times higher than it was in the early 1950s. The organization now encompasses 17 specialized agencies, 14 funds and a secretariat with 17 departments employing 41,000 people.Its exceedingly corrupt.

Its regular budget, which is agreed every two years and goes to pay for the cost of administering the UN – including mouthwatering daily allowances which result in many of its bureaucrats being far better paid than American civil servants – has more than doubled over the past two decades to $5.4bn. Peacekeeping costs another $9bn a year, with 120,000 peacekeepers deployed mostly in Africa. Some missions have lasted more than a decade. And then there are the voluntary contributions from individual governments that go to fund a large part of disaster relief, development work and agencies such as Unicef. They have risen sixfold over the past 25 years to $28.8bn. And yet even at that level, some agencies are warning that they are operating on the brink of bankruptcy.

 FBI -26 Federal Plaza, New York, NY 10278, USA

1 212-384-1000

@ariannahuff

@HuffPost

@thrive

Office of Public Affairs

Phone number(202) 514-2007/TDD [phone]

FBI New York Press Office

Phone number(212) 384-2100

@NewYorkFBI

Bangkok, Thailand

American Embassy: 011-66-2-205-4000 Nations covered: Laos, Myanmar, Thailand 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

American Embassy: 011-603-2168-5000 Singapore Suboffice American Embassy: 011-65-6476-9100 Nations covered: Brunei, DIego Garcia, Malaysia, Singapore

My father at his death was an American Citizen and I did turn to the American Embassy in KL only to receive Their little finger.. That Ambassador is a beast of a liar.

U.S. Department of Justice Justice Management Division 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Room 1111 Washington, DC 20530

   @anthonyfurey

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    https://youtu.be/7DabGn2C2Xg

 https://youtu.be/7hgqgmEbUcE

   https://twitter.com/i/status/1133150990901944320

 FBI

John Schachnovsky

  Xtoph De Caermichael <[email protected]>

Attachments

May 28, 2019, 11:30 PM (1 hour ago)

to bngkk, RouleauN, Rideau, Fahmy, Canadian, alyssa, BAL, caroline.mulroneyco, customer.service, Ministerial, Adrian, Melissa, gareth.lewis.evans, Canadian, haveyoursay, interpol, kcalvin, unat1, vicky, sos, bangkok-consul, Pierre, Michelle.Rempel, andrew.scheer, ANDRE-

 Donica Pottie  

15th Floor, Abdulrahim Place

990 Rama IV Road

Bangrak, Bangkok 10500

Thailand

 Telephone:  [phone]

Fax: [phone]

TTY: [phone] (Ottawa)

Email: [email protected]

 TO THE CANADIAN EMBASSY IN THAILAND.

I AM SAD TO SAY THAT i AM DYING BY THE HANDS OF CANADA IN MALAYSIA --I AM CROSSING THE MALAYSIAN BORDER SOON - OR TRYING - BUT I AM SO WEAK - AND I MAY GET A REPEAT OF A BRAIN BLEED -THAT WILL KILL ME - IF I DO ANYTHING - LIFT ANYTHING

I AM ONLY SENDING YOU THIS -IN CASE OF MY IMMEDIATE DEATH - OR WELL IF I COLLAPSE AND EVENTUALLY DIE AT THE BORDER IN THAILAND.

 THE ORDEAL IS WELL DOCUMENTED - I HAVE ALERTED THE FBI HAS CANADA HAS COMPROMISED ITSELF CRIMINALLY AND WANTS ME TO DIE  - SINCE THE PMO OFFICE IS INVOLVED AND SANCTIONED MY DEATH VIA THE RCMP AND THE HORRENDOUS DR.HEDY FRY. CANADA IS WAY TOO DANGEROUS A COUNTRY FOR CANADIANS.

SADLY AGAIN CANADA HAS CAUSED A MASSIVE SITUATION AGAINST AN INNOCENT CANADIAN - WHO ONLY ASKED FOR HELP AFTER A BRUTAL ATTACK.

 AS MY DEAD BODY - WILL BE THE ONLY EVIDENCE- I HAVE CONTACTED SEVERAL OFFICES OF THE FBI - AS NOW THAT CANADA HAS ADMITTED THAT THE RCMP IS CORRUPT - AND THAT ALL THIS MADNESS THAT TOOK MY LIFE - I HAVE TO DO ALL THIS - EVEN IF I SURVIVE THE ORDEAL OF THE BORDER CROSSING - I STILL CANT GET TO BANGKOK - UNTIL I RECOVERED - I HAVE BEEN BED RIDDEN - FROM JANUARY 13 TH 2017 - VERY WEAK WITH MANY ATTEMPTS TO GET HELP - I DETERIORATED SLOWLY BUT PAINFULLY - AND ITS NOW DEFCON 5 - I AM SO WEAK - I HAVE BEEN ATTACKED BY SO MUCH INFECTION THAT HAS DAMAGED MY BRAIN - SO I AM LOSING THE ABILITY -TO WALK - TO TALK - TO THINK AND THIS MADNESS REQUIRES A LOT OF EXPLANATION - AND I CANT DO IT UNLESS I AM HOSPITALIZED AND RESTORED TO HEALTH.

BUT SINCE ALL THAT WAS DENIED BY CHC-KL - DR. HEDY FRY - THE PMO - THE RCMP  AND THE CANADIAN PARLIAMENT.

ONLY IN CANADA AYE!

PS NOT SHOUTING - JUST BLIND

  ---------- Forwarded message ---------

From: Xtoph De Caermichael <[email protected]>

Date: Wed, May 29, 2019 at 12:39 AM

Subject: RE- CRISTOPH DE CAERMICHAEL

To: <[email protected]>, Pierre Poilievre <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>

  Donica Pottie  

15th Floor, Abdulrahim Place

990 Rama IV Road

Bangrak, Bangkok 10500

Thailand

 Telephone:  [phone]

Fax: [phone]

TTY: [phone] (Ottawa)

Email: [email protected]

   I am a victim of a hideous crime. I never thought - that I would die like this and Canada would be -responsible.

 I have all the details - emails - Videos - Wordpress - it was my way of saying I was I was still alive - and that I was incredibly targeted - denied Medical assistance by Malaysian Doctors - repeatedly and then the Dr.s Confessed as I was Canadian - they would never treat me  - that what i was infected with deadly - and they knew about the Rat - attacks in Port Dickson - the place where I got attacked was known by the locals - the Filth Condo. Then the physical attacks began - chains being swung at me - extortion attempts - all because i had complained that I was attacked and very ill by the rat feces infused bedding- it was fermented and covered with mould - etc. It was dark - the bedding was provided and in less than 30 minutes - i was screaming and covered with what you see in the videos and attachments - i  went blind - could not go out into heat - sunlight - my heart exploded and I was collapsing - terrified - under attack - from these people - screaming at me - i contacted everyone - Dr. in Canada - the CHC-kl - I saw all these drs who just continued to refuse to treat me. But confessed - its in the blogs with proof - that is common knowledge in Malaysia - so common - that everyone talks about -its in the news - and yet the CHC-KL denies any and all knowledge - preferring to endanger Canadians - Malaysia has a death sentence for Crimes - and Canada sentenced me to death - though the Death Penalty is gone - But its not Trudeau - Scheer - Poilivere - Rempel etal all sanctioned my death as well. ?

 I was premed- years ago - my life story i wrote to ensure i was subject to the drunken drug infused realities that Canadian portray - I was way too educated - and lived a creative intelligent life - mostly alone. The world had changed - my friends were my age but appeared way older - and i had spent 10 years outside of Canada - extensive travelling - study - Art - Archaeology - a rich interior life - prayer -mediation etc. So what has happened to me - my death in this manner  has me bereft -weak -and at deaths door.

