#the gang even zeus is afraid of

[inc0rrectmyths]

𝗗𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘆𝘀𝘂𝘀: I have done a lot of dumb stuff..

𝗔𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼: I have witnessed the dumb stuff..

𝗔𝗿𝗲𝘀: I joined in on the dumb stuff..

𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘀: I recorded the dumb stuff..

𝗔𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗮: I TRIED TO STOP Y'ALL FROM DOING THE DUMB STUFF!!

#the gang even zeus is afraid of #greek mythology #apollo #artemis #dionysus #greek gods #hermes #aphrodite #ares #athena #hephaestus #hestia #hades #demeter #poseidon #hera #zeus #persephone #hecate #incorrect mythology #greek myth memes #mythology memes #incorrect greek myths #incorrect greek gods #incorrect quotes

[lipstickstainz]

true lies - s. r. (6/15)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

Series Summary: Spencer is furious, when you rejoin the team after a year and after you left him, when he got arrested. Little does he know, that you leaving him was the only option to ever get him out of prison.

Chapter Summary: A glimpse of your past - and an honest conversation.

Warnings: a little fluff, Spencer talking about his time in prison (spoilers), a lot of angst

Word Count: 2.8k

A/N: please don’t hate me. gif not mine. 

Series Masterlist

previous part

"This is the best birthday present I've ever gotten”, Spencer grins as you walk together through Griffith Observatory. It's already evening, but it doesn't feel like you've been here all day. Around every corner there is something different to discover, exhibits to see, new things to learn, and Spencer is almost like a child, so excited is he. He can't keep still and when you stop at an exhibit, he trips from one foot to the other.

"I'm glad you like it here”, you smile as you sit down at a table at the Café at the End of the Universe. You're glad he's enjoying the trip, even though you had to fly here for it. Los Angeles isn't exactly close to D.C., but you wanted to give him something he liked that you could experience together, and a visit to Griffith Observatory seemed fitting.

The view you have from your seat is breathtaking. Los Angeles is at your feet. It's a beautiful view for a beautiful day and you're glad you're here with Spencer. "What did you like best?"

He doesn't even have to think hard before he has an answer. "The Once and Future Griffith Observatory”, he grins, and you roll your eyes.

"But that's only because Leonard Nimoy narrates." You have to grin, too. Spencer is a little transparent, which makes him incredibly endearing.

For a few minutes, you sit together in silence, enjoying the last rays of sunlight on your skin. The silence between you is anything but awkward. Ever since the beginning of your friendship, you've been able to sit together without exchanging a word, enjoying the moment without it getting weird. And although the dynamic between you has changed a bit and you've grown closer lately, it hasn't changed.

"I know you're not into all that stuff”, he interrupts the silence at one point, and you avert your gaze from Los Angeles to look at him. He runs his hand through his hair so that it falls slightly into his forehead, and the reddish glow cast on him by the last rays of the sun makes him look so incredibly handsome that you have to swallow. "Did you like it, too?"

You nod vigorously. "I don't know much about it, but you showed me that the science of the stars can be fun even if you don't look completely behind it." You want to reach across the table and take his hand, but you don't dare. "And I think it's nice to be here with you."

You can't pinpoint exactly when your friendship changed. Since you started working at BAU, you had hit it off and become fast best friends, and you value his friendship very much. But lately you see him in a different light and you can sense that he feels the same, but neither dares to make the first move. Two idiots who have a crush on each other and don't want to admit it.

A few moments later, the sun disappears behind the horizon and Spencer gets up from his chair. "Come on, we have one more thing to do." Carefully, he pulls you from your seat and before you know where he's going, you're there. Even though it's Saturday night, there aren't many people at the observatory, so you can stand in front of a large telescope without waiting in line. "We've heard so much about the universe today, but I want to see the stars with you before we go."

You hesitate, but Spencer tells you to look first, so you take a peek through the telescope. Except for the bright stars, the view is pitch black and deep. A cluster of stars looks very familiar. "What constellation is that, Spence?", you ask, making room for him to take a look himself.

"That's the little bear”, he replies, letting you back up to the telescope so he can explain further and you can look at the stars. "In Greek mythology, the little bear is actually a son of Zeus and a nymph. Or rather, Zeus turned the child into a bear so that the bear wouldn't attack his mother, the nymph, who also became a bear." You look at Spencer. "And then Zeus hurled them both into the sky. Pretty unrealistic."

"I think it's very realistic for a Greek god to turn a mother and child into bears and then stick them in the sky as stars”, you grin, and he gives a short laugh. "Thank you for knowing such things. I find it interesting when you explain things." You smile at him and glance up at the starry sky again. "Do you want to look through here again? The view is phenomenal and breathtakingly beautiful."

"It is indeed”, Spencer replies without taking his eyes off you.

The look he gives you now is one of sadness and pain. You don't see it, but you feel it in your back as you make you both a cup of coffee each. As you turn and place the cup on the kitchen table in front of him, he averts his eyes.

The silence between you is unbearable and only then do you really realize how much everything has changed. How much you have changed. Sitting together in your kitchen in the middle of the night feels as forced as it actually is, but neither of you is ready to get started. For as confusing as the last time has been for you, you know full well that this conversation will either raise more questions than it clears up, or it will be goodbye. And you're not ready for the latter.

You put your hands around the warm cup and realize how cold you are, even though the heating is turned up. Goosebumps come over you and you try to shake the cold shiver off your back as inconspicuously as you can, but the small movement doesn't go unnoticed by Spencer. He looks at you, and as you meet his gaze, he no longer seems sad or pained. Spencer looks lost, and there's nothing you can do to get him out of it.

"What have you been up to for the last year?", he asks you quietly, taking a sip of his coffee.

"I've been here and there. Been working a lot”, you answer, and it's probably the only truth you can tell in the conversation. For the past year, you've really been working, around the clock, but you can't explain to him what exactly you've been doing. And you're also glad he's not asking.

"So you're a professor in between now?", you ask at one point, and he nods mutely.

"Yes, I have to take thirty days off for one hundred days that I work, and I'm teaching during that time."

"Do you enjoy it?", you ask, even though you know the answer. Spencer has always loved teaching other people and sharing his knowledge, which is why you've always secretly thought he'd enjoy teaching.

"Well, a lot of the students just come to listen, which is kind of a shame because the topics are really interesting. Luke said they just come to gawk at me, but I don't think so."

"You're the only professor who talks about crime and everything, but who's also been to prison. I can well imagine that a lot of young women find that very hot." You smile at him and he weakly returns it. When he doesn't respond to that, you keep talking. "I probably have no right to ask about it, but I'd like to know what you've experienced in prison." You take a sip of your coffee. "I can tell it's changed you a lot."

His fingers tighten a little around the cup as he answers. "Prison isn't the only thing that's changed me." To others, his comment would have certainly come off wrong, resentful and bitchy, but not to you. Spencer is simply telling the truth, and that's what the conversation is supposed to be about. You're supposed to be honest with each other, at least within a certain framework that allows you to be as honest as you can. "It really wasn't easy. I became friends with a former FBI agent - Calvin Shaw. He gave me tips on how to survive in prison. Which didn't help much. I tried to help a friend, his name was Luis, by telling a guard that he kept getting beat up by a certain gang, after which they almost killed me." It comes so easily to his lips, but his posture shows that this has not passed him by without a trace. His shoulders are tense and you fear the cup will break, he's clutching it so tightly. "I was supposed to help smuggle drugs in, but I refused, whereupon they beat me up in the laundry room and slit Luis' throat in front of me." He pauses for a moment, as if he needs to sort out his thoughts, and takes a deep breath.

"I wanted revenge, so I poisoned the drugs, hoping it would kill them. But they were just the distributors. Five people got poisoned by it, including Shaw." You can hear he's not proud of that, and your stomach tightens. His hands shake, which is why he lets go of the cup and folds them in his lap. "The jail got into lockdown, but Tara did a cognitive interview with me that didn't do much good. My trial was delayed, and I was really afraid I was going to die in jail. When Shaw and the others were released from the infirmary, Shaw got back at me. He knew I was responsible for the tainted drugs, and he tipped off the others that I was FBI. He said to me I wouldn't see it coming, but they didn't want to put me in solitary either. So I whittled down a knife and took Shaw's hand and stabbed myself to make it look like he did it."

Your gaze moves from his face to his legs, and there you see it. A small scar that you certainly wouldn't notice if you didn't know it was there. Tears well up in your eyes. Not even for a brief moment, did you doubt your decision to leave then, but now you wish you had stayed with him then. You would have helped him, stood by his side. You blink away a tear before it can run down your cheek. "And then?"

"Then at some point I was discharged. The team did everything they could to get me out of that hellhole, and for that I'm very grateful. Otherwise, I would have been murdered in there for sure." He shifts the cup of coffee from one hand to the other. "Look, I don't want you to disappear again. I really don't, but this can't go on like this either. We can't seem to stay away from each other, but we're just arguing and it's not doing either of us any good."

You have a few more questions about his time in prison, but you keep them to yourself.It's clear from him that the subject is closed for him, and you don't want to force it on him. So you just nod.  You wouldn't leave Spencer again for any amount of money. It nearly killed you the first time, and for sure you wouldn't survive it a second time. "What do you suggest?"

He purses his lips into a thin line and starts to tap his foot. "I don't know if I can forgive you for leaving then. It was too painful for that. But I think that maybe, somehow, we can get along. We might even become friends again."

"I'm sorry I left then, Spencer. And I don't expect you to forgive me, I have no right to, because after all, I'm the only one responsible for this situation here”, you confess, running your hand through your hair. A nervous gesture that you seem to have picked up from him. "I'm very grateful to you for not wanting me to leave, even though I've caused you so much pain. I don't know what I've done to deserve this, but I'll do everything I can so that we can live together to some extent. And I hope that someday we can be friends again."

A smile spreads across his face. "Thank you for being honest with me, Y/N. I think this conversation is good for both of us. And it was pretty overdue, don't you think?"

You tighten your mouth into a thin line. "Pretty much." You take the last sip of coffee before rinsing off both cups and putting them back on the top shelf. Your shirt slides up a little, exposing the tattoo on your ribcage.

"You have a tattoo?", asks Spencer as you sit back down. "What did you get?"

You hesitate. "Nothing in particular. Just a saying I picked up a while back."

To this, Spencer doesn't reply, and silence returns. Only this time, it's not as stifling as it was at the beginning of your conversation.

"I should go”, Spencer says eventually, and stands up. He puts on the rest of his clothes and you accompany him to the door. Indecisively, you stand in front of each other. How do you say goodbye to someone you love?

"I'd like to kiss you”, Spencer confesses, and your heart skips a beat. "But that wouldn't be good. For us." He spreads his arms and you fall against him for a moment, hearing his heartbeat one last time before he pulls away from you and smiles weakly at you.

Sometimes you don't even notice a goodbye right away. It happens quietly, creeping, slowly, more painful than a quick goodbye. It goes to your bones, tears at your heart, blinds you. You can't look at Spencer as he speaks, because you know that the goodbye you were afraid of is here now.The glimmer of hope you've carried with you for an entire year is quietly extinguished, the embers cease to glow and the smoke clouds your senses.  For a year, you held on to the fact that you would eventually find each other again. You prayed, hoped, and pleaded for it. The thought gave you comfort as you lay alone in your bed wondering how he was doing and what he was doing. And now it's over. Standing in front of you is Spencer. Spencer, who was in prison. Spencer, who's been through so much. Spencer, who might be your friend again someday.

"Someday you're going to make someone very happy”, you whisper, hoping he doesn't notice how your voice breaks.The pain spreading through you is too intense, and you wrap your arms around your body, afraid to crumble.  But you really wish this for him. You want him to be happy, to find someone he can love as unconditionally as you love him. Someone he can trust blindly. Someone who will not leave him.

Spencer smiles at you and opens the door, but before he leaves, he turns to you one last time. "I have one last question." You look at him and wipe the back of your hand under your nose. "You said it's hard to leave someone you love." He gives you one last look. "Did you leave me because you didn't love me anymore? Or did it have another reason?"

Inside you are screaming at him that you could never stop loving him. That everything you did was for him. That you almost died when you left him and turned your back on everyone. But you can't say it out loud. It was part of the deal. A deal that not even Emily knows every detail of. As you answer him, you die again inside. "I didn't love you anymore, Spencer. I'm sorry."

-

You'd love to never leave your apartment again, but that's not an option. You'd like to call in sick, but that would be a bad start to a someday-friendship, and you don't want Spencer to realize how much this goodbye has destroyed you. You suffer silently, not even telling Emily about your conversation, but trying to let others notice as little as possible how you're really feeling. Work distracts you, and that's a good thing.

When you're alone, it's harder. The pain is unbearable. Loving someone, and losing that person, is the worst pain you could have ever imagined. Your nights are plagued by nightmares, your days are filled with distractions. You try to somehow come to terms with the fact that Spencer would never be yours again, but you had hoped for too long that one day you would find each other again. But that wasn't going to happen. Spencer left. And it's your fault.

After a while, you stop waking up screaming in the middle of the night. You haven't gotten used to the pain, but it's a constant companion now, almost a friend, and you don't try to block it out anymore. You are no longer afraid of the nightmares, because even when you wake up, they are real. You find that you can neither escape nor resist, and so you accept your fate and withdraw so deeply into yourself that you lose yourself.

The emptiness in your head spreads throughout your body and the biggest hole is your heart.

next part

- tags - 

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#spencer reid #spencer reid true lies #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid smut #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid angst #spencer reid headcanon #spencer reid blurb #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid one shot #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x reader smut #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #aaron hotchner #emily prentiss #Jennifer jareau #Penelope garcia #matt simmons #derek morgan #luke alvez #tara lewis

[extemely-thoughtful-person]

Twisted Wonderland Chapter 6, Parts 1-16 Review

Sorry for the wait. This post will hold a brief summary of all events taking place within the chapter, followed by my own thoughts, theories, and opinions. All of which will be placed under the cut for spoilers.

⚠️ Spoiler warning! If you have not seen the translations then I recommend watching them before reading. You have been warned!⚠️

(Note: the bingo board will or will not be featured depending on the current events. Just because the theories might not be true, I kinda want to see how off I was. For this purpose, the board stays up.)

Chapter 6 summary

So, to start off we turn to our lovely MC who is currently in the process of having another nightmare vision. The vision shows us of the first part of the Hercules movie with Hades attending Hercules's christening (it's like a birthday/baptism but it can't truly be called a baptism in this case due to this being with pagen gods). Basically, it's Zeus trashing Hades as always, and the vision ends with Hades saying that he wishes for Zeus to drop dead before leaving the party.

MC wakes up to a concerned Ace and Deuce who ask why MC was passed out. After MC gives a brief explanation of what happened, they get worried about Grim and contact Crowley. The Headmaster disregards MC trying to tell him about Mickey and commands that they lock the doors and windows. He then tells Ace and Deuce to go back to their dorm and Crowley summons the Dorm leaders for an emergency meeting.

Ace and Deuce decide that they should try and find Grim before the dorm leaders. But as they search, they overhear Crowley saying that Ortho Shroud already caught Grim. What's more is that he seems afraid of someone coming to their school (along with the reputation with Ambrose, but that's about to become another problem entirely.)

Fast forward to a few days after the capture of Grim at the end of the festival.

Vil calls the VDC group together for a meeting at Ramshackle dorm. He takes responsibly for his actions and also tells us a few interesting things :

Their final performance was flawed due the Overblot fight before hand

He told a bit about Neige's backstory which is a little sad. (He lives with his dwarf companions and has for most of his life. In other words, he's an orphan [as far as I can tell])

Rook knew the whole time when questioned by Vil.

Basically, Vil asks how the group would have voted had they known about Neige's predicament. Kalim and Deuce say maybe, but Ace holds firm to his performance because according to him, it's a competition of the stage, and not sob stories. Vil agrees with Ace.