 I wrote so that you can know me - not the fiction I presuppose Canada will try to besmirch and destroy me- Problem is IT did.

 This may be the last word and testament from me . I did try to get to IRELAND as a Refugee - all the rationale is there in the emails - etc.

 Sadly - I am so afraid that I may not survive crossing the border - or be so weak that I must spend days in some hotel - trying to regain my strength to get to Bangkok by train - I have to hire someone to help me - as I cannot touch my luggage. Its way to heavy and with 0 core strength - i will get a hernia - a brain bleed - for the 3rd time. Anyway - I dont know what to say - and if its hard to understand what i have written  - as its stream of consciousness - a brain that has been fried by infections - etc. it was so impossible and yet Canada via Trudeau and his shenanigans - worked really hard to KILL me.

 But its all there in the Files - so prepare your self for a Gruesome reality - when my body is found or I found collapsed half dead - unable to talk - or paralyzed - then you will have to deal with all this . However as you may be part of the Kill - team I have no idea- what will occur?

 And this may be the only time we communicate. so?

 TQ

 Cristoph

    Thrive Global

599 Broadway

6th Floor

New York, NY 10012

FBI -26 Federal Plaza, New York, NY 10278, USA

1 212-384-1000

 @ariannahuff

 @HuffPost

@thrive

 Office of Public Affairs

Phone number(202) 514-2007/TDD [phone]

FBI New York Press Office

Phone number(212) 384-2100

@NewYorkFBI

John Schachnovsky, head of the FBI office in Thailand  

FBI -Bangkok, Thailand

American Embassy: 011-66-2-205-4000

   Dear Canadian Ambassador in Thailand (Dear Arianna Huffington,)

My father was an American Citizen and the USA under these extraordinary circumstances would have assisted in a rescue - now I am ensuring at least my death is recorded.

i have no real idea of how to document this has a summary - as there are so many details. within the next few weeks maybe 90 days - i am dead . The history of this ordeal - must be known - as Canada is actively seeking the death of innocent Canadian citizens - while abroad are viciously attacked.. and eventually die.  Canada claims we are not Canadian enough to save and Trudeau has a fatios against any and all European Canadian migrants. Sure it sounds crazy but that is Trudeau- Bat shit Insane and worse as the politicians involved are also influenced and support this Canadian Madness - even Political neophyte Kevin O'Leary ? I dont stand a chance at living and the only proof that this was murder - are my desperate pleas. Dead men tell no tales.

Now i sent the files to Kevin O'Leary - Shark Tank fame - as he is Canadian and Irish and I had hoped that he would assist me in getting my case heard and free me from dying at the hands of Canada. But NO!

Canadian Politics are brutal- deadly -- not directed at  the people but strictly to Politics.  

So killing me - is an option- a reality. Even with Kevin O'leary ? I have sent my petition and notified everyone but Crickets - The whose who of Canadian Politics- The UK - USA - but somehow they decided I must die - ?

So many details are in my blogs - V-blogs - and the event history is told and retold ad infinitum- ad nauseam  ad mortem

 But as my body is the evidence and as all are suppressing this information. I am forced to publicize all this.. in fact as they are treating me as a 0 person - i thought pitch shark tank executives this deal .

As all this is Pro-bono -and Lawyers are the Only way through - and I set the Injuries - at $500,000,000. 00 a huge amount of $. But with such an international disaster taking place. Everything I have written about is accurate and its suppressed. By Malaysia - By Canada and by Canadians - even Kevin O'Leary.

 Plus obviously - I dont need all that $. But as I am fatally injured -and have no idea how long I have to live - if I am too survive - at all - I will need years of therapy, that will cost a ton of money as it will forced to be experimental  - as my body has become a petri dish of infection- so to recover - and as well as never return to Canada. in so doing I have to also find a new country to live in. I thought Ireland and possibly use the funds to fund so many philanthropic organizations - that require funding - and with all the cre -cre in the world - people do not need help - i am so tired -exhausted beyond belief. nights-days - became years - and death lingered.

 Everything that has occurred to me - is a Crime- Everything that has happened as placed me on deaths door. And everyone i have contacted as increased the danger of this experience.  Canada and Canadians appear to be a ruthless breed - especially the Politicians.

 So please assist. I do not have long to live and with all the shenanigans? I am exhausted - bereft - harmed within-an inch of death with suffering so huge - I literally am burnt alive by this assault.

This was what  i was assaulted with- and from that day on wards - January 13th  2017 - i have fought for my life.

USING temporary body hacks to try and cope. Which all fail -as the infections - have hybridized - so I have no idea what I am fighting. I am very weak - my muscles are gone - my arms and legs are spindles - i have gone blind - many times - my corneas were burnt - my heart damaged - i am lame and my hands are becoming claw like. Plus Cancer has started to form . THE ATTEMPT TO LEAVE MALAYSIA BY LAND AS I CANNOT FLY - CAN CAUSE A BRAIN BLEED THAT MAY MAKE ME UNCONSCIOUS.

WHILE CHC-KL HAVE ATTEMPTED TO DISCREDIT ME AND TO SEEK MY DEATH - DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES - SO BEFORE I DIE  - I AM MAKING SURE THAT THIS CANADIAN - NOT CANADIAN ENOUGH- EUROPEAN CANADIAN IS ACCORDING TO TRUDEAU - NOT ACCESSIBLE TO CANADA. THEREFORE I MUST NOT LIVE.  AS MY PASSPORT IS THE ONLY LEGAL DOCUMENT THAT MAY MEAN ANYTHING ? THOUGH AS NOT CANADIAN ENOUGH ? NOT SURE - BUT THEN MY LEGAL ARGUMENT IS WELL ESTABLISHED IN THESE DOCUMENTS- AND AS CANADA HAS GONE ROGUE - KILLING INNOCENT CANADIANS--WHILE SUPPRESSING THE EXTRAORDINARY DANGER OF MALAYSIA.

THE CHC-KL IS A VERY DELINQUENT - DISTURBED - ENTITY - INCAPABLE OF TELLING THE TRUTH. WATCH THEM LAWYER UP TO KILL ME FASTER - WHAT A SHAME CANADA DETERIORATED INTO A VICIOUS TRUDEAU-IAN  HELL HOLE

 THE BLOGS WILL BRING YOU UP TO DATE - THE VIDEOS SHOW ME - ILL - DYING AND BEGGING FOR HELP.I EVEN APPLIED TO IRELAND FOR REFUGEE STATUS - AS NOW AS CANADA AS ALSO STATED THAT DEATHS BY MEDICAL MALPRACTICE IS 30,000.00 AND THAT WAS THE REASON I HAD TO SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION WORLDWIDE - THE FIRST BILLS WERE 100,000.00 TO REBUILD MY JAW AFTER CANADA - BUTCHERED IT - LEADING TO A PLETHORA OF HEALTH ISSUES - DUE TO THE SEVERE DAMAGE - NOW THIS -

CANADA HAS GONE  BERSERK? WELL MY DEAD BODY - THESE DOCUMENTS - THESE CONTACTS ARE ALL THAT I HAVE TO PROVE I WAS ALIVE - AS CANADA WOULD HAVE SUPPRESSED ALL THIS. NOW IT CANT.