Anyway, Vil insists on paying for the month of training that the group underwent. At first everyone refuses, but he holds firm and they all agree, and Kalim starts the act of donating the money to get the Ramshackle dorm repaired. Almost everyone else follows suit accept for Ace and Deuce. Deuce wants the money to support his mom, and Ace wants to keep the money for himself (but he does offer to get us lunch. Thank Ace!👍)

They start talking about redecorating the dorm, but then Rook is called out about their performance and his opinion on it. Epel feels betrayed because Rook said their performance was perfect, when in reality it wasn't. Rook clarifies saying that they're performance was beautiful, but not perfect. (As far as I'm able to get, but I could've gotten that wrong.) They make up in the end, and everyone is happy 😊.

And this is where the fun begins...

Immediately following a loud crash is heard from outside. Everyone is in shock as Vil quickly realizes that the magical barrier around the school has been broken by intruders. Rook tells everyone to look outside and then to get down.

The window crashes as the intruders break in to the Ramshackle dorm. They appear to be robotic looking humans, who the gang now have to face. The mysterious intruders target Vil and Jamil, and after a fierce battle manage to overpower and capture the targets. The first years try to fight them as well, but get badly injured and pass out. Ace tried to contact Riddle, but couldn't before hitting the floor.

Meanwhile at the horse riding club, the intruders are spotted coming in their direction. When they arrive, Riddle asks if they have permission to visit, and after a moment of guilty silence he deems them rule breakers and hazardous. All dorm leaders have the power to lift the magical fighting ban in the face of an emergency. Riddle does this and with Sebek and Silver, they fight the intruders together. Riddle seems to have everything under control but then gets beaten up and taken away.

Silver then notices that the intruders only took Riddle and no one else. This makes the pair believe that the intruders are targeting the dorm leaders. Sebek instantly figures that Malleus is in danger and both rush to Diasomnia.

At the dorm, they find Malleus is okay and Lilia gets a call from a distressed Kalim for an emergency meeting.

Meanwhile in the botanical gardens, Ruggie is looking for Leona but then the intruders break through the ceiling. Glass rains down but Leona saves Ruggie. The intruders show themselves and target Leona. At first the two are ready for a fight, but then Leona surrenders after figuring out two things: 1) the people are wearing a special armor made to deflect magic (or absorb it, idk) and 2) he recognizes the logo on their armor: S.T.Y.X.

Leona recognizes that they are more powerful and surrenders his pen, agrees to go with them, and tells Ruggie to look after Savannaclaw.

At another area of the school, Azul and Idia are in an intense game of Chess with Idia coming out as the winner. Then when the barrier is breached, the game gets disrupted. Azul is freaking out about the barrier but Idia seems more mad about the game. Then he asks Ortho to examine the situation. Ortho quickly gives the required info and Idia concludes that the intruders are Carrier Guards (translations vary from translations, it might be called something entirely different depending where you look. Don't take my word for it.) They break into the classroom where the club is being held.

Azul is ready to attack but Idia tells him that the best option is surrender. Ortho backs up his brother and Azul agrees to comply. The Guards then tell Idia that he's wanted at the S.T.Y.X. HQ. Idia complains about the Guards violence and asks what his parents are up to but all information is denied. Knowing that he can't win, Idia agrees to go, Ortho following him and Idia gets ready.

All subjects have been captured at this point, and at the Headmaster's office, Crowley is also being taken away by the Carrier Guards. Most of the staff are bewildered, but Professor Trein understands the situation and takes charge of the school.

The remaining students meet at the Headmaster's office for an emergency meeting and Trein gives everyone the short explanation: the Carrier Guards are from a non governmental organization called S.T.Y.X. who are known to have studied blot, and Overblots for a long time. It then makes sense as to why certain people were targeted. The veteran students then find out from Kalim and Rook that Vil Overblotted.

Meanwhile with the victims, Riddle wakes up and is greeted to the rest of the squad. They then talk in the dark as they wait to arrive to their final unknown destination. They are able to piece together that Idia might have some kind of relationship with the company. Vil later confirms that S.T.Y.X. is run by the Shroud family who a branch of the Jupiter Conglomerate (the people who own the Olympus Tech Company). The Shrouds are an important family that's just as rich if not more so than the Al-Asims but they deal in shady business and research which is why they aren't as well known. Riddle, Azul and Jamil were the most surprised by this.

They arrive on the Isles of Lamentation at S.T.Y.X. and are greeted by Idia, who as it turns out is the co-director of his family business and is currently in charge while his parents are away.

This is the end of parts 1-16

List of personal thoughts and analysis points

Firstly, I just wanna say that this chapter so far has been better than anything I could have been able to predict. Hats of to Yana for making this chapter full of pleasant surprises.

So regarding personal thoughts, a lot of people already said so much on the chapter that makes sense. I have a few things to say that no one else has said so far, but not too much.

Capturing Grim and how MC got back

Honestly, out of all the things I thought would happen but never wrote down, this is probably the biggest one. I had a feeling that Ortho, and maybe Idia would be involved with the capture of Grim, but I never said anything because I was kinda leaning towards RSA getting to him first. But basically, when and how Grim was captured did not surprise me in the slightest because I had an idea that this was what they were going to do.

Now who put MC back at Ramshackle is the real mystery. If it was Malleus, then it would make sense, but maybe he'd be worriedly and stick around until we woke up? If it was anyone from RSA, we would already be exposed, so it can't be them either, (unless... Secret RSA allie?). Ace and Deuce found us in the dorm so it can't be any of them. Ortho probably couldn't carry someone as heavy so it can't be him, plus the fact Ortho is equipped with medical supplies and could have treated MC's injury before leaving, but seeing as we were still untreated at the dorm, it definitely can't be Ortho. Anyone else from NCR would have informed a member of the staff about an injured student, and carried us to the infirmary, but Ace and Deuce had to call the Headmaster because Grim was on the lose, so Crowley would have heard sooner that something was wrong. This rules out almost everyone we can name.

So in conclusion, it could be one of three people:

It could be a mysterious RSA student who isn't involved with anything Ambrose related. (Chenya is the one that comes to mind here, but even he's still on the fence [figuratively and literally])

It could have been Mickey. Maybe he somehow left the Mirror, after all, he's the only one who knew about Grim's disappearance besides MC. And if it was Mickey, I think we would be in big trouble.

Someone else who we have not heard of or even seen before hand. A new character who we may get to see during this chapter. Namely, I'm thinking on the the visiting Fourth years we've been hearing so much about. Maybe they were in a hurry, and couldn't stick around for to long so they dropped us off at the Ramshackle dorm.

Neige's Backstory

He is based off of Snow White, so honestly, I didn't really know what to expect. It makes sense, but that raises the question: who are his parents? Why did they leave him?

There are too many questions and not enough information to figure any of this out.

As for the voting with knowledge, I still would've voted for Vil regardless of Neige's past. I simply liked Vil's work more than Neige. I get Vil explaining what happened to give us the clue that everyone carries a story, but still (yes!!! Totally nailed the first prediction).

Do I like Neige more than I did before? Not really. I'm not trying to be mean, and I understand he has one of those always-looks-on-the-bright-side kind of personalities, but I need to know more about him in order to change my opinion on him in anyway. (Personally, if the theories I've been making about him being manipulated are true then that would make him so much more interesting, but that's just me¯\_(ツ)_/¯).

The Carrier Guards (aka Charons)

This was my favorite part of start. I mean, most people were probably thinking "FBI! OPEN UP!!!" but personally, the thought going through my head at the time was "ALRIGHT!!!! WHO CALLED THE S.W.A.T TEAM??!!"

However, reactions aside, there is some interesting things we see with the guards. At first, I thought they were just people in armor, however weird little messages and scenes from the chapter suggest that these things are anything but human.

The first thing I've noticed was that with our first encounter, normally human would have more character to them. They would probably just break the door down, and even if they still did the window crash, they would try not to hurt anyone more than necessary. I'm not saying this because it's obvious, but more along the lines that, besides receiving orders and giving them, we haven't heard them say anything else. They are either lazer focused on their mission, or they were programed to follow orders.

During the second attack is where things get interesting. Did anyone else notice the animals strange behavior besides the Horse riding club? Silver said that they could be acting off due to the weather, but I think it's something else. One thing I can think of is something unnatural, otherworldly in a sense. The Charons gave off a strange aura that scared the horses, even from afar. Leona and Ruggie even knew something was off about them, with Ruggie saying that the Guards gave off a foul smell.

So that much mean that these Carrier Guards are more than just robots. Either the Isle of Lamentation have something that the Guards brought with them, or it's the Guards themselves. Are they animated for infinite power? Maybe they contain some kind of ghost? Perhaps they have people, but they under some kind of mind control? Who knows?

Idia Shroud (You absolute mad lad! 💖💖😀)

So this chapter has given us a lot of new information about Idia and his family. So let's start unpacking it by say one thing that most people haven't got yet: IDIA DIDN'T SEND THE S.T.Y.X HERE EVERYONE!!! He didn't even know they were coming!

So the next thing that I thought was interesting was Idia's reaction to the whole situation. He took it calmly regardless of how little he knew about what was going on. And there's more to his calm reaction than meets the eye.

Note that everyone else kind of panicked a little, with Azul being the most active, but Idia barley reacted at all, the only shock he experienced was the the chess board was messed up. But that had me questioning: why was Idia so calm?

Considering all the possibilities for his background, I think I've got a pretty good idea as to why. Most of which reminds me of an actual historical event that took place during WWII. The event in question is known as the Blitz.

For anyone who doesn't know, the Blitz was a time period during World War Two where the Germans bombed the city of London. Since the Germans couldn't conquer Britain on the water, they hoped to bomb the capital city into surrender (if memory serves correct). One of the things I remember reading about was the people's reaction to the Blitz, maybe during the first few weeks, everyone was panicking, but eventually for the survivers whenever they heard the siren they remained calm, and went to a bomb shelter. I'm not saying that the weren't afraid, but after it happening a lot, they learned not to be surprised, stay calm, and to do the safest thing and quickly get to safety. They had to be ready to go at anytime and they couldn't go back for anything they may have forgotten.

Now, I'm not saying Idia was alive during a war, but what I am saying is that he has been in situations like this one before. Where at the S.T.Y.X headquarters, you always have to be ready for an emergency, and you have to learn to expect anything to happen. Instead of trying to question it, you have to stay calm and do the best thing you can do in your current situation. Play your part quickly and accurately and you'll be fine. It all goes back to adapting to the situation. Regardless of how dangerous, you have to be ready for anything.

Idia has obviously been trained for situations like this due to his position. The first thing he did after getting over the brief shock was to ask Ortho to examine the situation. After he had enough information to know what was going on, he made his choices based on that knowledge. He didn't hesitate, he didn't stutter. He told Azul to stand down because as far as he could see, it was the best and safest strategy to deploy at the time. Basically, Idia's calm reaction was due to being trained for emergency situations. He was taught to not panic in times like this and to make tough decisions quickly.

Now, before I go on, just wanted to say hats off to Azul for putting the first years out of harm's way first! He has come so far since chapter 3 and we are all proud!!!😊😊

We learn about Idia's family and the position that they hold. And after the chapter, something inside me clicked with Idia. After rewatching the Chapter 6 preview at the end of Chapter 5, it hit different, in a sad way.

When Idia said that he can't go anywhere, he meant that he literally couldn't go not because he didn't want to, but because he can't. He already has a lot of responsibilities for Lamentation, to S.T.Y.X., and currently as a dorm leader. He's been piled up with different titles and talents, but that all comes with a steep price. He isn't as free as everyone else, he has a lot of things he needs to keep track of, and he feels alone because of it. No one, not even the dorm leaders to some extent can understand how much Idia has to deal with, and what that means for his life. His future is already fixed but not in the direction Idia wants it. He can't change his career easily because there is no one else who can do his job for him.

Which is why Idia cuts corners so much. He has a lot to do, so he has to simply it all or he would go insane. He already has anxiety which I'm starting to think is due to the immense amount of pressure that he deals with on a daily basis. Interacting with other people is a problem for him because of reputation, status and responsibilities. He doesn't want to make himself look bad and is afraid of slipping up in front of someone else. It's why he tries to avoid all the unnecessary troubles people bring.

Speaking of which, I've noticed a few things about him that back this up:

He doesn't Bet where he knows he has no chance (ex: Bean's Day)

He tries to simply things to where he can handle the problem (ex: Star Sending)

He will speak his mind in front of others, and not everything he has to say is nice (ex most of his interactions, namely the Ghost Marriage event)

People in general have their own problems that can't easily be examined. Unlike a machine, you can't pull apart a person a just fix them by tinkering with their brain. Idia can't easily understand others because unlike Robots, people are unpredictable.

Everyone else on the other hand don't know what Idia goes through so they don't understand why he is the way he is.

Realizing this has made me love and appreciate Idia even more. Not only is he relatable to me, but he does a good job of taking responsibility and preforming his tasks without complaining. He understands purpose and does everything he can to live up to what people need him to be.

But that also makes me feel sorry for him. I hope that during this chapter, we'll find a way for him to be able to do more of what he likes and find a future where he can be happy, though I have a feeling that he might have to learn to accept the future he currently has before him.

Ortho wants Idia to be happy, and maybe this is why. Ortho had done a lot to try and get Idia to enjoy himself. Even though Idia doesn't always want to do what Ortho thinks will help him, Idia does it anyway for the love of his brother. And seeing Ortho happy makes Idia feel good, because to him, Ortho is the one that truly matters to him. And they both love each other and are willing to go out of their way to keep each other safe. Ortho wants a future where Idia can be happy, and Idia only wants Ortho with him because he is the only one who truly cares.

Honestly, their relationship so sweet and I hope nothing bad happens to Ortho because it would affect both of them. Badly.

Okay, that's all I have for this part. Please see the pinned post for context.

See you next chapter part!!!🤗🤗🤗

Side note: Vil has a lot of experience with responsibilities so maybe he's the only one who might be able to get to Idia, even though Vil's responsibilities are more optional in his favor, so...🤷

#twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #night raven college #idia shroud #twst #ortho shroud #shrouds please be safe this chapter #i did a thing #vil schoenheit #twisted wonderland idia #Twisted Wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader

[megatraven]

probably one of my favorite things in medusa’s route is how like all the other monsters are lowkey afraid of Medusa bc she could totally whoop their asses...... and how that eventually extends to them fearing/respecting MC bc Medusa will 100% hold a grudge if someone hurt her and MC is the only thing that gets in between them and gives them another chance. but more than that- MC isn’t helpless herself, and even though she’s human, the monsters end up realizing she could whoop their asses too, and it’s really just the cherry on top

so like Charybdis and Scylla? they fucked up big time for sure in season 1, and though Medusa lets them come in for a quick talk, she makes them ask MC for forgiveness- and they do! they address her directly. from then on, it’s full respect to her

then there’s Euryale and Stheno. Euryale almost killed mc, and they both aided Echidna in kidnapping mc multiple times. Medusa wasn’t going to have Any part in dealing with them again, but MC gives them a chance, sees that they really need help, and encourages Medusa to give it to them. her sisters 100% didn’t expect MC to be the one to listen to them. and in the end, MC even invited them both to her and Medusa’s wedding, despite all the bad blood between them in the past.

not to mention Prime!!! she goes out of her way through Medusa’s season 3 to taunt MC and call her Hera (against her wishes) and shit, thinking MC is entitled and weak. but at the end of it, she apologizes to MC and acknowledges that MC could have fucked her up just as much as she did Typhon.

the respect they have for MC......... knowing that if MC is going to fight, Medusa will fight with her........

EVEN THE GODS!!! Even the gods feel similar!

MC tells them straight up that if they force Medusa to become queen of the monsters, that she’ll choose Medusa over them! That they’ll lose Hera! She said that right to their faces!!!! 

and so of course, the gods didn’t force Medusa to do it at all. 

AND!!!!

and, okay, obviously Medusa respects and loves MC a Lot. But I have to point it out, how Medusa takes on her role as gang leader again in Scylla’s absence... and how she does it because she’s afraid that she won’t be strong enough alone to save MC if the gods (namely Zeus) choose to fight for Hera

MC blows up about it, about how she doesn’t trust her to fight together, to protect Medusa as well as Medusa protects her. And then at the end, she defeats Typhon, defends the ENTIRE PANTHEON (plus the monsters gathered) from Typhon’s strongest attack. she saves them all. she protects them.

when Medusa realizes it, the awe she feels, the respect she has for her fiancée.....

yea

MC earns and deserves the respect of all her monster friends :) she is very strong and i love her

#lovestruck voltage #lovestruck #astoria: fate's kiss #astoria: lost kisses #astoria #afk mc #medusa x mc #medusa #afk medusa #had to edit the scylla charybdis bit cause i needed to reread the scene lol #scylla #charybdis #chimera prime #euryale #stheno

[supercasey]

So I've been playing The Hades Game like fucking mad for the last few weeks, and although I'm not very far in it (at least, I don’t think I am; I’ve only beat Hades once!), I'm absolutely in love with it! Anyways, a certain idea has been kicking around in my head for awhile now, so I thought I'd share it with y'all; feel free to tell me what you think of it! (Warning: spoilers for when you beat Hades the first time!)

Anyways, I've already seen a really cool AU post for if Demeter raised Zagreus on the surface by herself (which you can find HERE; please check it out, the outfit for Zag alone is an amazing concept, and I love the artwork!!!) but I keep thinking about an AU where, after Zagreus dies at birth, Persephone runs away and takes his wrapped up body with her.

On the surface, she reconnects/reunites with her mother Demeter, and with her aid, the two of them manage to resurrect the newborn baby, though now he has more white in his hair than anything else. After that, Persephone sends Hades a letter to tell him that Zagreus is alive and well (because she actually has some fucking class), before proceeding to raise Zagreus on the surface with her mother, far away from the entrance to hell. The Olympians also help her out a bit, but mostly they just help by hiding Zagreus when it’s necessary.

(The rest is under a cut ‘cus this got a bit long, sorry!)

Years pass in relative peace, until Zagreus is about as old as he is in-game (I think he’s around 20-25ish???) and is living well, working with his mom and grandma to take care of their gardens and live peacefully away from mankind; he especially loves tending to the animals and guiding lost mortals to safety. However, one day while foraging for fruit in the deepest corners of his mother’s signature garden, Zagreus happens across a strange man in long robes, who introduces himself as Thanatos.

The two men get along swimmingly from minute one, and after agreeing to meet with each other again soon, they leave and tell their families/friends all about the experience, having no clue who they are to each other. After all, Thanatos was told growing up that his lord’s first wife died giving birth to their first and only child, who was a stillborn, and Zagreus thinks his father died of disease (his mom didn’t have to heart to tell him anything bad about his dad). Needless to say, they’re gonna be in for quite the shock soon.

Cue Hades losing his shit and calling on Thanatos, Megaera, and Achilles to go find his progeny and bring him home; he gives them special permission to leave the Underworld without any resistance, trusting Than to lead the way back to Zagreus. Achilles is less than thrilled to be performing such a morally grey task for his master, but Meg and Than are eager to prove themselves, so he begrudgingly agrees to help, even if it hurts his conscience to do so.

Persephone and Demeter also freak the hell out on their end, scared shitless by the fact that Death incarnate has just met their son/grandson, and they’re worried that he plans on coming back again soon. Demeter suggests sending Zagreus to live with the Olympians until this all blows over, but Persephone disagrees, wanting her son to stay nearby in case he grows ill (it’s implied that she’s a bit overprotective of him, mostly because she’s afraid of him dying again; this also means she refuses to let him know that he’s in any danger, believing it would only make things worse for him in the long-run). Frustrated but understanding her daughter’s pain all too well, Demeter at least convinces her to call on the Olympians for aid, which Persephone agrees to do.

The gods promise to help of course, but... well, they're low-key lying; they wanna see how this plays out first.

After several days of traveling through hell (literally), the “let’s kidnap Zagreus” gang makes it to the surface, and they immediately head to Persephone’s garden. All this time, Zagreus has no idea that he’s being targeted, so he goes about his chores as usual, only to run into Than again, and hey, he brought some more friends for him to meet! Zagreus is friendly with all of them, being raised to be very polite by his guardians, and while he’s busy chatting with Than and Achilles, he doesn’t notice Meg sneaking behind him. Just as Zagreus is rattling on about how the animals have been faring this summer, Meg stabs Zagreus in the back with a blade coated in Hades’s blood, cursing him to belong to the Underworld again.

With Zagreus now unconscious from a sedative that was mixed with the blood, the trio hurry off with him back to the Underworld, but not without Persephone seeing what they’ve done to her son. Horrified, she begins to sob, and winter arrives in the mortal world without so much as a fall season in-between this and the summertime.

When Zagreus comes to, he finds himself in a bedroom similar to the one he has in the game, but it’s much cleaner and has less objects of personal value to him. Hades is standing at the foot of his bed when he wakes up, and very calmly, Hades tells Zagreus that he’s his father, and that from now on, Zagreus will be living in the Underworld with him and his people, where he so obviously belongs. It’s a shame his mother can’t be here, of course, but they just need to wait awhile, that’s all; surely she’ll come to her senses and return home soon, now that her husband and son are here.

Zagreus jumps out of bed and faces his father as soon as he’s done monologuing, ready to tell him off for what he’s done, but to his shock, Hades hugs him as soon as he’s on his feet, and admits that he’s waited for this day for a long, long time. He asks his son to please just accept that this is his home now, and despite still being a bit surprised (and subtly hugging Hades back because Longing), Zagreus tells him straight up that he can’t, that he has to get home, especially with winter coming in a few months!

Dejected but not overly surprised, Hades simply nods in acceptance, but he still warns Zagreus that it’s no use trying to fight it; he’s stuck here, now and forever, so he may as well get comfortable and try getting along with him, because no one’s going anywhere anytime soon. Zagreus is horrified, but he nods nonetheless, unsure of what to say or do just yet.

Later that night, as Zagreus is struggling to sleep in this new, unfamiliar place, Achilles comes to him and apologizes about what’s happened, and although he can’t magically fix everything for him, he tells Zagreus that it actually is supposedly possible to escape; it’s just that no one’s ever done it before. Driven by his desire for freedom and the thought of reuniting with his mother, Zagreus tells Achilles that he’s going to find a way out, no matter the cost. Achilles congratulates him on his tenacity, but warns him that it won’t be easy. Still, he’s willing to help Zagreus as much as he can.

From then on, I imagine the game playing out very differently from the original, with a rather frazzled and scared Zagreus trying to get home to his mom and grandma, but with none of his training from Achilles in this AU, he has to rely on something his mother taught him; his connection with earth and all it’s inhabitants. Or, in his case, his connection with the spirits of animals (a cross of his dad and mom’s powers). That’s right, I’m making The Hades Game into a fucking Pokemon-ripoff, but still with some rouge-like elements mixed in (mostly with Zagreus not keeping his animals after runs).

Having royally fucked up in not stepping in sooner to protect Zagreus, the gods end up helping him out by sending down animals associated with them for the young god to tame for a run (I’ll come up with them later). They usually offer a selection to choose from, and from there Zagreus can build up a team and use it to try and escape the Underworld.

To replace weapons, I like to think he’d have “signature” animals that can help him out for any of his runs, specifically ones from Achilles, Poseidon, Zeus, Demeter (once he reaches the surface at least once), and eventually even Hades gives him one if they bond together enough ((yes, it’s Cerberus... kinda; it’s a puppy version of him, otherwise he’d be OP as fuck)). Zagreus’s signature animals can all be given names, and they keep certain skills that they pick up through enough experience battling in the Underworld for Zagreus.

As for story-line stuff, Zagreus ends up in a very fish out of water situation as he tries to get to know everyone in Hades’s house (he’s still our kindhearted Zag, after all, and he knows most of them aren’t to blame, not even really Than!) while also focusing on his goal to get home to his mom. Hades ends up being a lot nicer to him in this AU, perhaps overly so, as he’s trying to make his son like him more in order to make up for lost time (and fill the hole in his heart that Zag’s initial death as an infant and Persephone leaving with him created). It’s part of the reason he’s even letting Zagreus try to escape; he wants him to learn that it won’t work on his own terms (and maybe also scare the kid so bad that he comes running to him for comfort afterwards).

Also, I should really note that Zagreus is 100% a sweet country farm boy in this AU, and he has no idea what the fuck is going on with pretty much anything in the Underworld, much to everyone’s astonishment. For example:

Meg: Gods, it must be weird getting used to everything down here, huh? Sick of stepping in bat shit yet? Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it, and Dusa’s pretty good about cleaning it up to begin with. Zagreus: I mean, I guess? It’s not that different from chicken shit tbh. Meg: What the fuck is a chicken???

After that... yeah, I dunno. I’ll try playing Hades some more, see if I think up anything else that could be interesting, but for now, I hope at least someone ends up liking this dumb AU (if not, I’ll still like it... might even try my hand at drawing for it a bit tbh). Again, please check out the person who’s post/art I linked earlier in the post, ‘cus their art is really awesome and inspired me to include Demeter more in this AU!

#supercasey ramblings #hades game #zagreus #zagreus hades #thanatos #hades #persephone #demeter #megaera #achilles #hades farmboy au #i dunno what else to fucking call it #thanzag #if ya squint

[shadowfae]

Uhhh since you're dealing with people being jackasses: talk about a thing you've been wanting to talk about; or tell a story you've been dying to tell but haven't had a good time to tell it.

Things I want to talk about, hmmmm.

See, the twins’ birthday is on Friday, and it seems I’m writing More Porn. After that is Minos, next Thursday, and that’ll be fun because I know exactly what to write for his birthday, and that’s the fic of how he becomes a Spectre wayyyy back in the Age of Myth. (This is about Saint Seiya, for those of you who don’t follow me on my main.)

King Minos of Crete’s story is a fascinating thing. And the thing about a lot of retellings of Greek myth is that the running theme is almost always “...and the myth got it all wrong because what makes for a good story isn’t what actually happened” and that really got me to wonder how I could spin this guy into a sympathetic villain. Then, of course, I put on Gang of Youth’s Achilles Come Down and that was it, my dude.

So consider this: a young prince and his brother, being prettied up for the throne of Crete where Zeus was born in the most prosperous, if young, kingdom in the Mediterranean, four thousand years ago where this is where most human development is going on right now. That seat of power will move to India next during their Golden Age (as they don’t get their shit wrecked by Santorini and become the Atlantis myth) but for now, it’s in the sea that breathes and is as warm as a bath to dive on into, in the sea where everyone is right now.

A young prince whose brother is pretty and not much else, who knows he has to rule because while his brother is popular, he doesn’t pay attention to his studies and would drive the kingdom immediately into the ground with his enjoyment of finery at the expense of all else. A young prince who knows if he wants his kingdom to survive, knowing full well how many settlements and lives depend on Crete to run supply, that he’s going to have to do some evil and damn himself to save the kingdom. It doesn’t even matter if he wants to be king: it’s just that Rhadamanthys won’t do a good job, and there’s no way he can get him to abdicate, and good sake he doesn’t want to murder his own brother.

But then they get into a catfight over a pretty farmboy that they both like. Rhadamanthys likes Miletos’ smile and the way he talks to plants. Minos likes his wit and how he knows how to keep a farm running and what every problem’s solution is. Rhadamanthys sees a trophy to win, Minos sees an advisor. They both fall in love. Aphrodite from her throne laughs at the thought of two heroes to make a tragedy out of, and lets them start to rip Crete apart.

Minos realizes what’s going on, of course, why wouldn’t he? He wants his kingdom to survive, and this isn’t that. Good sake he doesn’t want to take Miletos prisoner, he knows how the heroes’ stories end and he doesn’t want to be betrayed. So he chases Rhadamanthys out of Crete and stuffs Miletos onto a supply ship heading into Thessaly and bids him that if he likes being alive, he should lay low and stay far from either brother, but gives him a good bag of drachmae and food anyway, and probably a scrap of parchment with an address to a temple of Demeter. Enough that he can save himself if he uses his wits, and Minos knows Miletos has wit.

He becomes king. He saves the kingdom from his brother’s idiocy, knowing Rhadamanthys will never forgive him, knowing that their warring would have destroyed the Mediterranean. This is the cost of what it is to be king of the powerhouse of the cell world. You sacrifice everything you love, everything you are, and you save everyone but yourself.

Kings and heroes have a lot alike, and Minos is a son of Zeus. It doesn’t stop him from being angry with himself. It doesn’t stop the gods from taking an interest in this plucky young man. It doesn’t stop Hera from being angry at Europa all over again. It doesn’t stop Aphrodite from being angry that he denied her the tragedy. He hasn’t proved himself, not to them. So they set him trials. Conquer this kingdom and liberate it from the evil king. Kill that monster and liberate that city from it. Do this, do that, and just when you think you’re done, someone else goes mad and starts killing their own civilians.

Minos doesn’t realize at first that he’s become a terror. That he’s the ghost king already, the one that queens and princes and servants whisper about when their king has so much of a cold. He’ll go mad one day. He’ll go mad and then King Minos of Crete will come by with his armour and his sword, high on his own heroism, walking the road to hell with the very best of intentions.

Minos will care for those kingdoms. He’ll send his advisors and sell them their necessities at half price, help the fledgling kings that rise in the throne still bloody from his conquest until they’re steady under the crown. He makes alliances and plays the game well, but he’s still killing people who never asked to be killed. Still saving people who never wanted to be saved.

He finds a wife in a nymph-goddess and he loves her, he loves her hard, and he’s still scarred from Miletos, he’s afraid to love Pasiphae even though he does with all his heart. She’s powerful, daughter of Helios who blinds him with her sunlight. He kneels before her and tells her that if anyone including himself but save his kingdom tries to take him away from her glory, he will kill them to make her happy.

He doesn’t know he’s already evil. He wants to make his wife happy, wants to not make the mistakes his father did that resulted in his existence. He wants to apologize to Hera for his birth by valuing what she does, and never doing to Pasiphae what his father did to her. He doesn’t know he’s damning himself with every move. But he swears his life to the girl of sunshine and brings her home to celebrate. Crete rejoices, they’ve always had the best of him, they’ve always loved their king who saved them and risks himself to save everyone else. He’s brought home the sun for them, hasn’t he?

They have children, his pride and joy, and he hires the best of tutors for them. He finds a son of Athena who’s known for his brilliance and pays him to teach his son, finds a son of Ares content with his spoils to teach his daughters and his youngest, loves them all and teaches them how to rule when he has to go out and save another city from a mad, dying king. So that when he gets himself killed being stupid, Crete isn’t damned and the world can run without him, because his wife and his children will continue the throne of power. They’ll run the supply lines and find a place for those who need to run, and they’ll save as many people as they can.

Hera likes him well enough for his love, hates him for what he is, hates him more for that he doesn’t understand why the mad king’s wife wants him dead. Aphrodite stings from that he earned Pasiphae’s love with a pledge he didn’t know the consequences of, that he denied her the messy child’s-love of Miletos. Zeus thinks he has farther to go. Poseidon, who Minos doesn’t love as much as his father but whose sea is the very reason he’s as powerful as he is, whose sea he loves more than most but doesn’t remember to thank, shakes the bottom of the Mediterranean in jealousy.

Poseidon makes his displeasure known. Minos appeases him, as best he can, and like every awkward nephew, asks if he needs further repayment or if he has earned his forgiveness. Poseidon smiles, thinks of how Minos does not know how the gods can suffer, and sends him a while bull that shines like the moon.

Minos presents it to his wife, thinks of the white dove that Zeus was for Hera. It’s a long habit he’s fallen into, appeasing Hera at every turn just in case. Amphitrite too, actually, and Artemis for his daughter Ariadne who loves to weave. Pasiphae loves the bull, and shows their children, and Crete understands that the gods love their king as much as they do.

Daedalus, whose son’s education Minos has paid for but who isn’t allowed his freedom to wander - he’s quite useful, and Minos has figured out that people will stay if you give them a reason to, but not that he needs to ask if Daedalus needs anything he might not ask for in supply requests - listens to Athena whispering of kings who didn’t deserve to die and kingdoms robbed of their ability to stand on their own, indebted to no one.