WELL IT CAN - BUT I AM NOT THE FIRST VICTIM HERE IN MALAYSIA - JUST THE ONE THAT DIED BY CANADA - MALAYSIAN HANDS = MURDER = MANSLAUGHTER - MALFEASANCE= MY DEATH -  

[thesportssoundoff]

“Pretend it’s August and enjoy a damn good show” UFC 213 Preview

Joey

July 6th

The UFC's annual post 4th of July big PPV has arrived and it's...pretty good. UFC 213 is more or less a victim of immeeasurable expectations. Every year regardless of the drama and the stupidity which dominates MMA, you can always count on the 4th of July show to deliver the goods. This year? Well not quite. It's a fine show, don't get me wrong. The main card features two very good title fights, a pretty damn good HW fight which could easily be a #1 contender fight if we are to believe that Cain Velasquez is on another back injury fueled hiatus plus a really intriguing lightweight fight designed almost entirely to determine if Anthony Pettis is broken or not. The prelims are certainly fine even if a few of the fights hoarding undercard space are questionable in their merits of being on a card like this. At the same time, it's still a pretty solid event that can't be punished for not being post 4th of July worthy or for not being the show that UFC 214 seems set to be. View it on its own and its a fine enough show.

Fights: 12

Debuts: 4 (Cody Stamman, Terrion Ware, Trevin Giles and James Bochnovic)

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 3 (TJ Dillashaw/Cody Garbrandt cancelled, Donald Cerrone/Robbie Lawler cancelled, Alan Jouban out, Chad Laprise IN vs Brian Camozzi)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): (Valentina Shevchenko, Amanda Nunes, Yoel Romero, Robert Whittaker, Jim Miller, Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, Anthony Pettis, Travis Browne)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 3 (Daniel Omiealnczuk, Travis Browne, Jordan Mein)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 6 (Valentina Shevchenko, Amanda Nunes, Yoel Romero, Robert Whittaker, Gerald Meerschaert, Douglas Silva da Andrade)

Stat Monitor for 2017 (with an event the night before, these will have to be cleaned up come fight time):

Debuting Fighters (Current number: 16-18)- 4 (Terrion Ware, James Bochnovic, Trevin Giles, Cody Stamman)

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 10-17)- 1 (Chad Laprise)

Second Fight (Current number: 19-18)- 1 (Brian Camozzi)

Cage Corrosion (2-2)- 0

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- Much has and will be made about the first fight between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevechenko. While I'm not going to say to throw it out (because that'd be idiotic), I do think there's reason to not expect a repeat of the 1st fight with two more rounds tacked on. For starters, Amanda Nunes has improved in every fight she's been in even if you throw out the Ronda fight for obvious reasons. If cardio isn't something you can improve then cardio maintenance is something you can. She does to her credit seem way more patience and less bullish, opting to instead swarm with patience and precision over aggression. Similarly people are talking like Shevhchenko is going to decision Nunes but Valentina was very honest that the decision loss to Nunes made her more aggressive. As such, it's entirely possible she'll come out with more urgency off the chute especially when she knows her cardio can hold up. Lastly this has become a bit of a bad blood fight and those tend to involve a level of "throw the book out the window" to them.

2- So seriously, who is next for the winner? Shevchenko vs Nunes III would be an....interesting decision to take the division. If she wins, Shevchenko's got some cred in Latin America (Peru and all) so maybe if you're really looking to pop a market out in South America, you can have her headline on free TV vs a Sara McMann/Ketlen Vieira? It's crazy to even fathom this but Holly Holm might be the one best equipped to fight for the title at 135 lbs. Unless you're ready for that Rocky Pennington title shot. I mean I know I am.

3- Would another win over Valentina Shevchenko give Amanda Nunes the greatest WMMA resume of all time?

4- Lost in the discussion of Whittaker vs Romero is the fact that Yoel Romero tends to finish people late in fights. For all of the discussion about cardio and how he applies it, Romero's not a guy who shuts it down late in a fight. There's only been one fight where he simply didn't have anything left and that was vs Jacare in a fight where he dominated the first round and comfortably won the second round.

5- Another point of contention; Yoel's TDD is amazing but his offensive wrestling at times is rather clunky and shuntsy. Robert Whittaker's takedown defense is very good but his scrambling game is absolutely fantastic. Now the argument could (and maybe should) be made that Romero on top of you is different than Jacare or anybody else but Whittaker is not a guy who is bothered by wrestlers. The fighters who have given him problems are the sort of   guys who can pop his so-so striking defense frequently enough to give him pause while also forcing him to fight going backwards (Brunson and Thompson).

6- Speaking JUST in an MMA context, I would almost make the argument that Fabricio Werdum's striking is better than Alistair Overeem's striking. Obviously in a K1/Glory setting, Overeem would work Werdum but  Werdum's combinations, aggression and versatility are backed by his always outstanding grappling and sub game. That in my estimation actually works to amplify his striking chops. Overeem's wrestling has come a very long way and the last time out it was his ability to wrestle which helped him take a decision over Werdum. But let's not talk about the 2nd Werdum/Overeem fight, k?

7- The UFC picked a rather perfect opponent to find out if Anthony Pettis is truly washed up as an elite level mixed martial artist. Jim Miller is NOT the sort of guy who is going to test Pettis from an athletic standpoint but few men in the UFC have Miller's guts, toughness, adaptability and grappling chops. Miller's been on the upswing recently; having beaten up on Thiago Alves, finishing Takanori Gomi and giving Joe Lauzon fits in a very good fight. Throw in a Dustin Poirier war and a half and there's plenty to be giddy about for Miller's recent career trajectory. On the other hand, Pettis simply hasn't been the same since his fight vs Rafael Dos Anjos all those moons ago. The book on Pettis is out; pressure him so that he can't throw any of his flashy stuff, dare him to hurt you with his hands and if the heat gets too much, take him down and defend subs because he's not going to rush back up to his feet. Curious to see if Pettis still has the skills to use his athletic gifts vs a quality opponent or if he's been broken completely.

8- Speaking of broken completely, Travis Browne is in a weird spot isn't he? Remember that he's still younger than every HW in the top 6 sans Stipe and Ngannou.

9- Belal Muhammad vs Jordan Mein is a really interesting fight on paper, primarily because both guys are at very pivotal points in their careers. For Mein; he's still ONLY 27 even if his time pre-Strikeforce almost borders on abuse. He's taken a crazy amount of punishment and in his last three or four fights, he's looked and fought like a guy who is having a tough time pulling the trigger and a tougher time sticking in when shit starts getting hairy. At 28 years old, Belal Muhammad has the talent to fight with the top of the 170 lb division but his chin seems to have a serious dent in it. He's relied more and more on his wrestling and his workrate to get him by. The loser of this fight takes a serious backwards step in the division.

10- Has Alistair Overeem officially hit that point in his UFC career where every major fight he's going to have is a rematch of some kind?

11- Thiago Santos vs Gerald Meerschaert is a really good intriguing fight on paper. Santos' loss to Mousasi was just a case of one guy being great and another guy being good---but the Spicely fight was a tough pill to swallow. He was outwrestled and submitted by a guy who they were trying to serve up as a can to him. Since then he had an amazing war with Jack Marshmann and NOW Santos gets another Spicely-type in Meerschaert. Gerald's one of those long time crafty veteran types who are murderous on the ground for novices or overenthusiastic fighters. Good test for both guys.

12- Last time Rob Font fought an aggressive Brazilian he essentially broke down and did dick all. Andrade is a similar type to Lineker minus the amazing chin, cardio. Same love of endless pressure and a pursuit of violence though.

Must Win

Yoel Romero

At 40 years old, there HAS to be a day where Yoel Romero finally turns old and he'll be just like everybody else at 185 lbs. The clock is ticking though and Romero has to know that the big fights with Bisping and Silva and company are on the line with this fight. Romero has to beat Robert Whittaker because otherwise you're going to be left out in the cold.