Aphrodite hates the pretty fantasy Minos and Pasiphae have created, hates that they have always gotten along. Hates that they still trust in the vow they made and haven’t had any reason to question. Love is suffering, love is war, and she wants them to prove that they understand her as well as they understand Hera. She goes to Poseidon, shaking with jealousy, and they hatch a plan together.

If he sacrifices the bull, he honours Poseidon. But the dreams of his sleep say that if he does not keep it to show the wealth of his kingdom, he rejects Zeus. There is no way to win. But maybe dreams are just dreams. He breeds the bull several times, to spread the wealth of the blessing to more than just himself, to honour Zeus by keeping what he can. Minos goes to sacrifice it, and finds it missing. He searches with his three eldest children and does not find it until morning, when Daedalus has put Pasiphae back to bed and has burned the contraption he made in a frenzy for his mother’s appreciation. He does not sacrifice it on time, and though he does the moment he finds it and checks that it has not been injured, it isn’t enough.

Three weeks later, they find Pasiphae is pregnant, and although Minos doesn’t quite think the math lines up, sometimes children are weird. Stranger things have happened, and it is a time to rejoice. The pregnancy is difficult, and he spends many days by her side, asking for the best physicians they can find and hopes that they can save her. They make it all the way to the delivery with her still breathing, and when the time comes, the physicians who have helped her through several births know by now to send him to fetch water from the other side of Crete to keep him out from underfoot.

He returns with water he knows they don’t actually need but is willing to fetch for love of Pasiphae, and finds that his wife is dead, and there is a curse within the kingdom that nobody knew about. He thinks of how Poseidon could have swept them all away with a tsunami, and knows that this is his punishment, not Crete’s, and he vows to keep it that way. He thinks another moment, thoughts too quick for anything but grief and shock. He thinks of how Hera might hate him now that he cannot apologize to her. He thinks of how Aphrodite ripped his family apart, and he hasn’t spoken to or seen Rhadamanthys in thirty years. And Minos realizes the question he’s always asked of why kings go mad has an answer, staring him in the face this entire time, and he’s just now seeing it.

It isn’t too late. It can’t be too late. He takes in a breath and asks to see the child. It’s... kind of cute, actually. Half cow, of course, and most certainly a monster, but it’s a baby monster, and when he reaches to hold it like he would any other child of his, it reaches back for him. He half-expected it to bite, and it doesn’t. Really, it’s acting like any other child he’s ever seen.

He swore to Pasiphae he’d keep her safe from everything, and the only thing that would sunder him from her side was his kingdom. She understood his reasons and loved him anyway. A goddess of a woman, and he’d still choose his kingdom over her.

He loved his father, and he loved Rhadamanthys, and he had chosen his kingdom. He loved the gods, as all men did. But he loved his kingdom more. This child is a monster, and monsters need to be killed. Children need to be loved, and killing a child brings down the wrath of every god he knows the name of. He closes his eyes, and opens them again. He loves his kingdom more.

“His name is to be Asterius,” he says, thinking of his mortal stepfather, who loved him more than he loved the gods. “He is a blessing from Poseidon, and though he comes with the death of our queen, we will love him as the prince he is.”

The physicians stare at him as though he is already mad. The glint in his eye probably doesn’t help. They know his words are a lie, and so does he. But sometimes it’s lies that keep a kingdom together. Crete is confused, but rejoices nonetheless, and when Asterius is put to bed, he weeps where his children can see. When he’s done crying for Pasiphae’s loss, he collects himself, and tells his children what he knows, and admits he knows the gods are trying to kill him.

Ariadne puts her hand, calloused from her weaving, on his shoulder, and twisting a spindle of thread in her other hand, swears they’ll always find a way through the machinations of the gods. Minos nods and thanks her, and is comforted by this. The vow has magic to it, not that they realize it, yet. Androgeus twists his sheathed sword and tells him that he’ll go be a hero where he can’t hurt his family, so when the time comes, he will be king and give his father a better way out. Minos looks up at his son, who looks heartbreakingly like Rhadamanthys but with all of Miletos’ wit, and knows that when there is no other option, his son will kill him as a monster, and only his family will know any different, and he will save the kingdom.

Crete has always come first. But his children love him, for they have always seen the best of intentions and only just now do they begin to see the road to hell, and they understand his determination. Blood of a hero’s blood. And by Asterius, too, blood of a monster’s blood.

The kingdom rejoices. Asterius grows in royalty and plenty, knows nothing but kindness as Minos makes it clear anyone who treats him more different than necessary can find another kingdom to serve. He slides down polished palace floors into his stepfather’s arms and Minos laughs. He dares the gods in the silence of his own mind to shatter a bond so gentle and innocent as this.

He does not forget that the gods thrive on challenge, and on bleeding out the innocent. The first assassination attempt happens when Asterius is three. Minos has the man jailed, but released when he doesn’t remember anything and can’t tell him why he wanted the young prince dead so badly. After two more, Minos orders Daedalus to build Asterius a paradise where nobody can find him when he doesn’t want to be found, where he can’t be hurt by the sight of a knife and the fear of his family. Asterius is visited every day by his tutors, escorted by his siblings, and sees the outside world only when Minos is there to ensure his safety. He loves him, and he does not want to see his youngest son hurt.

When Asterius is seven, Androgeus goes to Athens to compete in a tournament. He does not return, murdered by his own fellows in envy for his skill. Minos taught him everything he knows about fighting, and in his rage, he conquers Athens (again) and demands a sacrifice every seven years of fourteen youths and Crete will do with the sacrifices as they will. He returns home to plan the funeral and weep, and Ariadne bars his way to the throne room and starts yelling at him, tears bleeding through her voice.

He realizes what he’s done, and the implications of his words. Now everyone thinks that he’s going to feed Athenians to Asterius, all except for those who are perfectly aware that Asterius is a vegetarian, and can’t really stomach meat anyway. He can’t exactly go back on his word, it shows weakness. Kings pay for their convictions, and Crete comes first.

When he can think straight, after crying some more, they hatch a plan. Really, Ariadne is the genius here. Minos is going to go mad no matter what they do. He will have to die a villain, though she fears that with Androgeus gone, she will have to kill her father in his stead. So she proposes hiding the sacrifices in the labyrinth, so Asterius can have friends for once, and when it is time for Minos to go, they will ‘resurrect’ the sacrifices, and show that Crete once more has the blessing of the gods. Minos starts to laugh, and he laughs until his laughter turns into sobs, and he holds his daughter while his family cries.

This is what it means to be king. Crete will always come first.

They manage fourteen years of sacrifices, twenty-eight friends for Asterius who are all relieved to not be dying, who are glad to know they do get to go home one day, and are perfectly happy to keep up with the con so long as they can have some fineries they’ve never been able to reach. Minos smiles and gets them what they’d like. He can’t give them freedom, but for now, he can give them a home.

Theseus is in the third group of sacrifices, and Minos doesn’t know he’s danger. Ariadne takes a shine to him, gives him her thread that she swore to her father would always find the way through the machinations of the gods. Like every weapon, it has a double edge. By giving it to her love, by letting Aphrodite in, she sacrifices Hera. She goes to her father and asks if there’s not a way they can put on a secret wedding, so that he can still walk her down the aisle, knowing he will not be able to live to see his son-in-law free. He agrees.

They never get that far. Daedalus is bitter from the loss of his son, a messy affair that could have been rectified if he’d only asked for his freedom for a while and had sworn to keep his king’s secrets that still keeps Minos awake, crying from all the mistakes he’s made and the fact that his wife will never be able to soothe him back to sleep, and he offers Theseus a faster deal. The red shine of Ares glitters in the young hero’s eyes. The king of Crete has gone mad, and he delights in drawing out the suffering of Athens. A hero must liberate them from the evil king.

Asterius enjoys swordplay, wants to honour his big brother, is delighted that Theseus can spar with him for a while. Theseus’ blade is much sharper than Asterius has ever remembered a blade being. He dies, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Theseus grabs Ariadne, all but limp from the shock and the horror and the sudden, raw guilt of believing Theseus could love her and yet let him near her baby brother, and he runs. Daedalus opens their way, and knows exactly what he’s doing.

Minos is woken by his eldest, Catreus, who already knows what it is to be king, and he sends his father after not Theseus but Daedalus. The mastermind of the cruelty this day. Catreus orders Theseus found and brought to Crete for the crime of murdering a prince and kidnapping a princess. Minos takes up his blade and he runs after Daedalus.

He finds him not far from Sicily. It’s been months on the road, and he knows when he returns with the man’s head, he will have one night with his family, and Catreus will kill him with a kiss to the forehead and a sleeping poison to ensure it doesn’t hurt. Is it really so bad, then, that he draws it out? He wants justice for his son, he always has, but he also isn’t quite ready to say goodbye to the world, even though he knew it was coming for years. Even though he has made every preparation he can for the ending that’s inevitable. The gods win, but Crete will survive.

He wishes he could stop in Rhadamanthys’ kingdom, apologize to his brother for everything, see him one last time before he lets the gods win. He can’t. Daedalus ensnares King Cocalus’ three daughters, and when he finds him there, he accepts hospitality as one final thank you to the world. The bathwater is scalding. The princesses look at him like the monster he’s become to save them all.

Minos finds himself in the Underworld and he does not weep. Not yet. He’s still on a quest. It’s not over yet. Charon takes him to the judges’ hall, where Hades and Persephone look upon him, fascinated, tie him to a chair with chains, and ask for this story.

He tells them, and it’s not until Pasiphae’s death that he has to stop to take a breath, so the tears can fall. He chokes out the rest of the story, makes it to the end, and it’s beginning to set in that he doesn’t get to see Catreus again. He won’t see Ariadne brought home. He won’t get to tell his children that he loves them, that he’s proud of them.

Persephone fixes him with a stare so much like Pasiphae that he weeps stronger, and then forces himself to stop. When Pasiphae gives him that look, she wants him to listen, and when Persephone does it, it seems habits die long after he does. She asks him what he considers his single greatest mistake.

He’s blindsided by the question, but thinks. Starts to answer treating Athens with cruelty, pauses. He wants to make sure he gets this right. Takes a breath, and with more conviction, says that he didn’t treat Rhadamanthys and Poseidon with the same love he treated Zeus and Hera to. Persephone nods, expression stoic, and asks what his greatest achievement is.

He thinks of his love for his wife, and his kingdom. He admits that he wants to say it’s saving Crete, but it came with so much suffering that he isn’t sure it counts. And then he says that his greatest achievement is Asterius, who had everything stacked against him, but Minos loved him, and by the time of his death had never become a monster because Minos had saved him, and the only suffering there was that he would be missed and mourned by all of Crete.

Persephone smiles, just a little. She asks him one last question. If she could snap her fingers and he woke up just outside of Sicily in an inn with Daedalus dead and himself alive, would he ask her to? Would he go back?

He doesn’t need to think. Of course he would. He wants to see his remaining children. He wants to tell them that he loves them. He wants to give them a better ending to this chapter of their lives, even though he knows they’ll have to kill him for his crimes. It won’t do anything for him, not really. Not even for Crete. But he wants to save them, one last time.

She glances at Hades, who smiles for the first time since the trial began. He says that while he cannot give Minos what he deserves, not with his contemporaries so angry with him, he can offer him a choice so very few humans ever achieve. He can send him to another Underworld, held by different gods, and offer him paradise somewhere else. He will never see his family again, not even in death, but he will have a chance to rest, and celebrate, and be happy. Or, he can stay here. He can serve two gods who will never toy with his heart, so completely under their claim that no other god would dare reach for him again, wait for his family, and help them build a kingdom here.

Minos blinks. He isn’t going to be king, not here, not with Hades right there. But it’s a chance to start over, build a place of pride, and when his family returns to him, he can give them all they deserve.

He agrees enthusiastically. He would love to help. He likes building, loves seeing Crete in full festival and laughing. And it means he gets to see his family again.

A fish-god in a wheelchair and a tail for legs wheels themself forward with a metal griffon at their side, and says that the griffon will train him. This looks already better than anything Daedalus came up with, and he’s intrigued. He reaches out to the griffon to shake their paw, only to find that they are now armour, wrapped around him, wings and tassets and gauntlets and all. The Griffon Surplice laughs a little in his ear, their head his helmet and two minds right beside each other, and he smiles.

Hades welcomes his new Spectre, Griffon Minos, and Minos finds himself immediately slammed into by something twice his size. When he gets over his shock, he realizes he’s looking at Asterius, clad in green armour not all that different from his own, and he shines.

Asterius whoops that he knew Minos would stay, that he loves him, and that he thinks Minos has always been the best to him, and that while Pasiphae isn’t here, Androgeus is, and so is Rhadamanthys. Minos starts to cry again, but these are good tears.

He’s finally home.

#asks #anonymous #welp I guess Minos' birthday fic is written??? #Anonymous

[keeping-up-with-the-olympians]

WHAT’S THE STRANGEST DREAM YOU’VE EVER HAD?

Aphrodite: So I was in like a zoo or something and I was running from some dude who was chasing me, and the best way to escape seemed to be through the monkey habitat. But it was real dark in there, I mean just pitch black. And I’m not saying I’m afraid of the dark or anything but man was it DARK. Anyways, as I was going through, a grown ass monkey, the size of a tall human came up to me – it was walking on it’s back legs too – and it started talking to me in French. Now I don’t speak French, so I don’t know if it was legit, but it seemed like it wanted to sell me the shirt that it was wearing. And then I woke up. And now I’ll never know what it was trying to tell me.

Hermes: I had an extra arm. It wasn’t anything weird or like that, it was just chilling there. And then someone wearing red boxer gloves came up to me and asked what it was like to have a third arm and I was going to say something really witty, but instead I just held up my extra arm and it was covered in ranch dressing, but you know, even in my dream I can’t embarrass myself like that so I played it cool and said it was my dipping arm. Then I woke up hungry for chicken strips…

Dionysus:  The weirdest dream I ever had… Hah, that’s a good one. So I went to Puerto Rico for some reason and I dreamt that on the way there I forgot where I was going. So naturally I did what everyone would have done and stopped by a gas station to ask where the road that I was on lead to. The guy looked at me a little weird but he told me it was leading to San Juan and that made me remember that I was actually going to a birthday party or something. But just as I was leaving the gas station, the same dude came running after me telling me that I’ll have to pay for those bottles of tequila I just drank and I was all like “what dude” and he punched me in the face and… hold on… this may have happened in real life.

Hephaestus: I dreamt that I was a chicken. I mean physically I still looked like me, but like… I was a chicken. I was all me except that I knew I was a lil chicken. It’s kind of hard to explain, but it made real sense when it was happening.

Hestia: I dreamt that… *sighs* and I don’t even know why I’m telling you this, because I know it’s gonna come back to bite me in the ass later, but I dreamt that I had sex with Athena… It was nothing special, but a little part of me knew it was wrong even while we were doing it. So here’ something I never thought I’d share.

Ares: I somehow avoided my own execution. I was down with the whole thing and all, I mean I probably did something to deserve it or I don’t know but when the people kept putting the loop around my neck, it just kept sliding off so they got annoyed and let me go free. I also distinctly remember finding a half used stick of butter in my sock when I woke up that morning.

Artemis: I dreamt that I was back in high school again and I had to make a presentation on a war of my choice and I chose WW II but when the time came to do it, the teacher got really angry and said that this was not a joke and I should take the assignment more seriously and I was all “why tho” and then he tells me that there is no such thing as a “World War” and I should feel stupid for even coming up with the idea that the whole world would go into war let alone that there would be two wars. And then I said “but it wasn’t the whole world” and he asked me what it was instead and I started naming countries that were involved but when I got to Japan he shrugged and told me to go to the principal’s office because I was clearly making fun of him and I should have done a better job at least coming up with believable fake country names, because “Japan” sounds stupid.

Apollo: It was a horrible nightmare. Everything seemed fine, I woke up in a fluffy bed, and the sun was shining, birds were chirping. I went to my closet to get dressed, I opened it and that’s when I realized I was still dreaming! It was full of *voice breaks* CARGO SHORTS! But that’s not all. They were… they were camouflage patterned!!

Demeter: I got lost in an IKEA but every time I thought I had figured it out, the little arrows on the floor all changed directions and I had to start over. Then some guy came up to me and asked if I needed help, and when I said yes, he just shoved like 20 of those little meatballs in my mouth and left.

Athena: The weirdest? I had a dream that my dad came out to the whole family at dinner by presenting a fried rooster and a chicken and he had us each guess which one he had sex with before we had to eat them. After we all guessed, he stood up on the table and a gigantic banner fell from the ceiling that said “GOTCHA LIL BITCHES” and then he told us he’d slept with both of those because he was friesexual.

Persephone: I made friends with a bunch of drunk young college girls in a donut shop, and minutes after that the news went on and I found out the girls were actually highly dangerous wanted criminals. Then they took me in the gang and we robbed two banks. I killed like at least 10 police guys, it was awesome. After the heists, when we were safe, and we were counting the money, they all looked a bit weird and then the leader of them – Jessica, or something – took off her face! It was a mask she was wearing and they were all me! They were just 6 copies of me. Then I killed them too and ran off with the money.

Hera: I shaved my head. That’s it, that’s the whole dream. It was just the whole process of washing my hair then going at it with an electric razor and then meticulously shaving it by hand with a regular razor. I was alone in a bathroom and I was just calmly shaving my head.

Poseidon: In my weirdest dream, I was pregnant. With triplets! But what was even stranger that everybody seemed to be real freaked out about it, except for me. I was stroking my belly, wearing those stretchy pants, living my best life while people were going out of their way to not cross paths with me on the street. Come to think of it, maybe I should get pregnant for real so everyone would just leave me alone for a damn second.

Hades: Okay now I don’t remember what the dream was about, but the thing that stuck with me was that I kept leaving the house to go somewhere and every time I came back, Cerberus had more and more heads. At first I was just like “hey, is there something wrong with the dog?” but then I kept going out and he kept growing heads and by the end he had to have his own house because his heads couldn’t fit.

Zeus: It… had some bulls in it, but I don’t really wanna talk about it publicly.

#greek #gods #greek gods #mythology #keeping up with the olympians #zeus #hades #poseidon #hera #Persephone #athena #demeter #apollo #Artemis #ares #hestia #Hephaestus #Dionysus #hermes #aphrodie #dreams

[theoi-crow]

Can I ask about your religion? I’m catholic but I’m feeling so drawn to Hellenic Paganism but I’m so scared. I don’t want to believe it because I don’t want to go to hell. But I feel something for Hellenism and I’m just confused. I’ve felt something reading about it. It’s so scary to me b/c I do believe in Catholicism. I don’t know what to do with these feelings tho.

Hi! I apologise in advance for how long this answer was but I wanted to be as specific as possible.

You are more than welcomed to ask me about my religion.

This ask was a little hard to answer because I believe in the freedom of allowing anyone to worship whatever faith they want to believe in, but because you are asking me about my religion, I'm assuming you're asking me about what led to me leaving Catholicism for that religion as well.

Before I continue I just want to say that I respect your decision to stay in Catholicism because although it wasn't kind to me due to it's rigid structure and politics, it is a religion others find comfort in, and I would never dream of bashing what others believe in.

Having said that, I would like to talk about what led me to my spiritual divorce from Catholicism when I was once also confused and afraid about the idea of "going to hell."

---------------------------

My childhood:

I grew up in a very poor neighborhood during a time when gang wars, kidnappings and homicides were so rampant that my 5 year old self wondered if I would ever live to see 10. That's when I met my "imaginary friend."

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Your ancestors know me as Mars." He replied. My real last name is Roman and it literally translates to "Child of Mars." It has been in my family for so many generations but I didn't make the connection until I got older.

He introduced himself as just a Roman soldier although his uniform looked nothing like the ones my church showed when they did re-enactments.

He taught me how to fight, defend myself, be cautious, assess my surroundings, how to work around a panic attack and basically taught me how to survive.

Back then we didn't have smartphones and the internet wasn't as informative as it is now so I was sheltered from anything that wasn't Catholic, including Ancient Greek things so I wasn't able to identify him which is funny because "Mars" had a very Spartan looking outfit rather than a Roman one. I would often ask about it. "I like it better" was always his reply. I would often introduce him as "my weird looking Roman friend, Mars." I didn't know about the Roman gods Mars, Jupiter, Venus, etc. I just thought he was really into the planet Mars for some reason.

My Catholic upbringing was so sheltered, I was sure I was going to end up being a nun because of how much I studied it and how little I knew about the political history surrounding it.

I was fascinated by Satan and always wondered about the appropriatness of his punishment, for example, if he likes bad things and bad things are in hell, wouldn't he be surrounded by the things he likes? If god punished the wicked by sending them to hell in order to be punished by Satan, wasn't Satan helping god punish the wicked? Or the idea that Mary was not a goddess but was venerated like one.

It never made any sense to me until I started going to school and became friends with people who practiced Buddhism and Hinduism. They told me about reincarnation, an idea which made a lot more sense to me.

The more they told me about their religions, their multiple gods and female gods, the more they made sense to me, so I started researching other religions and bumped into Wicca. (I'm not wiccan but it was the only thing I could find at the time, in the 90s, about female empowerment (because I was tired of the sexism laced in the Bible) in a religious setting without me encroaching in Buddhism and Hinduism)

Wicca made me realize my friend Mars was actually Ares, god of war. The book was so nasty (and I will later learn, very inaccurate) about Ares that he and I ended up having a falling out. I was afraid and wondered if I was going to hell but then I said to myself "it'll only be temporary because then I'll be reincarnated." Reincarnation had officially become part of my personal philosophy.

There was a section in Wicca that talked about religion. It talked about various religions and the history of how Christianity demonized them. So I started reading as much as I could about the history of Christianity and Catholicism outside of the Wicca books that mentioned them. The more I learned about the political structure of Catholicism, the more I could see the gods sprinkled in the religion.

For example: Jesus and Osiris: both born December 25th, both born to Virgins, A star led 3 wise men to both (for Jesus it was the North Star, for Osiris it was the Eastern Star), Both taken to Egypt to escape the wrath of (for Jesus: Herod, for Osiris: Typhon), both taught in a temple as a child, both baptized at 30, both had twelve disciples, both could perform miracles, both walked on water, both raised someone from the dead (Jesus: Lazarus, Osiris: El-Azur-us) both were crucified, buried in a tomb, both were dead for 3 days and both resurrected, both had titles like "The Messiah", "the good shephard", "lamb of god", etc.

Jesus and Dionysus: Both wandered around, both could turn water into wine, both had legions of followers, both were persecuted, both claimed to be the son of God, both called holy child and if you want to get technical with Dionysus being born from a virgin because Jesus being the true son of God implies Mary was with God but technically a virgin because she had never been with an actual human man. By this technicality, Dionysus' mother Semele was also a virgin since she had never been with a human man.

Here's a couple more for Jesus:

Then you have the Christian holidays with Pagan roots and history: (LINK)

Example: Easter has bunnies and eggs because they are the symbols that represent fertility, which was used by the pagans to celebrate the Assyrian and Babalonian goddess Ishtar (pronunciation sounds a lot like Easter). This is why even though in Catholicism Easter is for the resurrection of Christ, there are eggs and bunnies which never made sense to me until I learn about Ishtar.

The reason why there are so many pagan symbols is because Catholicism didn't start until 300-400 years AFTER the death of Jesus. The Roman empire decided it was going to be Christian and in the process it forced the other countries it ruled over to be Christian as well. But because Pagans love their gods, they had to figure out how to sway them so they looked at their gods and holidays and appropriated them.

Because there were other Romans who still loved their gods and wanted to keep them despite the emperor, they created angels saints with ambiguous backgrounds but could do a lot of things that gods could do and we're used as avatars for their gods like Hermes being the messenger of Zeus (the god of gods) and Gabriel being the messenger of God.

The idea of a one true god is also a political tactic that uses fear which works because the human brain has evolved to respond better to fear thanks to evolution. In the beginning, Catholicism acknowledged other religions but claimed their god was the best one, hence when the Bible or prayer says "You will worship no other gods before me" which I always thought was a weird thing the Bible had because how could one worship other gods when there was only one god?

The idea of there only being a "one true god" came during the dark ages where people would accuse each other of being witches and working with the devil. Here is when Christianity started equating pagan gods with demons and devils.

The dark ages and persecutions were SO BRUTAL that fear became a thing synonymous with Catholicism thanks to the Spanish Inquisition that would randomly show up to make sure people were "properly" following the word of the Pope and not worshipping pagan gods now dubbed demons. This is where the idea of "going to hell" came from.

I also didn't like that the Catholic Church would automatically forgive the rich that would give them money and basically buy their way into heaven which was an actual rule and the reason why Martin Luther created the Protestant section of Christianity.

As for wether or not the gods are real, I will only say that for me, they are and possibly for these ex-non-believers who had very specific signs happen to them: PLEASE READ THE NOTES: (LINK)

But changing faiths can get messy because you have to unlearn what you've been taught your whole life. That is layers and layers of it being part of your subconscious and fear is something that was used because there was a lot of bloodshed that came with the politics of the christianization of Europe and the Americas.

If you are interested in Hellenic paganism, nothing is going to happen as far as going to hell goes, but there will be times where your anxiety will flare up. I suggest you learn as much as you can about the history Christianity, Catholicism and the witch trials of Europe in comparison with paganism.

Hell is a human concept evolved from fear tactics and mass hysteria.

The more you learn about Catholicism, the more you'll see that history has shaped it, paganism has shaped it and as long as you do the best to be the best version of yourself you'll be okay.

If it makes you feel better, you can continue to work with Jesus/Mary/Saints and Angels outside the Catholic system. I do it all the time, especially when I want them to take care of my parents who are hardcore Catholics. I celebrate day of the Dead and do Catholic prayers for my grandparents who were also super Catholics when they were alive.

Spirituallity and Religion are a lot more complex than we humans will ever understand.

I hope this helps.

May your heart connect with those who want to help you make a sounds decision about where you plan to take your spiritual journey.

#rosegoldtunic asks

[max-is-tired]

Absolutely Smitten (PJO AU)

Pairing: Moxiety

Characters: Patton Sanders, Virgil Sanders, Logan Sanders, Roman Sanders

Words: 2.584

Warnings: someone gets stabbed, fainting, swearing, tell me if I need to tag more!

Notes: Holy fucking shit this is finally done. I’ve had this in the works since early December I believe? It was meant to be a short thing and then it became... this *wild Italian gesticulating* 

Nonetheless, I’m very proud of how it turned out!! This is heavily inspired by @really-sleep-deprived-nerd ‘s and @moon-scribs pjo AU, which you can find here!! Go take a look, it’s really good and the whole gang is included!

Hit me up if you want to be added to the taglist and let me know if you liked this, reblogs, comments and asks are always very welcome and much appreciated!

Read on AO3!!   Buy me a Coffee!!

Between the two, Patton is the first one to fall.

Surprisingly, it takes him a while to notice. It’s no love at first sight, this one. There are no fireworks, no lightning strike, no metaphorical angels singing in Patton’s head the first time he meets Virgil.

There’s just something quiet, something soft, a want to protect and cherish the son of Hades is very familiar with.

Because Virgil looks so sad, lonely, so uncomfortable between his own siblings and the other campers.

Patton takes one look at the son of Aphrodite and decides, come hell or high water, that he’s going to become his best friend.

Patton barrels into Virgil’s life like an overexcited puppy, dutifully following him everywhere and always coming back when Virgil tries to get him to leave him alone -never with harsh words because, as much as the son of Hades’ behavior may baffle Virgil, he can’t find it in himself to actually make an effort to hurt him.

Virgil is very annoyed, very confused and mildly afraid. But that doesn’t stop him from begrudgingly following Patton when asked -in his defense, the boy’s puppy dog eyes are very difficult to say no to.

While it is true that “love at first sight” may not be the best expression to describe their relationship, the realization itself surely hits Patton like a ton of bricks.

It happens suddenly, in the blink of an eye. One moment they’re talking, enjoying some relaxing time in Hades’ cabin. Then Patton throws in a pun, without even thinking about it, and suddenly Virgil is giggling merrily on the bed, eyes twinkling in amusement as he tries -and fails- to hide his smile behind his hand.

Oh, is the only coherent thing Patton’s mind is able to formulate, all of his other thoughts drowned by the thunderous beating of his heart and the blood rushing in his veins.

Because Virgil is so, so beautiful, messy and fluffy dark locks falling over his eyes and that shy smile has absolutely no business making Patton’s insides flip like that-

Oh, gods. He’s screwed.

For Virgil, there’s no big realization, no sudden “oh shit I’m gay-” moment. One day, he simply looks at Patton -Patton, his best friend. Patton, the first to ever believe in him. Patton, with his endless enthusiasm and a smile that easily outshines the morning sun- and just thinks “yeah, I wouldn’t mind spending my whole life with him”, something warm and fuzzy blooming in his chest.

Somehow, that line of thought doesn’t scare him as much as one would think. There’s no sudden anxiety, no rush of what-ifs cluttering his brain until he can’t think straight anymore -pun absolutely not intended. On the contrary, it makes him smile, a quiet sort of happiness dancing in his heart.

Because it’s Patton, and for Virgil falling for him feels like the most natural thing in the world.

The whole camp knows, of course. It’s clear as a day for them, how much those two care for each other. They see it in stolen glances, in fingers brushing not-so-casually, in friendly touches and pats in the back lingering even when there’s no reason to.

Everyone sees it but those two, of course. There are bets going on all around camp, about who will break first and finally make the first move.

Also Logan may or may not be three seconds away from slapping some sense into Patton next time he comes gushing to him about Virgil’s stunning smile or cute laugh -it amuses Roman to no end, to see the usually calm and collected child of Athena completely lose it as soon as the son of Hades is out of earshot.

“I might not understand feelings but -pardon my crude language- those two are dense as fuck hOW IN THE NAME OF ATHENA HAVEN’T THEY FIGURED IT OUT YET I SWEAR I AM GOING TO HIT THEM BOTH WITH A BOOK IF THEY DON’T WORK THEIR SHIT OUT SOON-”

Roman has never laughed as much as when Logan went on an hour-long rant about their two friends’ foolishness, to be honest.

If you went and asked anyone on camp how they thought Virgil and Patton would finally get together, they’d probably answer with some cute, fluffy scenario, something so adorable your teeth would probably start rotting -aside from Logan, who would go on a very long, very detailed rant about his masterplan to trap the two in a closet until they figure shit out and stop making him lose his mind with their obliviousness.

Nobody could have predicted, however, how it really happened.

Nobody could have predicted the camp being attacked by a horde of monsters.

Nobody could have predicted the screams, the fear, blood and golden dust alike covering the ground as the battle wears on.

But most of all, nobody could have predicted Virgil frantically pushing Patton away, a dagger piercing into his stomach instead of the son of Hades’ back. For a moment -a single, fleeting moment in the chaos of the battle- time seems to stop completely, silence falling as Virgil’s trembling hands move to brush over the growing red stain on his shirt.

Then, he crumbles to the ground, Patton desperately screaming his name from the top of his lungs.

Something old and powerful rushes through his veins, and under the feet of every monster the earth. Opens. Wide.

The first thing Virgil sees when he comes to is the ceiling of the infirmary, before immediately shutting his eyes because ouch someone turn down the lights right the fuck now-

He tries to cover his face with his hand, only to discover something is keeping it down. Virgil moves to sit up as much as he can and turns his head a little to the side, vision still a little fuzzy, his gaze immediately falling on a familiar figure curled on a chair beside his bed, fingers interlocked with his even in his sleep.

“He never left your side, you know,” a voice murmurs from behind the two, startling Virgil. The son of Aphrodite turns around, eyes falling on Roman’s figure approaching the bed.

“Princey, please stop trying to give me a heart attack,” he groans, flopping back onto the mattress with a huff.

“Only when you stop giving us a heart attack every chance you get,” the son of Apollo counters, sitting on another empty chair, “you scared us a lot, V. Patton was inconsolable for days.”