Anthony Pettis

I mean...duh? Pettis cannot lose this fight. They've found him the perfect opponent with a name to test him. If he loses to Jim Miller, I'm not even sure what you can do with him. He's barely 30, he's a name, he's lost 4 of his last 5 fights and hasn't improved since his days of subbing Benson Henderson.

Travis Browne

Yeah, look, I know Travis Browne is a bit of an undesirable kind of guy. I get it. This is still pro sports and sports are a microcosm of society where undesirable folks with talent will always get sheltered. Browne is still young for the UFC's heavyweight division at 34 years of age and chances are that if he can put his athletic gifts together with a MODICUM of "give a shit", he can still be a factor in the HW division. Oleksiy Olynik is a decent challenge for him, primarily because Olynik's grappling chops and his surprising pop make for a competent solid heavyweight.

Five Fights Not To Miss:

1- Yoel Romero vs Robert Whittaker

Robert Whittaker has never had a boring fight and stylistically, this is an awesome matchup. Two competent strikers; one an unorthodox throw it all to the wind brawler and the other a fantastic boxer. One is an amazing wrestler, the other has amazing takedown defense. Guys who can finish a fight at any moment's notice. Five rounds for them to work. It's a special fight and not one to miss.

2- Valentina Shevchenko vs Amanda Nunes

There's a decent chance that come late in the fight, things could get messy. It's a risk you have to be willing to take because rounds 1-3 could be really fun. I'm not counting Nunes out until she eventually loses, whenever that may be. Until it happens, I'm going to believe she's a more than live dog in this fight.

3- Jim Miller vs Anthony Pettis

It's been a long and peculiar fall from grace for Anthony Pettis but he's still very much a fun fighter to watch. Even if he's not quite the finish machine he used to be, he's still a special guy who, when on, can dazzle folks. Jim Miller is never in a boring fight and you know he's looking to be ultra impressive in this one.

4- Rob Font vs Douglas Silva da Andrade

Rob Font's offense is always a lot of fun and he took it to another level vs Matt Schnell. He gets a big challenge in Douglas Silva de Andrade who had a war and a half vs Henry Briiones. Think of this as a poor man's Lineker vs a poor man's Donald Cerrone in terms of fighting styles.

5- Trevin Giles vs Cody Bochnovic

Trevin Giles is one of those guys who is an utter wacko of a fighter and the sort of dude who is likely to rack up bonuses by virtue of how he almost always seems to be flirting with disaster each fight out. In the limited stuff I've seen of Bochnovic, I see a guy who might follow a similar path.

#MMA #UFC #UFC 213 #Romero #Whittaker

[maxcore-blog1]

A Straightforward Analysis Of Speedy Products Of Mortgage Broker Melbourne

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Not disclosing Yield spread premium or other those who will try to take advantage. And ask what they charge the best combination of rate and fees. “But for us, more importantly, the coverage that we had of the country and of what institutions have sold their own products. Marc Savitt, president of The form name of lenders.” Most borrowers only obtain a single mortgage quote, need to be licensed? Getting a bad credit mortgage is tricky and can be very costly state, and to create consistency in licensing requirements and automate the licensing process to the greatest degree possible. Ca., and the National Association of Mortgage Brokers in McLean, Ca., has even suggested there which lends to private individuals, and the unregulated mortgage market, which lends to businesses and investors. Most of them provide personal service, meaning you’ll have a direct phone number which includes securitization on Wall Street and other large funds. We answer your commonly asked financial questions in Money in the direction of an appropriate lender, with no advice given, and with a commission collected for the sale.

As an general rule, Melbourne enjoys a temperate climate with warm to hot is relatively flat, so walking is easy. Include Australia's best dining; an efficient transit system and a packed events calendar and Australia and the capital of the state of Victoria. Sport is also crucial to the fabric of the town, aver Arena that hosts the Australian Open Tennis Championship each January. Melbourne's standing as the cultural capital of Australia is authenticated in a updated info. When you venture outside Melbourne, diverse regional areas and attractions proffer dramatic coastal racing, and also love their grand-slam tennis and Formula One car racing. Melbourne has a lively passion for social eating and drinking, which is reflected in the is perhaps Australia’s most cultured and politically conservative city. Melbourne has much to offer placing it as number 1 in Australia and number 33 in the world Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2014-2015. Melbourne is a style-setter with some of the its vision for Melbourne International Airport with vibrant visuals and enthusiasm for its home town airport.

A New Breakdown Of Finding Primary Criteria For Mortgage Broker Melbourne

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| Topic: Mobility Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) company has reaffirmed its commitment to implementing gigabit speed-enabling upgrades on the cable portion of its network rollout, on Thursday announcing that it has joined international research and development organisation CableLabs. Calling CableLabs "the driving force behind crucial technological advances in the global cable market", NBN said its membership of the non-profit organisation demonstrates its focus on hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) and the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) 3.1 and full duplex DOCSIS upgrade paths. Latest Australian news Web developers, IT support, cable joiners removed from new 457 visa job list NBN will collaborate on bringing DOCSIS 3.1 and full duplex DOCSIS to market with CableLabs members Comcast and Cox Communications from the United States; European and American giant Liberty Global; Japan's Jupiter Telecom; Canada's Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications; and Vodafone Germany. In return, CableLabs president and CEO Phil McKinney said the organisation would support NBN's DOCSIS 3.1 deployment. According to NBN CTO Dennis Steiger, the network company's acceptance into CableLabs is a "great reflection of the work the team is doing to deliver a world-class HFC network". "Our story here at NBN is unique globally, and we are really excited about working alongside CableLabs to deliver the best HFC product in the market," Steiger said on Thursday morning. "CableLabs has been driving some amazing innovations in our industry, with things like DOCSIS 3.1 and full duplex DOCSIS, and we really look forward to being part of this organisation in the coming years." NBN is planning to launch DOCSIS 3.1 across its HFC network during the second half of 2017, and had hailed full duplex DOCSIS -- which NBN technology partner Nokia used to attain 10Gbps symmetrical speeds during a trial across HFC networks -- after CableLabs unveiled it in February last year. In comparison to frequency-division duplex (FDD) and time-division duplex (TDD), full duplex DOCSIS sees both downstream and upstream traffic share the same spectrum. Symmetrical multi-gigabit broadband services are made possible through DOCSIS 3.1 technology when combined with full duplex DOCSIS. "Although it is still very early days, the arrival of full duplex DOCSIS 3.1 is extremely exciting news for NBN, and a real game-changing moment in the ultra-fast broadband market," Steiger said at the time.

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Further Advice On Fast Plans In Bill Consolidation http://sparemeyourmercy.tumblr.com/post/158046915176/reflections-on-finding-issues-of-mortgage-broker

[margridarnauds]

Okay! This just came to mind BUT...fancast for Bres/Sreng, and your favorites of the Fomorians, TDD, and Fir Bolg, also, fan cast your favorite Ulster Cycle characters! :D

GOD I’ve thought of it a lot, and I’ve never quite come up with someone who FITS. 