Virgil sighs, turning around to look at his friend, still curled up to his side and sleeping soundly. Looking more closely, Virgil can easily spot the other’s disheveled appearance, from his crumpled clothes and messy hair to the dark bags under his eyes and the tear tracks on his cheeks. He looks like an exhausted, grieving mess. But Patton’s alive, chest moving steadily up and down as he rests, and Virgil knows that, if given the choice, he would jump into that dagger’s path all over again.

Then, Roman’s words register properly into his mind. “Wait, what do you mean days?” he asks, moving to sit up again, “how much time has passed exactly?”

“Stop moving so much, Surly Temple,” Roman chides, gently pushing the other back down on the bed, “you were unconscious for a week. Your injuries were really bad, you almost didn’t make it.”

“Oh,” is all Virgil manages to say, mind reeling as he tries to come to terms with his all-too-near encounter with death, “I’m… sorry?”

“No, you aren’t,” Roman counters, shaking his head, “and don’t even try to deny it, you’re so gone for that boy you would fight all the gods themselves for him.”

Virgil opens his mouth to retort, more than ready to defend his honor, but promptly closes it again when he realizes he would, in fact, challenge Zeus himself to a fistfight for Patton’s safety and happiness.

“I hate it when you’re right,” he grumbles instead, lips scrunching into a pout.

“I know,” Roman grins, clearly smug, “now, I’d love to stay and hear more about how right I am-”

“Yeah, you wish,” Virgil scoffs, chuckling.

“-but I think that’ll have to wait,” Roman finishes, completely ignoring Virgil’s interruption, “our sleeping beauty is waking up, and I believe you two hopeless gays have some things to talk about.”

“Wha-” Virgil starts, confused, before a movement to his left stops him right on his tracks. Gaze shifting automatically to the curled figure on his side, Virgil’s eyes widen as he watches Patton start to stir, eyes scrunching and mouth settling into a little frown. It’s quite adorable, actually- goddamnit Virgil this is not the time to be a useless gay.

“Princey wait, you can’t-” the son of Aphrodite hisses, turning back towards Roman only to realize -to his dismay- that while he was busy having a mini gay crisis, the son of Apollo had merrily strolled out of the infirmary, leaving the poor demigod to fend for himself.

Quietly panicking on the inside, Virgil can’t do anything more but stare as Patton slowly wakes up, chocolate brown eyes still fuzzy with sleep. The boy lets out a huge yawn, clearly still half asleep with his glasses sitting crookedly on his nose, and stretches his arms over his head, letting out a satisfied groan when he hears a quiet but distinct pop.

That’s, of course, when Patton’s gaze falls on Virgil, very much awake and looking at him like a deer caught in the headlights. Dumbfounded, he stares, blinking owlishly at the other as his brain tries to register what exactly he’s seeing.

Then Patton lets out a sudden shout, throwing himself onto Virgil to drag him into the biggest hug the son of Aphrodite has ever received.

“Virgil!” Patton wails, tears already streaming down his face, “Gods above, you’re awake! You’re okay!”

“Hey Pat,” Virgil says, a faint smile appearing on his face as he returns the hugs as much as he can -he may have slept for a whole ass week, but he still feels exhausted as fuck.

“Don’t you dare do that ever again!” Patton exclaims, hands grabbing onto Virgil’s shoulders as he moves back to look at him, “Never again, got it?!”

“Pat,” Virgil sighs, looking away, “Pat, I- you know I can’t promise that.”

“But why?!” Patton asks, distraught, “I don’t want you to die, V! I just- I can’t even think about it, it just-” sobbing, the son of Hades crumbles into Virgil’s arms, forehead onto the other’s chest, “every- every time I close my eyes I see you on the ground, covered in all that blood- I don’t want to see that ever again!”

“Patton,” Virgil calls, voice soft and gentle as he cradles the other to his chest, “Patton, I can’t promise you that I'll never do it again because I know all too well I would never be able to keep that vow, most of all if it means you’ll be safe from harm’s way.”

Patton shakes his head and lets out a strangled sob at Virgil’s words, his grip on the son of Aphrodite’s shirt tightening even more.

“But,” Virgil keeps going, hand softly stroking his friend’s back in comfort, “what I can promise you is that, doesn’t matter what happens or how desperate the situation is, I’ll always, always come back to you.”

Sniffling, Patton looks up at him, eyes red and puffy as he searches Virgil’s face for any hint of lie or deception.

“Do you… do you really mean it?” he asks, voice small but hopeful. Virgil smiles, nodding his head, and that’s all the confirmation Patton seems to need before his hands are of the other’s cheeks, something akin to determination suddenly burning in his gaze.

“Pat? What’s-” Virgil tries to ask, blushing slightly under the other's scrutiny, but gets interrupted halfway through by a pair of lips suddenly covering his.

Patton is kissing him.

Patton -Patton Medina, son of Hades, his best friend, his fucking crush- is kissing him.

Virgil's brain -as soon as he realizes what is actually happening- short-circuits on the spot, eyes wide as dinner plates as his thoughts become an absolute mess of oh my gods oh my gods ohmygodswhat- and general gay panic.

The kiss is very short, Patton drawing away a few seconds later, but Virgil feels like an eternity has passed. He keeps staring at Patton, blinking owlishly at him with his mouth slightly open in surprise, mind drawing a complete, absolute blank -which is, of course, a totally normal reaction for a child of the goddess of fucking Love to have when their crush kisses them, goddamnit Virgil get a fucking grip for once-

“Sorry, I-” Patton mumbles, looking away, “I acted on impulse, I didn’t want- I mean, I wanted to but- I should have asked-”

“Pat, no-!” Virgil exclaims when the other starts to move away, grabbing onto his arm on instinct, “I mean- it’s okay, really.”

“It- It is?” Patton asks, looking at him with careful hope in his eyes. Virgil gulps, heart beating wildly in his chest as he forces himself to maintain eye contact.

“Y- Yeah, I-” he takes in a slow, steadying breath, trying to will his cheeks to stop burning so much and failing miserably, “I really liked it, actually.”

Patton blinks at him words registering into his head as a smile starts to spread onto his face. “Really?”

Virgil nods, his lips curling into a little, shy smile and that’s all the confirmation Patton needs, his expression breaking into a wide grin as he tackles the other into a hug, a bewildered laugh escaping his lips.

Virgil immediately returns the hug, finding himself laughing alongside Patton, giddy with happiness.

“So, can I call you my boyfriend now?” Patton asks, eyes sparkling with delight as he looks up at Virgil -and gods if that vision doesn’t make Virgil’s heart do funny things in his chest, something so warm and fond seeping into his expression without him even noticing.

“Sounds pretty cool,” he says, his face muscles aching from how much he’s smiling. Patton laughs, a sound so beautiful Virgil is pretty sure not even the Muses themselves would be able to replicate, and shuffles until he’s basically sitting on Virgil’s lap, eyes locking onto the other’s.

“I really want to kiss you again right now,” he murmurs, eyes half closed as he starts to slowly lean in.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to that,” Virgil answers, closing the distance between them.

They kiss for what feels like ages, giggling like school children and sharing sweet smiles and totally smitten looks, the world around them vanishing until there’s just them, and nothing else matters.

Enveloped as they are in themselves, none of them notices the barely muffled squeal coming from the doorway, Roman standing there bouncing on his toes as he takes in the two lovebirds cuddling on the bed.

Trying to be as silent as he can -which is probably an unnecessary caution since he’s pretty sure Zeus himself could make lightning fall from the sky and the two would be none the wiser, but it’s still of a child of the Big Three and a charm speak user we’re talking about so Roman is not about to take any chances here, thank you very much- the son of Apollo slowly closes the door, before throwing his hands in the air in silent cheer and merrily strolling towards Athena’s cabin.

Looks like Logan owes him twenty dollars.

#sanders sides #moxiety #patton sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #pjo au #percy jackson au #sanders sides au #tw swearing #tw stabbing #tw blood #tw fainting #tw caplocks #fanfiction #ts fanfiction #sanders sides fanfiction #maxiswriting

[strangelittlestories]

The Bear

A bit of Greek Mythology/Film Noir for y’all...

...

“You gonna go to the fight tonight?” said the first dockworker, grunting as she hefted a crate off a boat that had come in from the farming suburbs.

The docks were thick with the smell of oil and sweat and the faint scent of freshwater winds.

“You kidding, you think I’ll miss a fight with the Bear?” said the second dockworker, pausing their work to offer a hipflask to their colleague.

The first worker wiped the sweat off their brow, took the flask, and took a big slurp. It burned satisfyingly all the way down.

“I dunno,” she chuckled, “it was pretty vicious last time. Figured you might not wanna get blood splatters on your nice shirt again.”

“You kidding? That made it a collector’s item. I fenced that for 80 drachmae.”

“Shoulda got it signed.” The first dockworker huffed as she hauled another crate onto her broad shoulders. “You could’ve got half that.”

“Yeah, but then I’d have to meet her…” The second dockworker shivered despite the muggy heat. “...and I hear after the business with the Mayor that she’s got some anger issues.”

“You would too if the Mayor had got you kicked out of the Artemis’s biker gang.” She placed the crate down on a nearby cart with a thud. She cracked her shoulders.

“Y’know, if I were Callisto, I might at that…”

---

That night, the two dockworkers were on their feet cheering along with the rest of the crowd like rabid beasts.

“Bear! Bear! BEAR!” They yelled.

Callisto soaked it in. When the crowd were behind her and she could hear them frothing at the mouth, she could almost believe she was back on her bike with Artemis leading the gang on another hunt.

Sarpedon lunged in with a quick jab, looking to take advantage of the brief faraway look on her face.

‘The Bear’ smirked as she caught the jab on her gloves and stepped in to the clinch to deliver three punishing fists to Sarpedon’s ribs.

The referee forced the pair apart. Sarpedon staggered, sucking in ragged breaths.

Callisto had to admit it, he could take a punch. No wonder he was one of the prides of the Trojan district.

She’d heard a rumour that he was one of the Mayor’s kids too. Not that you could always trust what you’d heard.

After all, they’d said that she’d had one of those brats too. And she’d never touched that old lech.

Sarpendon darted in again with a feint and then a cross to get round her guard. She caught a glancing blow to the temple and idly wondered what this poor asshole’s sad story was that had got his family caught up with the Mayor.

Probably best not to think about.

Best to think he’s just another of the Mayor’s golden boys, given an easy ride through life because his daddy’s in charge.

She let the roar of the crowd mix with the rush of blood through her head and drive out all thoughts.

As she swung her fists with all the fury of a bear’s claws, she imagined it was Zeus’s face she was pummelling.

Sarpedon would remember this fight for the rest of his life. It was one of only two times in his life he would be afraid. The next would come a year later in the chaos of the Trojan riots.

---

In the dressing room, Callisto ripped the boxing gloves off her hands and threw them across the room.

She hated this, sometimes. Hated the beast they’d turned her into.

She punched the locker hard and it crumpled around her fist.

“It’ll be okay.”

Callisto turned, her fist throbbing and bloody. Behind her stood a figure in a long overcoat with just a hint of a flawless black gown. A wide-brimmed red hat covered her face.

“How will it be okay?” She spat. “When he has my child and I’ve become this … animal.”

“We all become what we must, when we are scorned.” The woman said, her voice sad but steady. “Believe me, I’ve made many a monster in my time.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“It was the only way. After he claimed your child as his own, you never could have stayed what you were. Where you were.” The woman held out a damp rag to Callisto. “Neither Artemis nor I could let an insult like that stand. I doubt you would have either, in the end…”

Callisto took the rag and wrapped it around her bleeding knuckles. She sighed in relief as the ambrosia-soaked cloth soothed the aching bones in her hand.

“You have no idea what I am capable of doing.” There was a growl in the back of her throat.

“Indeed I do not.” The woman’s voice hid a smile that made Callisto’s teeth grind. “That’s why I made you into my Bear. My fierce, unstoppable creature.”

There was a flash of movement and suddenly Callisto was across the room, flinging herself at the woman and holding her against the wall by her throat.

“Careful.” The woman continued, her regal poise barely disturbed. Only the faintest strain in her voice. “If you kill your sponsor, you’ll never get your shot at him.”

“I’m no closer to him now than I was when I started…” Callisto snarled.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. Win a few more fights and he’ll be the one giving you the trophy.”

The Bear loosened her hold on the woman’s throat.

“He will?”

“Oh yes. And then you’ll get the chance to get your vengeance. And you and Artemis can have your child back.”

Callisto carefully took a step back, turning away from the woman in disgust.

“And you’ll just let me walk away?”

“Oh, I imagine I’ll have to have a show trial or banish you or some such. After all, I can’t exactly let my Bear get away with killing my husband, can I?”

Callisto turned back to reply, but the woman had vanished.

---

A few months later, Callisto ‘The Bear’ won the Los Sirenas Title and was given the belt in a grand ceremony.

Zeus did not attend, however, and instead sent his young ‘son’ Arktos to present it.

No-one knows for sure what happened to either Callisto or Arktos. Some say one killed the other. Others say The Bear was shot down during an attempted kidnap.

But some say they were both seen fleeing together on Callisto's old motorbike. Maybe they even made it out of the city?

Maybe.

#writing #flash fiction #short story

[zuko-thee-stallion]

the greatest showman au

i don’t even know why i’m writing this but here we go

percy jackson is a poor boy that works with his mother, sally, occasionally as a tailor.

his father isn’t there financially support them which made him (percy) resent him. he strives to be a good father one day.

one day his mother asks him to help her with a particularly big job at the chase mansion his mother has him carry the fabric and measure athena and fredrick.

she tells him to take a break when he spots annabeth during her etiquette lesson.

he tries to make her laugh and it works well.

too well.

she spits out the tea she was drinking and athena gets upset.

like really upset.

she starts reprimanding annabeth and percy confesses to making her laugh.

athena kicks him out.

he sits by the ocean on the beach behind the house.

after a while, annabeth joins and they start talking.

cue ‘a million dreams’

they venture to an abandoned mansion and he talks about how he and annabeth would live there together when they’re older as a joke.

annabeth takes it seriously and those are the plans for their future.

they hang out more and more. her mother finds out and sends her to an all girls finishing school.

percy is devastated and promises to write to annabeth every chance he gets.

a year later his mother gets sick.

percy doesn’t write as consistently.

annabeth is worried.

a couple of months later sally dies and percy is depressed.

his letters go from once a week to once a month.

since they never had much money to begin with, percy ends up homeless at thirteen.

percy stops writing altogether because he can’t afford it.

he lives on the streets, often stealing money and food.

once he gets caught stealing some bread and a ‘freak’ gives him an apple.

the act sparks his fascination for the extraordinary.

he finally enrolls in school when a kind man, chiron, takes him in at age fifteen.

he starts writing to annabeth again.

three years later she tells him she’s coming back.

when she arrives he rushes over in his finest clothes and gives her the biggest hug imaginable.

they’ve been dating for two years when he proposes.

her parents disapprove and threaten to cut her off.

sis doesn’t care and marries that boy anyway.

annabeth is pregnant with their first child three months later.

they name her beryl which means ‘sea green jewel’ because percy adores the sea.

she inherits annabeth’s blonde hair and percy’s sea-green eyes.

two years later they give birth to another daughter.

they name her dara which means ‘nugget of wisdom’.

percy absolutely loves it because it combines two of his favorite things: chicken nuggets and annabeth.

beryl always teases dara for it.

she inherits percy’s jet-black hair and annabeth’s grey eyes

percy works hard and saves up money so he could open up his own business and give his family what they deserve.

beryl is eight and dara is six when he finally makes enough money and buys an abandoned building near their apartment.

it starts off as a museum but quickly changes when the public becomes bored.

he thinks about the ‘freak’ that helped him out and thinks people will find interest in people like her.

he and his daughters put up fliers for the extraordinary.

he auditions many of them including animal boy; frank, the witch; hazel, and trapeze duo; piper and leo.

cue ‘come alive’.

his newfound fame earns him enough money to buy the abandoned mansion he and annabeth found when they were younger.

he buys beryl ballet slippers and pays for lessons.

he buys dara a doll house.

at beryl’s recital, he meets jason grace, the man who funds the theater beryl performs at.

he thinks a partnership with jason will be a good investment.

jason disagrees at first because he doesn’t want to disappoint his stepmother, hera and his father, zeus grace.

percy asks him to get drinks.

cue ‘the other side’.

in which jason decides to take a risk for the first time in his life and agrees to a partnership.

jason is absolutely enjoying himself with the involvement of percy jackson’s circus.

he loves everyone’s colorful personalities and hangs out with everyone as much as he can.

he spends a little more time with a particular trapeze artist. *cough* piper *cough*

percy’s kids hang around a lot and jason absolutely adores them.

especially beryl because that was his birth mother’s name and she acts so much like her.

one day he gets a letter from the queen of freaking england requesting the presence of himself and percy.

he tells the gang and piper inquires if they all get to go.

he sees the hurt in her eyes and decides that all of them have to go or none of them do.

he claims that she’s very persuasive but even she would tell you it was because he was attracted to her. 

on the way to england, jason and piper get to know each other more and there’s a mutual crush.

percy and jason have an audience with the queen and soon after the party begins. 

percy and jason are introduced to singer, calypso.

percy is intent on making her famous worldwide and starts booking events for her.

he’s never heard her sing and is relying on other’s opinions. 

the first show percy invites jason, the circus, his wife, and his kids.

annabeth can’t help but feel a little bit jealous that her husband has so much faith in someone he has never heard sing.

cue ‘never enough’.

during the song, jason can’t fight the urge to hold piper’s hand.

he quickly lets go when his parents give him a disapproving look. 

hurt and confused, piper walks away.

percy doesn’t allow the ‘freaks’ to join the after party.

cue ‘this is me’.

percy leaves the circus in the hands of jason for a few months.

piper is still mad at jason and he is angry at himself for hurting her.

he tries to talk to her but she is not having it.

he spots her practicing trapeze.

cue ‘rewrite the stars’.

he tells her how much he wants to be with her.

they start dating but keep the relationship a secret.

the first time they make their relationship public is when he takes her to see a show that his parents were seeing too.

it was completely unplanned.

they made a big fuss about it and it really upsets piper.

she leaves.

jason was not having it.

percy and calypso are still traveling the world and she confesses her feelings for him.

during their last show, she kisses him in front of the whole theater despite knowing he has a wife.

she didn’t do it to be a homewrecker, she did it because she was so overwhelmed with emotion.

their kiss ends up making the front page of every newspaper you could get your hands on.

percy did not know this at all.

he comes back home to find annabeth, beryl, and dara packing their bags.

she shows him the newspaper and tells him she needs space.

she moves back in with her parents.

cue ‘tightrope’.

upset, percy goes to the only place that gives him clarity, the circus.

when he gets there he sees it’s on fire. 

everyone’s rushing out and jason makes sure everyone is there but notices piper is missing.

he runs back into the burning building looking for her.

she comes out around the side of the building while jason’s still looking for her. 

the building starts to collapse while jason’s still looking for her.

piper begs percy to save him. 

percy trudges out with an unconscious jason.

he is hospitalized and piper stays with him until he wakes up a couple days later.

she gives him a bone-crushing hug and kisses him so passionately that he’s afraid he’ll melt.

percy is devastated that he’s lost everything.

his wife, his circus, his kids.

he spends months trying to restore his building but it’s no use.

he finds a few circus members at his bar and they tell him not to give up.

cue ‘from now on’.

he goes to annabeth’s parents’ mansion and they work on getting their marriage back on track.

he gets the circus back together and uses portable tents instead of a building.

#the greatest showman #percy jackson #annabeth chase #percabeth #jason grace #piper mclean #jasper #jasiper #jiper #heroes of olympus #hoo #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo #au #p t barnum #phillip carlyle #barnum and bailey #circus #jasipertrashhh #mine

[gwynne-fics]

Gangs of Seoul

ties p1

There are wings on his back. 

Soo-Ah stares at the tattoo and wonders what it means. They are beautiful. True art in her opinion, from the minimalist lines, to the splashes of color, and even the morbid blood on the feathers. She wants to touch it but she is too afraid when he returns from talking to Hyun-Soo.

Her hands keep shaking. She thought sex might stop that. It was really lovely sex. The classes at school said it would hurt but it didn’t. He was so careful with her and didn’t rush. She would have to be careful so he didn’t think she’d become obsessed with him. She wasn’t Hye-Rim with her confidence or bold attitude. She just wants this soft moment to last if she can’t have it again.

Ji-Hyuk returns and sits down beside her on the bed. She tries to play it cool when all she wants is to touch him. “I have something for you. I don’t know if you want it.”

Soo-Ah tilts her head. “What was that about?”

“Pressure for this.” He pulls a small jewelry box out of his pocket. Ignoring Hyun-Soo isn’t working. His friend rarely gets worked up, especially about another guy’s girl, but Ye-Rim must be pushing him. “I need to explain it. We don’t tattoo our girls. Choi Young-Do doesn’t like it. Girls with tattoos...the escorts have problems related to it, both now and later. Have you seen Ye-Rim’s ring?”

“The one she wears on her pinky?”

‘Yeah.” He smiles slightly. Ji-Hyuk runs his hand through his hair and it poofs up. She’s a little smug at his sex hair. He opens the box. Inside is a ring, much like Ye-Rim’s, that will fit on her pinky finger. “If you get pulled into a police station, and you show it, in our territory, it will stop them from messing with you. It tells people who know that you belong to Zeus.”

“It wouldn’t have worked with Prosecutor Kim.”

“Maybe.” He runs his hand over his mouth. “He’s dead. Choi Young-Do took care of it. It isn’t because of you. He made the mistake of threatening Enforcer Choi’s girlfriend.”

“Would you do that?” The idea manages to thrill and scare her at the same time. “Have you done that?”

He surprises her by meeting her eyes. “I have not killed anyone. I just break things right now. But yes, I wanted to kill him last night. I might have if he did more than bruise you.”

Soo-Ah stares at the ring and considers the implications of it. Ye-Rim didn’t seem bothered by it and Soo-Ah knew her well enough to know Ye-Rim wasn’t stupid or blind to the gang world. If she put this on, it would be accepting that Ji-Hyuk would kill on her behalf.

“When I imagined getting a couple’s ring, this wasn’t the string I thought I’d get.” She tries to smile but Ji-Hyuk’s expression is firm. Firm and hard. Soo-Ah licks her lips and puts it on.

#gangs of seoul

[superwolfiestar]

Across Another Dimension Ch.32

As soon as Panchito opened the door, the door was swung out by the intense blizzard that was still raging on. The gang could barely see a narrow snow path up ahead. "We should huddle and stick together!" Panchito said as everyone grabbed someone's hands. Panchito led the way as the gang trekked slowly up the snowy path. Everywhere around was white, and the blizzard was the most intense weather the team experienced so far. It felt there was no end to the blizzard until it stopped completely, though it was still snowing. The team looked around and saw they were standing on a large snowy circular area.

"Why the blizzard stopped?" Dewey asked, slowly scanning the area. "Hey! There's someone over there," he said, pointing at the far side in the icy rock cliff with the icy bridge where the blue sharp floating above the ice rock where light is shining at it above the icy ceiling.

Three figure coming out from another entrance of the room walk in and they sneakily at them to get the blue sharp by walking through the icy bridge.

“It’s King Zeus men!” Boy Princess whisper as he gasp. “We must stop them before they get the blue sharp!”

“But how?”

The gang try to think of the idea to get King Zeus men away from the blue sharp. Then, all eyes turn toward the ghost butler.

“What…?” Duckworth look at all of them.

“Duckworth, you still have that power to transform a demon?”

“Yes…?”

“Good, okay. Here the plan…..”

The Beagles Boys carefully walk over the icy bridge without slipping or falling down. “Okay boys, we need that sharp for the boss. King Zeus will be pleased of what we got!”

The Beagle Boys let out a evil chuckle, then. A room began to shake, ice stalactite from the ceiling suddenly began to fall down to the pit of darkness. The beagle huddle together closely, they are began to be afraid. Then, something break the ice bridge and left a hole gap in the middle, they scream as what they saw in front of them was a huge ghost black demonic with muscular built, a skull face with red glowing eyes.

“Who dare trespass my home, who dares try to take something that once belong me!!!!” The voice coming from the demon was rising to a pitch as the voice echo in the room finally swung.

The Beagle Boys let out a terribly scream as they saw a ghost in front of them. Their body is shaking with fear, they are too afraid to speak.

“Well? Answer me!!!” The demon shout at them.

They push the short one as the two of them back away.

“W-well you see… um… we are here to get that sharp because the boss, our boss, need that sharp for his plan….” The short one let out a nervous smile as the demon went up close to his face.

“No, I will not give you that sharp! The four heroes let me to protect it so it will not fall in the wrong hand. I will not do that. Leave now or else I will make your life a living nightmare…” he groan at them. “Is that what you want? Is it!!!!!”

“No!!!” They cried.

“Then….. LEAVE RIGHT NOW!!!!!!” He let out a roar as the Beagle Boys began run away and exited the room as they scream. The demon turn back into a normal spirit.

The gang come out of their hiding spot as they cheer at Duckworth for his incredible acting.

“That was amazing!”

“Good job!”

“Splendid job!”

“You did great!”

“That’s so cool!!”

Duckworth let out a small laugh and a blush. “Thank you, thank you, you’re too kind.”

“Now then,” the other Panchito say in the serious tone. “Back to business, we need to grab the blue sharp.” He said, they all nodded and carefully walk on the icy bridge. They managed to reach the end.

Panchito walk up to the icy step stone, took out a map and held the map up in the air, and then the lights shined bright from the sharp. The map lowered itself to Panchito as they went to toward him to take a look. A creepy place popped up in the upper right part of the map as well the spooky forest popped up and even the mansion and the last purple shard popped up as well.

The last and finale sharp, is located on the spooky grand victorian style mansion.

#ducktales 2017 #mariotales au #across another dimension #across another dimension fanfic #super caballeros #super caballeros fanfic #fanfic

[ghouliexander]

HOLY SHIT IS THAT [ TYLER HOECHLIN ]?! Oh, wait it’s just [ ALEXANDER ‘XANDER’ GILBERT ]. Damn, [ HE ] looks good for [ 24 ], good thing that they’re [ BISEXUAL ], I might have a chance. I hear that they call them the [ REBEL HEART ] of the [ SOUTH SIDE ]. I guess that’s because they’re [ DETERMINED ] and [ HEADSTRONG ]. But I don’t think a lot of people know that they’re also [ STUBBORN ] and [ RUTHLESS ].

01.  BASICS

Full Name: Alexander James Gilbert

Nickname: Xander

Sex/Gender: Cis male

Birthday: August 11

Age: 24

Astrological Sign: Leo

Occupation: Drug dealer, street racer

Spoken Languages: English

Sexual Orientation: Bi with a preference for men

Birthplace: Riverdale

Relationship status: Single

02. PHYSICAL TRAITS

Hair Color/Style: Black, messy

Eye Color: Hazel

Face Claim: Tyler Hoechlin

Height: 6′0″

Weight: 160 lbs

Tattoos: Ghoulie tattoo on upper back, on the left sie

Piercings: None

Unique Attributes: Long scar on his left bicep from a switchblade

Defining Gestures/Movements: crossing his arms,  glaring

Posture: Confident, domineering

03. PERSONALITY TRAITS

Pet Peeves: slow drivers, loud chewers, people tapping things when they’re thinking

Hobbies/Interests: wood carving, boxing, plays the electric guitar

Special Skills/Abilities: has a degree in pharmaceuticals so he experiments with making new drugs a lot, is also an excellent driver and a nearly unstoppable fighter

Likes: whiskey, dogs, street racing

Dislikes: Serpents, cats, dolls

Insecurities: afraid of losing his family for good, not having control over his own life

Quirks/Eccentricities: can recite the entire periodic table on command, has an extremely high alcohol tolerance

Strengths: determined, headstrong, confident, ability to command respect

Weaknesses: closed off, lack of emotional vulnerability, ruthlessness, kind of an asshole

Speaking Style: measured, vaguely threatening

Temperament: scary calm

04. FAMILY & HOME

Immediate Family: Elliot Gilbert (brother), Clarissa Gilbert (mother, dancer at Afortunado)

How do they feel about their family? he cares about them, but he also doesn’t click with them, he feels like his mother is weak and that she could be so much more than a dancer at a club, and she doesn’t approve of his choice to be in a gang. He and Elliot have become distant but if his brother needed him, he’d help.

How does their family feel about them? They worry about him being in a gang, and are afraid of some of his harsher tendencies, they also wish he’d come back home instead of being out on his own.

Pets: A Rottweiler named Rex and a King Shepherd named Zeus, he loves both dearly and would kill anyone who hurt them

Where do they live? Southside of Riverdale, either in a trailer in Ghoulie territory or in the upper level of the House Of The Dead depending on the day

Description of their home: his trailer is neat, he doesn’t have a lot of homey possessions, just the bare essentials. the House Of The Dead is messy on the bottom, but his bedroom/workspace on the upper floor is pretty well organized

Description of their bedroom: both are clean, tidy, not super flashy, just with the bare essentials... the one at the House of the Dead also hosts some lab space and a safe where they stash drug money

05. THIS OR THAT

Introvert or Extrovert?

Optimist or Pessimist?

Leader or Follower?

Confident or Self-Conscious?

Cautious or Careless? Depends on the situation

Religious or Secular?

Passionate or Apathetic?

Book Smarts or Street Smarts? Both, leaning towards streets

Compliments or Insults?

Pajamas or Lingerie? Boxers

06. FAVORITES

Favorite Color: Red

Favorite Clothing Style/Outfit: Dark colours, leather jacket usually

Favorite Bands/Songs/Type of Music: rock, alternative

Favorite Movies: action, thrillers, horror

Favorite Books: Stephen King

Favorite Foods/Drinks: Chinese food, whiskey

Favorite Sports/Sports Teams: Patriots

Favorite Time of Day: Dusk

Favorite Weather/Season: Autumn

Favorite Animal: Dogs

07. MISCELLANEOUS

Fears/Superstitions: losing his family, letting down his walls, losing control of his destiny

Political Views: centre

Addictions: none

Best School Subject: Science

Worst School Subject: History

School Clubs/Sports: n/a

How does he get money? drug dealing, winning street races

How is he with technology? Pretty average

08. PAST & FUTURE

Fondest Memory: Winning his first street race when he was 15

Deepest, Darkest Secret: He tested out an experimental drug on one of the younger Ghoulies a few years ago and they died — he made it look like a suicide and no one’s asked any questions since

Dream Vacation: visiting South Africa

Best thing that has ever happened to this character: Getting his motorcycle

Worst thing that has ever happened to this character: Losing his first dog, Jasey

What do they want to be when they grow up? when he was a kid he wanted to be a firefighter but he doesn’t really have any plans right now that go far beyond the present

Perfect Date: It ends in sex

09. BIO

Alexander Gilbert joined the Ghoulies when he was 14 years old, sick of dealing with his mother’s constant degradation at the club where she danced and constantly clashing with his brother. Instead, he left home to find his own way, and joined the Ghoulies, where he felt wanted, valued and important. Along the way he picked up a lot of skills, and worked his way up until he was a trusted member of senior command. Still, he never liked the Snake Charmer or her daughter... what business did they have here? Only joining the Ghoulies when they were rejected from the Serpents? It rubbed him the wrong way. There were infinite Ghoulies more fit to lead them than that whore and her daughter.

But Xander remained quiet, the perfect gang member, the perfect soldier, and bided his time. Eventually someone would slip up, would crack, and he would seize the opportunity to take power and lead the Ghoulies to their rightful place in Riverdale, controlling the South Side as they should be and grinding the Serpents into the ground.

Wickedly smart, and full of potential if he actually bothered to put it into something legal, Xander went to college, studying long enough to get a pharmaceutical degree that he put into practice experimenting with new types of drugs to hook the denizens of Riverdale on to. He also street races like a pro, even if his bike is his preferred means of transportation. He knows a lot of what he does hurts other people, but why is that his problem? If people seek out drugs, that’s their problem, not his. He’s just filling a need. If he didn’t do it, someone else would.