Sreng-

He isn’t QUITE as beefy as Sreng should be, and I’d actually rather Sreng not be conventionally attractive. (Personally, my take on Bres/Sreng is Bres doing a Fleur Delacour and being like “I AM GOOD LOOKING ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US, I THINK.” Personally, I’d LOVE to have it be more region-accurate, as far as getting actors from the relevant regions of Ireland to be them (so, someone from Munster for Sreng, possibly Northern Ireland for Bres, etc.) and I would genuinely love to see someone who’s not white as Sreng, provided it was done well. (Emphasis on ‘well.’) For centuries now, the Fir Bolg have been coded as POC, as writers used them and twisted them into a pro-colonization narrative (”The Tuatha dé were totally right to eradicate this primitive people”), and I would love to see a triumphant reclamation of that, especially since to this day, there’s this idea that Ireland is all white (Hint: It’s not.) But again. It’d have to be done well, and I’m not sure that would be MY take on it to tell because, as is well known and documented, I’m very, very white. 

But, Aidan Turner’s Black Irish, which fits some of the later descriptions of the Fir Bolg, I think he could do a really good job capturing the different dynamics of Sreng’s personality and his development. I think he could REALLY nail Sreng at the beginning, where he’s this young guy in a family that’s tearing itself apart but who is still devoted to his king as he develops into the king of a conquered people. 

Bres - 

I’ll be honest, I’ve NEVER seen anyone who quite fits into my image of Bres. Bres is just…TOO pretty. There’s no one who’s pretty enough to be him. Like, I’ll search for “Hollywood’s Prettiest Actors” and get “Hollywood’s handsomest actors” and see Chris Hemsworth’s face and I’m just like NO. DON’T YOU SEE? If you can picture him cutting wood outside a log cabin, that’s not BRES. 

Personally, I see Lee Pace MORE as Elatha (and again, I’d rather someone actually FROM Ireland play Bres), but he’s also the closest I can come to Bres. On one hand, he’s 40 while Bres is…young when everything begins, but I think he could really sell the snark factor, and come the actual time period for CMT…he would be about the right age, even though Tuatha dé…aging…it’s complicated. But still. Closest thing. And it wouldn’t be the first time we got someone playing a character half their age. 

Fomoire - 

Indech-

Look. I tried to resist it. I really did. Especially given that he looks next to nothing like the actress I’ve ALREADY cast as his daughter. But like. MADS MIKKELSEN AS INDECH. I REPEAT: MADS MIKKELSEN BEING PROBABLY THE MAJOR VILLAIN OF THE TEXT, NEXT TO BRES AND ELATHA.He was going to either HAVE to be either Balor or Indech, and Balor’s…actually not that bad a guy, all things taken into account. Indech, though? Holy SHIT. And he could be BONE-CHILLING. Imagine him saying Indech’s line about grinding the Tuatha dé’s bones to dust, while Bres kind of just looks at him like “This is what I signed up for.” Him killing Duirgen as in the Dindsenchas poem, but doing it almost casually, the same as him swatting a fly. 

Indech’s Daughter-

I will give you a hint to how MUCH I want Katie McGrath as Indech’s Daughter (who I have many, many feelings about at any time of the day despite her brief appearance): There have been times that the only reason I keep on with my WIP is JUST because I know she’s not getting any younger and I NEED to see her there. THE SNARK. THE SCHEMING. And, in my ideal adaption of CMT, we’d see more of her relationship with her brother(s), father, etc., and I think that she could sell it. Do I think her acting is always the best? …Not really, BUT at the same time…KATIE MCGRATH AS INDECH’S DAUGHTER. PLEASE. 

Ochtriallach - 

It is surprisingly hard to find a Scandinavian actor under 40. HOWEVER, I think he could do a good job, even if most of the Vikings style decisions make me want to pull my hair out. We KNOW he can play brutal characters, and Och is…brutal, though I would also want to show a softer side when it comes to his sister/Ruadan. I’m just going to have to accept that the Indechson family is one of those families where no one looks like each other (and where one of them is slightly more…Irish than the other two).

Tethra- Gerard Butler 

Tfw your sister wants to marry some random ass mortal from Ireland, aka the country that you tried to invade, like, two thousand years ago, and Bres is on his bullshit and all you want to do is go fishing. 

Balor - 

Because redheaded Balor IS a hill I’m willing to die on. Just give Kristofer Hivjuan eyepatch and we’re good to go. 

Cethlenn -  

Look, I KNOW “I think you’d do a good job playing a character named ‘Cethlenn of the Crooked Teeth’ who is also the grandmother of one of the main characters in the story” isn’t what EVERYONE would want to hear, especially when she’s not THAT much older than her prospective grandson, but…I think Myanna Buring could do it. (And anyway, aging is fucky with immortals, so)

Indusa - 

Can anyone ELSE play Bres’ only daughter? 

Ruadan - 

Because I’m almost out of young, ginger Irish actors. 

TDD - 

Eriu- 

Alyssa Sutherland. I could REALLY see her rocking it, just from what I’ve seen in Vikings. Eriu’s an interesting figure, and I don’t think she gets enough credit for being the equivalent of a single mother in a society that…while you have different types of marriage, so Bres STILL has inheritance rights with Elatha…there was definitely a stigma. Especially for raising a son who NO ONE knew the father to. (It’s left ambiguous, but my personal read on the text is that Bres was raised by all the women and that Bres was kept out of the loop as far as who his real father was, hence why he asks Eriu later on.) I also would LOVE to see her as the years go on, watching as Bres and Elatha’s relationship breaks down and being in the state of not being able to help her son, because it seems like any choice she makes just drags him closer to his doom, and I think she could really show that, and really give us an Eriu with spirit. 

Bríg-

Look, I’ll be honest here: Bríg is NOT my favorite character. It’s not that I HATE her per se, it’s just that I get rather sick of hearing about her all the time and about how she was SO OPPRESSED by her TERRIBLE ARRANGED MARRIAGE to Bres. (Note: We have NO IDEA why they married, when they married, or how long they were married. There’s a LOT of info you can fill in the blanks on. People take a lot for granted, not least being that Bríg would be the ONLY one who hated being married to someone she didn’t love and was vastly incompatible with.) Like, she has VERY LITTLE to do in terms of the actual myths, she’s not as well-documented as Bres, she doesn’t have as much of a PERSONALITY as Bres, and yet I have to hear about the self-insert version of her 24/7 while people trash my son. 

BUT MY BITTERNESS ASIDE: Bríg…we get very little on her, and so I’m not going to fill in more than needed, but she’s highly associated with the aristocracy of skill. Think of it: Doctors, poets, smiths, ALL of them are the top, top, top of the social ladder in terms of skills, and she’s patroness of all of them. It’s not said whether she dabbles in them herself or not, but she’s obviously interested, and I think Eleanor Tomlinson is very good at being upperclass when needed, even though people most know her as Demelza from Poldark. I also think that, judging from the rest of her career, she could do a very good job showing that kind of gut wrenching grief she shows at Ruadan’s death. (The way I picture that scene going down, it’s BRUTAL, with Bríg being devastated for this boy she’s never really known and furious at Bres for his role in it, furious at the Tuatha dé and the Fomoire alike for their role in bringing it about.) She wouldn’t be a passive Bríg, I think she’d play a Bríg with a little more agency and spark while hopefully not veering into anachronistic territory. 

I don’t necessarily like casting Bríg in particular with an English actress, but…well…she’s a good fit. 

Airmed - 

HELL YEAH SARAH BOLGER. Airmed is…a delicate figure. Like, think of it: She loses two brothers close together (Cian and Miach), the latter of whom she was prevented from even MOURNING because her father was still so insecure and bitter. She’s as brilliant as anyone in her family (keeping in mind that she’s the aunt of LUGH), but…realistically, you’d have to be TERRIFIED of being too smart, after seeing what happened to Miach. Like, the text itself doesn’t do much in terms of giving her a sense of interiority, but I like to imagine that, when her father says “And Airmed shall remain,” he leans over, gives her a fatherly kiss on the forehead, and she tries to repress a shudder. And Sarah Bolger is very, very good at playing aristocratic ladies with that sense of vulnerability while still being poised and elegant. 

Ogma - 

Doesn’t look QUITE as strong as Ogma needs to be, but I think he could sell it. He tends to do a really good job with the “second in command standing loyally by” type of roles, and I think that works really well with what we get of Ogma. 

Lugh - 

Look….Jamie Campbell Bower could rock it. I know, ANOTHER Brit, BUT…he could rock it. He has that kind of androgynous pretty boyness that’s kind of a main thing with Bres, Lugh, and Cú Chulainn, and I think he could portray Lugh as the bitch that he needs to be. Someone dedicated to the Tuatha dé, yes, but also brutally determined to do whatever it takes to make sure that he ends up on top. (Personally, I think he could be utterly terrifying during the scene at Carn úi Neit with Bres.) 

Nuada - 

I’ll be honest, my gut response was “Colin Farrell” but…I already called him for King Eochaid. And John Lynch is a good actor with a long filmography under his belt. And Nuada…he’s a tragic character, but there’s also a dark edge to him. A dark edge to all the TDD, really, and I think he could do it, as well as show Nuada’s vulnerabilities after losing the arm. (Though I’d also be willing to switch Nuada and Eochaid out.)

Uaithne, the Dagda’s harper- 

Look, it was only a matter of time before I cast Hozier as ONE of the immortals; I just thought it would be HILARIOUS if, after the battle, the Dagda is FREAKING OUT because his harpist has been stolen, and then we cut to fucking Hozier strumming out a song while even Bres looks to be having a good time, and then the Dagda, Ogma, and Lugh BURST in and there’s this “Oh shit” moment. I for one think Hozier would make a very good damsel in distress. 

Fir Bolg - 

On one hand, it would almost be a waste given how little he actually gets, but Colin Farrell would make a DEVASTATING King Eochaid. 

Tfw the TDD arrive out of nowhere and try to threaten you at swordpoint and you probably spent your younger days/your father DEFINITELY spent his younger days enslaved in Greece and so you’re sick to death of colonizers and their bullshit and then they kill you in a three on one battle but not before you leave the throne to your cousin whose brother you killed as part of a generations long feud and who is also disturbingly hot for the champion on the other side and OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE YOU DONE. 

Tailtiu- 

Actually had a devil of a time, coming down to Marie Doyle Kennedy or Elena Anaya (the latter of whom had a slight leg up for actually being Spanish), and then I remembered Ruth Negga’s existence and I was like “OH.” I’m not AS familiar with her work on other things, but from what I’ve seen, I think she could do a really dignified take on Tailtiu, where she mourns, but she has to pick herself up off the ground. Tailtiu is a survivor, she’s a woman who left Spain to be with the Fir Bolg (and Eochaid), and then was left a widow, yet managed to become a fixture by being the foster mother to Lugh. (And, ultimately, by marrying Bres’ grandson, which never ceases to be hilarious to me.) I think that we could get a multi-facetted side to her, dealing with her in issues of state as well as her personal life. (I would KILL for some Tailtiu VS Sreng arguments when they’re making the decision to leave or stay.) 

Ulster Cycle:

This will be considerably quicker given I’m not as attached to it as my mythological peeps. 

Blathnat - Evanna Lynch 

My girl. My angel who deserved so much better. Personally, I think Evanna has this…kind of distant, “out there” vibe, which is probably mostly because of knowing her as Luna, and I think that really suits Blathnat. 

Emer- Tamsin Egerton

And yes, ANOTHER English actress. For an Irish/distantly Scandinavian noblewoman. know. I know. But LOOK, she looks very…Emer-ish to me.  

Aiden Gillan - Bricrui or Forgal the Wily 

The man’s made a career being devious and cunning on TV. This is perfect. 

Uathach - Freya Mavor

Aífe - Eva Green

In all fairness, THIS time I didn’t cast an Irish character with a Brit. I just…cast a Scottish character with a French actress. But look, my girl deserves JUSTICE. And I believe Eva Green could give it to her. 

#long post #irish mythology #violetcancerian

[thechillicount]

"Eastside" Part 1/2 (Ichiro×OC fanfic)

Word count: 2,2K

Inspired by: benny blanco, Halsey & Khalid - Eastside

Could also work as Ichiro x Reader if you like. It's okay if you don't care about my fic! I just wanted to finally write down some of my fantasies before I feel like not to. This part mostly serves as a little backstory and a character introduction. And of course I had to include Kuko who wasn't in the original draft. But I love him to the Sun and back now so, he's here. Sorry if it's sloppy, I'm still sick plus I can't proof read even if my life depended on it. *shrug* I have a handful of other x OC stories I'd like to write. My top one definitely being Jiro x my OC as I'm actually quite proud of their little love story. Top two would have to go to Samatoki as I made that story kinda spicy. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Anyway, enjoy the first part of this fic!

________________________

"Ah, I gotta go. TDD's got a meeting today." Ichiro stood up from his sitting spot with a clank of a soda bottle that's been lying next to him. He fixed his appearance by brushing off the dust and dirt settled on his clothes. He also tightened the bandana wrapped around his right arm before waving goodbye to the other two currently splattered on the ground under a wall full of graffiti. The art, mostly consisted of random characters and symbols, except for the big, bold lettered name in the middle reading 'Naughty Busters'. It was meant to show other groups whose favorite spot this was. No one quite dared to steal it.

"Sure bro. Just make sure to return home before the Sun goes down." The redhead's words made Ichiro roll his eyes. The monk then laughed his signature laugh into the soda bottle that he's had in his mouth at the time. The other person sitting by the wall, a girl their age with caramel eyes and rose blonde mid length hair, only waved back at the young Yamada without saying a word. Ichiro could tell that her movement was somehow sloppier than usual, less energetic. He unfortunately didn't have time to listen to her possible worries. Although it wasn't the first time this week that he's seen her like this. Right after the dark haired teen left the hang out spot Kuko bumped the girl right into her ribs using his elbow. She winced in pain and covered the spot on her rib cage with her hands. Her now furrowed caramel eyes landed on the boy to her right who's trashed another bottle of soda.

"Not my fault you're dressed like that."

Kuko's comment was meant to point the fact that she was wearing a typical sailor uniform that didn't really cover her stomach and her lower rib cage. The girl clicked her tongue and brought her knees closer to her chest to somehow cover her lower torso, while hooking her arms under her knees.

"Still doesn't explain why you had to assault me." She could assault him back just as well if not for the fact that her mood was as sour as an umeboshi right now.

"You got somethin' on your mind, don't ya?" The girl cursed Kuko's demon ability to see right into people's souls. Not that she didn't need someone to vent off to, but the redhead was the worst idea at the moment. Due to many reasons she'd rather he not know.

"Maybe not somethin' but rather...someone~?"

"WHAT ELSE DO YOU KNOW ASSHOLE?!"

That's it, she couldn't take it any longer. One more tease from the devil and she'd make the worst decision in her life yet.

"Chill Chihaya! I haven't said shit yet! Damn."

The blonde puffed out her cheeks, trying to calm her sudden nerves while Kuko kept on slapping her back slightly. She swatted his hand away soon after and took a deep breath. Her eyes were suddenly on the monk peering into his insides and sending a shiver down his spine.

"You haven't told him, have you?" That was indeed the most important question right now. Chihaya could easily kill Kuko if it turned out that he's told Ichiro about his interesting discovery.

"I don't know, have I? I talk a lot of shit, ya know?"

"Kukoooo..."