Not one for feelings, getting him into your bed is easy, but getting him to let you into his heart is sure as hell a lot harder. Xander is cold, and calculating, and he’s happy to be that way. It’s what’s going to help him get the Ghoulies back on top and make sure no one fucks with them again.

#about #gdhqintro #//hello he's an asshole

[wazafam]

While it's entirely possible that the next game from Mortal Kombat and Injustice series creators NetherRealm will actually be a Marvel Vs DC fighting game if the rumors are to believed, it seems likely that Injustice 3 will happen sooner rather than later. DC fans are always after new games, and Injustice 2 set up a sequel way back in 2017.

RELATED: Injustice: 10 Ways It Influenced Zack Snyder's Justice League & The Justice League 2 Plans

Beyond that, Injustice fans are also in love with the tie-in comics that continue to get new issues, most recently with a prequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us. These comics also have a wealth of excellent storylines and exciting moments that players really need to see acted out in the next game.

10 He-Man Vs Superman

In one of the most unlikely crossovers of all time that actually happened, the Injustice universe crossed over with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe in what is, canonically, the only story set after the events of Injustice 2.

Superman has taken Brainiac's technology and used it to craft a more terrible Regime, enslaving Batman and most of humanity. The remaining Insurgency members travel dimensions to find someone to oppose him, and discover He-Man ready to help - but the forces of Skeletor and Darkseid may overwhelm all.

9 The Darker Knight

Possibly the biggest shock in the Injustice 2 comic series, which is set in the year between the two games, is the appearance of another Batman - one that isn't afraid to use guns and who actually beats Bruce Wayne in combat the first time they meet.

In the end, this character is exactly who fans thought he would be: former Robin Jason Todd, who gives up the Batman challenge and becomes Red Hood by the time of Injustice 2. However, the idea of a more ruthless challenger to the Batman cowl would make a compelling subplot for Injustice 3.

8 Amazo Attacks

The android known as Amazo is one of the most powerful threats the Justice League has ever faced, when it's done right. It's not only extremely powerful in its own right, but it can scan heroes and gain their powers. In the Injustice 2 comics, Amazo's creator Professor Ivo is being held hostage by Ra's Al Ghul, who plans to use Amazo as a weapon of mass destruction.

RELATED: Injustice 3: 5 New Characters That Should Be Added (& 5 Unlikely Ones That Fans Would Love)

Even Wonder Woman is unable to defeat it, and it's only the timely intervention by Supergirl that stops Amazo - where it's revealed that the android is based on Brainiac technology. A boss fight with Amazo in Injustice 3 would be tough but incredible.

7 The New Wonder Woman

There are many similarities between the Injustice universe and the regular DC universe, but other than Lex Luthor and Superman being friends rather than enemies there aren't many major differences - other than the way events went.

However, one major difference is that Diana Prince is more jaded and ruthless than fans are used to, leading to her imprisonment on Themyscira after the first game - and her replacement by her sister Nubia as Wonder Woman. Diana takes the armor back but Nubia is still alive come Injustice 2, ready to challenge Diana for the title in a sequel.

6 Mxyzptlk Vs Trigon

The big mystery in Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Three was the reappearance of The Spectre, the Spirit of Vengeance, an incredibly powerful magical being who supported Superman for some reason. That reason is revealed to be Mr. Mxyzptlk, the fourth-dimensional imp that's allied himself with Superman's cause and impersonated the Spectre.

In order to stop such a powerful force, John Constantine tricks the demonic Trigon into fighting Mxyzptlk. The resulting battle nearly tears apart all of reality, until both Mxyzptlk and Trigon get sealed away in a magical Void by Dr. Fate and Shazam. Both are still out there, however, ready to resume their epic conflict.

5 Harley At Ground Zero

The comic Injustice: Ground Zero takes place during the events of the Injustice: Gods Among Us game's story and entirely focuses on Harley Quinn, with what she got up to whenever she wasn't on-screen. She formed her own gang, split up from the Joker (again), took on Black Adam, broke into the Batcave and stole the Batmobile, all while the battles of the game raged in the background.

It'd be a neat twist for some events of Injustice 3 to retell previously-seen events from a different perspective, even it's entirely through Harley Quinn's twisted viewpoint.

4 The Old Gods Invade

The most forgotten fact of the DC universe is that it features actual gods. Marvel treats Asgardians like Thor as an alien species, but DC has actual Greek gods as part of its universe - even Zack Snyder's Justice League features Zeus, Ares, and Artemis nearly killing Darkseid.

RELATED: 11 Celebrity Voices You Had No Idea Were In The Injustice Games

In Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Four, Superman's Regime has drawn the attention of the Old Gods of Olympus, who return and subjugate the inhabitants of Earth until Highfather of the New Gods persuades Zeus to back off.

3 The Green Lantern Corps Wars

There are two major Green Lantern Corps conflicts in the comics, and neither of these feature in the games, despite both being epic.

The first occurs when the Green Lanterns attempt to arrest Superman and find themselves under attack by the Sinestro Corps. The second is the assault on Oa by the Rage Lanterns, who are backed up by an enhanced Starro the Conqueror. Other than Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern Corps has barely played any role in the games, so an all-out Lantern conflict would be a great step.

2 The Teen Titans Return

Nothing in Injustice is gained without deep heartbreak. Possibly the most joyous moment in the Injustice 2 comic is the return of the surviving Teen Titans, who had been trapped in the Phantom Zone by Superman.

While the joy doesn't last long, thanks to the unexpected and deadly arrival of General Zod, having the remaining Titans back is a wonderful moment that Injustice 3 can play into. Starfire's Multiverse ending in Injustice 2 showed that she was ready to start a new Teen Titans group, and both Superboy and Wonder Girl are alive, ready to come back and help.

1 Joker The God Of Chaos

The most recent part of the Injustice series is the prequel comic Year Zero, which shows what happened to the Justice Society in this timeline, but most importantly, gives The Joker the power of a god.

During World War Two, the JSA buried several magical artifacts deep in the ocean that contained the Lords of Chaos. Joker discovers these and uses them to take apart the JSA and Justice League, only to be stopped by Superman - but at a terrible cost. While Joker is canonically dead in the Injustice timeline, he's returned more than once, so to see him back in Injustice 3 with godlike powers would be an epic finish to the trilogy.

NEXT: 5 Ways Injustice 2 Is The Best Justice League Video Game (& 5 Ways It's DC Universe Online)

Injustice 3: 10 Epic Moments From The Injustice Comics That Need To Be In The Game from https://ift.tt/3fuz2gV

#Blogger

[noodlecupcakes]

Ultraviolence - Chapter 10 (Mafia Negan AU)

Warnings: Language, SO MANY FUCKING FEELS, Angst

Shout at me if you want to be added to the taglist :D

Chapter 10

Negan’s P.O.V

I awoke and got ready for the day with a little difficulty thanks to the bullet wound. I headed downstairs where the breakfast buffet was waiting on the dining room table. Bacon, eggs, toast, fruit, cereal, pastries. Gwen joined me a little later, yawning and stretching. An hour went by and still no Roxy. I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost ten. Gwen poured herself some tea and began stirring in the milk and sugar. “Let the girl sleep, she had a rough night,” she said matter of factly. “What?” “Your clock watching. If she doesn’t join you for breakfast I’m sure she’ll be down for lunch. Relax.”

I sighed, Gwen was right like always. I finished off my breakfast and fed the crusts of my toast to Bisou who was laid down next to my chair. She followed me everywhere, I couldn’t take a piss without her scratching and whining at the bathroom door. I scratched behind her ears earning a pleased expression from her. I headed to my office, preparations needed to be made for Rick. After that stunt, he needed to die and his empire needed to burn to the fucking ground. Maybe it was finally time to make a move on the others as well. I’m sure with the right amount of threats I could get Gregory on my side, giving me more men.

For now, I needed to look like I had taken the attack pretty badly, lay low for a little while. But when the prick least expected it I’d make my move. Hit him right where it hurts. First, we’d hit his weapon caches that way his business would be fucked. Maybe while I’m at it I’d take out Ezekiel’s drug stashes. Two for the price of one. Maybe whilst I was it I’d threaten the ones they love, see how they like it.

Lunch time soon arrived and I hurried back to the dining room in the hopes of finding Roxy there. My heart sank at the empty room. She was still in her room. I didn’t know what to do. Talk to her or give her space. Women were complicated. I found Gwen in the hall playing with the dogs. Bisou barked and chased Zeus who had a tennis ball in his mouth. I sat down next to her on the staircase and Bisou came and sat by me, panting and wagging her tail. “She’s still in her room,” I spoke. “I know.”

“What the fuck do I do Gwen?” I was pretty desperate. “Talk to her dammit. Are you that stupid? Or do I have to do everything?” “She thought I was going to kill her last night.” Gwen sighed, “you’re not always the most approachable person.” “Gee thanks.” “Just go up there and try talking to her. Stop waiting for her to come to you.” I sighed, Gwen was right. I headed upstairs and to Roxys room. I knocked first, not getting any response. I felt almost...nervous.

“Roxy you mind if I come in?” I asked. Nothing. Just silence. Maybe she was sleeping. I couldn’t hear the shower running so there was no risk of walking in on her naked. I slowly opened the door to find her still in bed, on her side so her back was facing me. She must be asleep still. “You awake?” I asked quieter. I noticed her tense as if she were pretending extra hard to be asleep in the hopes that I would leave her alone. I decided to leave her too it. She'd talk to me when she was ready. In the mean time I'd send Gwen up with some food for her. I didn’t want her to starve herself.

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Gwen headed up later with a dinner tray, making a sarcastic remark about her being a bodyguard not a maid. I sat at the table, anxious for Gwen to come back down so she could tell me everything. She was gone for what felt like hours. Finally, Gwen came back downstairs with a half-cleared tray. I followed her to the kitchen, leaning against the work top. “So?” I asked. “She’s still a bit of a mess understandably.” “Anything I can do to help?” “Right now, she just needs to come to terms with things. Regardless of who you point the blame at she's gonna be blaming herself for a while. You just need to patient.”

I rubbed my eyes, trying to wrap my head around it. “There must be something I can do for her?” I questioned. “She’s not going to feel better overnight Negan. She's still shaken up from the fact she almost died last night. She’s afraid of going to her own home or even setting foot out of this house.” “Because of Rick?” Gwen nodded. “He's not gonna hurt her ever again. Nobody will,” I promised. “Try telling her that. Look I know your frustrated but this really is the best thing to do. If she does want something to happen between you two then I’m sure she'll come running. But only when she’s ready.”

Gwen placed her hand on my shoulder in a comforting manner and smiled softly. “Relax big guy. Things are gonna be ok,” she reassured. “Thanks Gwen.” “I’m always open to a pay rise for acting as therapist as well you know.” I chuckled before heading back to the office, I needed to continue going over the war plans, I needed to go through several ideas first before I found the best one. I couldn’t make one wrong move with this. They all had to go.

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The next few days Roxy either remained in her room or made an effort to avoid me. The silence between us was being pretty unbearable now. Even Bisou wasn't herself because I wasn't. Enough was enough we needed to talk. I headed up to her room and knocked not that I expected a response. I didn’t get one so I just headed straight inside. The room was empty. I frowned, finding a sheet of paper strategically placed on the bed. She wanted me to find this. I could feel my heart hammering against my chest, I was afraid of what that note was going to say but I had a pretty good idea.

Negan I’m sorry to do this to you in note form, another act of cowardliness on my part. I’m leaving town for a while just while things are still a mess. Don’t worry about me I'll be staying with my mother for the time being. I don’t think I'll be coming back and I’m sorry. I wish things were different between us I really do but you at least deserve someone who isn’t afraid to tell you the truth. I'll miss you and the girls at the club but this I something I must do. Goodbye Roxy

No. Fuck no. She was not leaving me. No fucking way. Fuck. I ran back downstairs, calling for Gwen. I guess the panic in my voice made her come faster. “What? What’s wrong?” She asked. “We need to get to the train station. Now.” “Will you tell me what’s going on?” “In the car. Come on.” Gwen and I got into the car and Gwen headed for the station. I explained the contents of the note and Gwen proceeded to put her foot down on the gas pedal.

I clung to the handle, of the car as my brain went into complete panic mode. I couldn’t lose her. I’d already lost the first love of my life, I wasn’t going to just let this one go. It still hurt to even think about the night I lost Lucille. It was my fault. I hadn’t been able to protect her. Lucille had gotten shot by a rival gang member. She’d bled out in the backseat of my old car as I had her strewn across my lap trying to keep pressure on the wound as Gwen drove us to the hospital. I’d been covered in her blood and for days it felt like no matter how much I showered I could still feel it on me. I would not make the same mistakes with Roxy.

The journey felt like hours, when in reality it was ten minutes. Gwen didn’t even bother to park the car as she drove straight to the entrance. I bolted out the car and ran inside, searching frantically for any sign of that long blonde hair. No sign of her. I headed out to the crowded platform and finally spotted her. I shoved my way through the people, ignoring the tutting and glares. I reached out for her, grabbing her wrist. She turned to face me, her face falling. “I was hoping you wouldn’t chase after me like some romance novel cliché,” she spoke. “Just talk to me, please. We’ll get coffee and talk this over. If you still want to leave afterwards then I guess there’s nothing I can do to stop you.” Roxy thought it over for a minute. She was going to say no. She was going to leave and I was never going to see her again.

She sighed, “one coffee.” I smiled and led her out of the crowd and over to the small café. She picked a secluded table where we would be able to talk without the risk of people over hearing us. I ordered the coffee and brought them over to the table. I sat down opposite her, my hands wrapped around the white mug. “I don’t know what you expect from me Negan. After everything that happened and you still want me around? I could have gotten you killed,” Roxy spoke. I noticed that she also was using her coffee as a hand warmer instead of actually drinking it. “Do I have to spell it out for you? I want to be with you. I’m falling head over fucking heels for you and I can’t let you go. I just can’t,” I explained.

Roxy’s shoulders slumped as if the meaning of my words was the worst news she’d received. Her eyes glassed over and she swallowed hard in the hopes of keeping composure. “You don’t mean that,” she replied. “I do. I’m in love with you.” With that tears began to roll down her cheeks. She didn’t feel the same way, that’s why she was crying. All this for nothing. I guess that’s what I get for wearing my heart on my sleeve. “I’m scared to love you, because every time I do something bad happens. I thought after the Ruby incident that I would be able to stay away but I can’t. I let you get close again and then almost got you killed. It just feels like everyone else is saying we shouldn’t be together,” She explained.

I reached over and took her hands in mine, gripping them tightly as if I was afraid to let go of her. “You don’t need to be afraid anymore baby girl. Fuck what everyone else says or thinks. I swear on my life that nobody’s ever going to hurt you again,” I promised, kissing her knuckles. Her expression softened and she managed a small smile. I cupped her cheek and used my thumb to wipe away her tears. She relaxed into my touch, closing her eyes in a content manner. I leaned over the table and kissed her softly at first before putting as much love and devotion as I could manage into the kiss. I cupped her face with both hands, Roxy’s hands coming up to cover my own as she kissed me back with the same devotion.

I didn’t want to pull away, afraid this would be the last time I would be able to kiss her. That this was her final goodbye. God when the fuck had I turned into such a soppy shit? Then again, I remember Lucille had brought out this side in me. Finally, we both pulled away and I waited for her next move. She held my hands in hers and smiled. “I’m gonna need to call my mother and tell her that I’ve had to cancel. Running off into the sunset with the man of my dreams just popped up,” Roxy said, her smile turning into a goofy grin. It took a lot of self-control to not flip the table out of my way and pick her up bridal style to spin her round happily.

Instead we both got up, leaving our still full coffee cups on the table and left the train station hand in hand. Gwen was still parked by the front entrance. She smiled when she saw us but chose to remain silent as Roxy got into the back of the car. She could save the smart mouth comments for another time.

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#negan #negan fanfiction #negan fanfic #negan fanfics #neganxoc #neganxroxy #ultraviolence #negan feels #negan angst #negan fluff #negan smut #mafia negan #negan au #walking dead #walking dead fanfiction #walking dead smut #walking dead au #walking dead mafia au #Jeffrey Dean Morgan