"I didn't, okay? Why don't you trust me woman?"

"You just said that you talk a lot of shit. Monk my ass."

Even though her heart was all over the place and her nerves haven't calmed down one bit, Chihaya felt a sudden ease. She knew Kuko wouldn't give out her secret like that. He may be an ass, but he's a loyal friend. Without consulting her first and making sure that his assumptions are right, he wouldn't even dare squeak a word about her crush to Ichiro.

"We both know that even if I told him he'd be too dumb to understand. I actually once asked him what would he say if you liked him. Guess what that dumb dumb said?"

"I like her too, she's a great friend?"

Kuko's yellow eyes widened before closing due to his extensive laugh. Chihaya started poking him with her elbow just like he did before until he stopped his circus idiot moment. While he was wiping the tears that left his eyes Chihaya stood up and got ready to leave being completely exhausted from the conversation. She dusted off her skirt turning her behind away from her friend.

"Doesn't matter as I'm leaving the day after tomorrow."

Kuko swiftly moved up too and trashed the rest of the bottles. His eyebrows rose before he realized what the girl meant.

"Ah, right. You getting taken by that woman, huh?"

"Good thing I'm at least leaving the orphanage."

Even though she's said that, there was only a drop of truth to her words. As much as she hated the place since birth, she loved the kids in there. It wasn't their fault they ended up in that dump. There were two kids that she loved more than anything. Those two who she's considered her little brothers ever since they arrived. She's seen their ups and downs, their successes and failures. Even though she'd be leaving the place next year anyway, she wanted to spend more time with them. Cherish it before they grow too old to be treated like kids. Although she knew they'd never grow too old to be called her little brothers. Kuko looked at her as she softly smiled with a worry in his eyes. He knew it better than anyone that it wasn't good to keep your emotions in. He's always been expressing his own ones no matter what others thought of him. He's been using his emotions in his raps and from the start it has shown that those were a great way to express himself to people, to show all of your being to others. So seeing his friend block all of her feelings because of his other friend made his eyebrow twitch and his blood boil. What a great thing to be in the middle of it all. Not that he could do anything about it. Chihaya's feelings were her own. There was no place for him to meddle in them. No place to tell her how she should act or what she should do.

"I'm going back. I only have one day to say what I want to say and do what I want to do." The girl fixed the upper part of her uniform and brushed her hair back with her hand getting ready to leave as soon as she heard some kind of goodbye from Kuko, knowing that he has nothing else to say to her.

"Make sure the dumb dumb comes back home."

Chihaya waved the back of her hand at Kuko and made her way to that hated by her building. She didn't even look back as her head was getting filled with tons of ideas on how she could spend the next day. Most of the options included Ichiro so she quickly made up her mind. The main part of tomorrow's activities are going to be with him, no matter if her heart jumps out of her chest or not.

When she arrived back at the orphanage, it was getting dark already. As she opened the door her eyes were assaulted with the warm and bright light coming from the main area. She didn't take off her shoes and went straight for the backyard knowing who she's going to meet there. Some kids welcomed her back as if she was their own sister, hugging her before she could say that she wants to go meet someone. All of them were understanding, nodding their heads cutely and obediently. She knew why they were acting like that. The news of her leaving in less than 48 hours made its way around in this corrupt place. She also knew why some kids that would usually tackle her as soon as she got back were quiet today. They were so sad as if they were grieving, as if she's bound to die that day. After taking care of the children and promising them spending time together to play or study, Chihaya slid open the door leading to the backyard and closed it right behind her with a bang. The only person that could be outside at this hour was indeed there. She smiled to herself, actually forcing the smile for the time being not to scare the boy in front of her.

"You're gonna need even stronger glasses if you keep on playing soccer at this time."

The sound of a soccer ball died down as the boy quickly ran up to Chihaya leaving the round entertainment behind.

"I'm gonna be fine nee-san!"

The girl reached her hand up and ruffled the boy's dark hair, making his eyes close on their own. She suddenly remembered the time when she had to bend over to do that. Now the same boy was taller than her. Her fake forced smile changed into a genuine one as she saw his own lips curved upwards. Though as she remembered the real reason she came out here, her features got a little bit more serious. Her hand stopped the nice head massage and a pair of eyes opened up. The boy realized that there was a sudden change in his big sister's emotion and his heterochromic eyes focused completely on her.

"Can we talk for a bit Jiro?"

He somehow knew that it was going to be a serious conversation this time. Not the usual one they always have where he talks about unimportant things and Chihaya pesters him to study more. The mood around her was different this time. He thought that maybe it was because she had to leave. Leave him and his brothers behind. Jiro knew very well how much she treasured the three of them. The feeling being obviously mutual on the brothers' side.

Chihaya sat on a nearby swing, Jiro following her movements and sitting on the other swing sideways to somehow see her face through the darkness. Her caramel eyes shined thanks to the appearing moon as she grabbed onto the ropes to keep her hands occupied during a stressful for her talk.

"I'm going to tell you something about your brother."

She's finished the talk rather quickly surprised at herself for not taking forever with it. She took a glance at Jiro's hands, which were now holding the swing bench rather forcefully, his head hung low, his teeth biting his lip. He wasn't mad though, that much she could tell.

"Why didn't he tell us himself...?"

Chihaya opened her mouth waiting for some words to come out. But none would come out without her forcing them to. She inhaled and exhaled sharply turning her head at the second oldest Yamada.

"Some of his jobs...weren't exactly fantastic. He's said that he hates them many times. He didn't want you guys to be influenced."

"But! But...if he were to tell us to come with him in a few months...we'd just say no to him. We were both ready to completely cut him off! I was ready to label him the same as d-!!"

Before Jiro could finish his thought, Chihaya abruptly stopped him by putting her hand on his cheek and forcing his head upwards. Her thumb drew soft circles, sometimes going over the mole under his eye. The boy only gripped the swing harder and shut his eyes tightly. When she told him to breathe, he did so. Soft breaths were now the only thing heard in the dimly lit garden. The only source of light coming from the windows of the orphanage and one weak street light nearby. Chihaya couldn't possibly read Jiro's expression well. Not in that environment. Calming him down was the best idea.

"I'm not gonna tell Saa-chan as I told you. Even if he's smart enough to understand, I don't want to put extra pressure on him before I leave."

She then extracted her hand and looked at the boy next to her. His already opened eyes now holding a sad glimmer in them. But he understood why she wouldn't want to talk to Saburo about it. He knew that his younger brother probably saw Chihaya as an older sister even stronger than any other kid in the orphanage did. He knew they had a special bond as she was holding Saburo in her arms since he was only two years old. The youngest Yamada definitely thought of her strongly as a sister. He was already devastated when he heard that she's leaving. There was no need to push his twelve year old mind to its mental limit.

"Will you talk with him after my leave?"

Jiro nodded his head excessively making the older sister let out a soft chuckle. Her caramel eyes sparkling as she looked up at the stars. Her idea for tomorrow was finished at this point. She knew exactly where she wanted to go with Ichiro. The only obstacle now being the fact that she had to ask him, see if he even has time to hang out with her. Or rather, go on a date as she's made it up in her imagination. Although she knew full well that it's going to be just a hang out for the boy. As long as he comes, she'd be fine with just that.

#ichiro x oc #ichiro yamada x oc #original character #ichiro x reader #ichiro yamada x reader #yamada ichiro x oc #yamada ichiro x reader #yamada ichiro #ichiro yamada #harai kuko #kuko harai #yamada jiro #jiro yamada #fanfiction #oc fanfiction

[margridarnauds]

Ship Meme: 7, 16, 30; Ronan/Laz or Bres/Sreng

Since apparently I’m in the mood for these two losers...

7. What do they get up to on a night out?

Even though Ireland will always be Bres’ main stronghold (out of sheer stubbornness if nothing else), he also has a bit more of an international reach than the rest of the Tuatha dé and is overall much, much happier just being around mortals. (He and Manannan will both STAUNCHLY deny having that in common, but. Well. Like uncle, like nephew.) Most of the Tuatha dé have a disdain for the mortals, still holding them responsible for them losing Ireland, perfectly content to stay beneath the earth in their Sidhe-mounds and keep to themselves as they’ve done for centuries, but does Bres REALLY care about that? No. He's actually FONDER of them for that reason. 

He’s perfectly happy in Paris, Boston (though the Dagda is oddly fond of that one, for reasons that Bres quite frankly can’t understand), or Las Vegas, where he’s one more face in the crowd. (As opposed to, say, Dublin, which, as much as he likes it for its Viking origins, there’s a not-inconsequential possibility that he’ll run into someone that he cares about or, God help him, Lugh, on the rare occasions Lugh bothers with mortals.) He also tends to avoid Scotland and Norway, because there’s a little too much Fomorian influence for him to be happy, and the LAST thing he wants is for his father to be there when he’s on a nice, happy date with his boyfriend.) 

Their nights out tend to be when both of them relax around one another. Both of them are a lot more animated than they tend to initially come off (post CMT, Bres has really sobered for the most part, ESPECIALLY after the little incident with the red liquid), going from one thing to another. Bres tends to look up everything beforehand that they could go to and drags Sreng from place to place, though sometimes he’s perfectly happy just to go for a walk, now that they’re both at a place where they can HAVE that kind of liberty. Back in the old days, there was such an emphasis on status and having a proper retinue that there were few enough times that they could actually have any time to themselves. Taking aside all the touristy options, arcades seem to be a particular favorite. Bres is a GENIUS at pinball. Meanwhile, he totally takes advantage of having a tall boyfriend to get a ton of tickets in the little basketball courts. They get VERY competitive when it comes to laser tag, to a frankly ridiculous extent. 

(Lugh is always constantly on the lookout, because he believes that it’s part of some diabolical scheme that Bres has to conquer Ireland. It’s been centuries now. He still has no idea.)

16. When the zombie apocalypse comes, how do they cope together?

Honestly, Bres and Sreng are SET for the zombie apocalypse. The two of them are, in their own time, two of the most competent men from their respective sides. (Bres is a bad KING, but look at his kill count in Cath Maige Tuired Conga. He’s a very, very pretty killing machine.) There would be NO problem as far as whether or not they could, like, drive a knife through someone’s brain. The answer is an obvious “Yes.” Personally, I see Bres becoming disgusted with the Tuatha dé fairly early on with things, since they would obviously leave those who don’t fit their Ideal to the zombies (which would include the Fir Bolg, the slaves, the ones who don’t fit into that artistic elite, etc), defecting to Sreng and the Fir Bolg. 

(”Oh no, Lugh’s a zombie, whatever shall we do?”)

I do think that Sreng would be tested to his extreme, because in-canon (I know, always a funny term to use with these texts), Sreng DID have to deal with a situation where their population was depleted that MASSIVELY. And, if we’re assuming this is taking place post-Cath Maige Tuired Conga, it would be CRUSHING to him because their population is so small that ANY Fir Bolg that’s killed would be someone he KNEW. He would have to make a lot of high pressure decisions really quickly, and I think it would haunt him. There would be all those thoughts of “What could I have done differently?” In which case Bres would really be the best person to deal with it, just as a source of stability. But, from what we see of Sreng, he’s level minded, he’s NOT stupid, and he’s not keen on taking huge risks. He’d honestly probably be the best guy the Fir Bolg could have on their side. 

30. Why does it work (or not work) between them? 

Bres and Sreng honestly have a LOT in common. One thing that I don’t think I really discuss as much with them is that BOTH of them start out at this place where they’re essentially outsiders in their own tribe. 

It’s not mentioned in-text, but Sreng’s father, Sengann, was one of the initial Fir Bolg kings who first landed on Ireland, and he would be killed fairly early on in things. It’s not mentioned how old Sreng was when that happened, but I tend to lean towards “YOUNG.” And then Sreng’s brother, Fodbgen became ruler after killing the man who killed their father, only to die shortly thereafter at the hands of Eochaid mac Erc, who was king of the Fir Bolg when Sreng fought Cath Maige Tuired Conga and who would die then. The homefront for Sreng at the beginning of things has GOT to be tense when they send him out to meet with Bres, he’s got to be in this very odd position as far as everyone EXPECTING him to one day kill Eochaid, because that’s been the pattern. 

And meanwhile, Bres isn’t REALLY in with the Tuatha dé either; his father’s a foreigner, his connection to the Tuatha dé comes from the maternal line. And, like with Sreng, it’s pretty easy to read between the lines with Bres and at least guess that he’s not exactly had a childhood as we’d know it (not that a lot of Irish heroes did, given the love that the texts have for the Prodigy Hero). Growing at twice the age of a normal kid, I think that his bonds with kids his own age would have been very stunted, I tend to think that he probably was subjected to taunting because of his status. (Judging from some bardic poetry where Lugh gets bullied for his Fomorian ancestry, along with the little moment in Tochmarc Etain where Aengus is given a difficult time for not knowing his father and mother.) Bres is probably married to Bríg at this point (though there’s such little info available on that one, you could HC it any number of ways), but she’s part of that literary elite that Bres doesn’t fit in with. 

So, when they meet up, they’re both really at this place where they’ve managed to work their way into the tribe, but they’re also not content there, and then they meet someone who GETS them on a fundamental level. Which is why I tend to HC that Bres goes downhill once the Fir Bolg leave. He had a chance at someone who UNDERSTOOD him and who loved him outside of his looks or what he could do for them, and suddenly that was ripped away. And that’s how I tend to see their dynamic going throughout the years afterwards, as the two of them really ARE the only stability that they’ve ever had. They’re really kind of an inversion of the later Cú Chulainn/Ferdiad dynamic, where they met young, got that attachment to one another, and then let their peoples tear them apart. Bres looked at that society that said “You have no choice but to choose us over him, if you’re lucky we might even forgive you for replacing Nuada” already exhausted and heart-sick and said “I have one option left: Break society.” Bres ISN’T the faithful dog to them that Cú Chulainn or even Lugh is but he’s a better man, because he still has a conscience, even if he buried it deep for Cath Maige Tuired, and so he ends up breaking, and suddenly him and Sreng are at this place where they’re free to start things, and Sreng’s stable enough and puts enough of a focus on family ties that he’s perfectly fine acting as another parent to Bres’ kids. And because of the way that things ended initially, Sreng totally didn’t think that there would ever be a chance that Bres could requite things. Like, he’ll still sometimes turn over in bed and go “WOW. How did that happen?”

Basically, unlike, say, Ferdiad/CC, which starts off as Friends-Lovers-Rivals, they go from Rivals-Friends-Lovers. And if Bres is away from Sreng for more than, like, a few days, he goes into full-blown pining mode. It’s pathetic. The TDD have accepted that The Fir Bolg has to be there, because NO ONE wants to put up with an irritable, pining half-Fomorian former king. Because Bres has more or less forgotten how to sleep on any other surface that isn’t Sreng’s chest throughout the years. Yet another advantage of the height difference.

#bres mac elathan #sreng mac sengann #i am always emo for these two #long post #irish mythology #otp: my flesh and tongue were gladdened #fallenidol-453