#(I almost mentioned Circe actually but since a lot of people seem to have done so I though I would 'promote' another book ;)

[naarlar]

quick edit: I assumed it was obvious but apparently I need to be clear: I don’t hate hades 2 (I’m actually quite excited for it). I know it’s in early access and that all this criticism/analysis could be out of date or wrong by the time the game is done. I am just a person with too much time on my hands wanting to discuss some initial thoughts I’ve had with the game so far (especially since at the same time I’m also replaying hades 1)

look I’m sorry I’m doom posting a little about hades 2 I swear I don’t hate it or anything (honestly I hope I’m proven wrong) but I am a little concerned about some things, here are the top ones in my head:

Hot spring scenes are kinda weird. There I said it. “Oh back in Ancient Greece people bathed together all the time” Artemis literally has killed men for accidentally (not even on purpose) peeping at her and her huntresses. That spring scene with Odysseus is so weird. Like he knew her back when she was a wee baby. Pretty sure Nemesis did too. Like ://////

Speaking of Odysseus, sue me maybe I’ve been listening to too much Epic the Musical (context this musical does not portray Odysseus as a cheater) but Odysseus being so disconnected from Penelope and Telemachus is so disappointing. Like I get it, my man is a bit of a manwhore but like… everything he did in the Odyssey was to get back to them. Especially since you can make a solid argument that his “cheating” in the Odyssey with Circe and Calypso can be considered rape as both women had immense power over him as goddesses and essentially threatened to hurt him/his men if he disobeyed. Sooooooo yeah Odysseus’ characterization seems kind of flat? Like no where near as good as Achilles’ (lowkey I am also terrified the reason they wrote Penelope out of the plot was to make fan service between Melinoë and Odysseus and with the hot spring scene I am so scared right now)

I mentioned it in a previous post so I won’t rant too long but I feel Mel’s lack of proper motivation throughout her fight against Chronos is weird? Like she doesn’t know anyone from the house of hades. She even says as much to Hecate that she hardly knows them and sees her as her mother. Which isn’t a bad thing necessarily, maybe part of Mel’s story is about learning to see herself as more than a weapon in this fight. But like… the problem is that she doesn’t have a personal motivation to the fight against Chronos… which is like the core point of the game???

Some of the art design is weird. Yes we are in early access so this can be explained later but some of the designs are weird. Chaos (don’t get me wrong they look AMAZING and beautiful) doesn’t look like Primordial Chaos, they look like some guy? And yeah sure there are some theories as to why but it still takes away from the sheer presence Chaos had in the previous game. Chronos straight up looks like an Egyptian god not Greek.

A lot of the relationships and story is rather straightforward and could do with more nuance. It’s all just “death to Chronos” and that’s it essentially. For example, with Meg and Zag their relationship was complex (a bit toxic) and interesting. Meg had reasons to be upset with Zag and Zag had to push forward regardless so he can find his mom. With Nem and Mel in contrast it just seems like Nem is really salty that Mel gets to go down and kill Chronos and… that’s kinda pathetic? It takes away from her badassery cause this grown ass goddess is literally complaining to a young goddess about something beyond her control. and Nem says some messed up things to Mel too. And in general I feel it’s like this (with Odysseus too, nowhere near the relationship Achilles and Zag had) is the case with the other relationships too (except Hecate and Mel, that is super wholesome and cute :3)

Eris is a cool character but her curses are such a stupid mechanic and it honestly feels like it is a way to make first time perfect runs almost impossible which is stupid because why would you design your game around the rare select few people that will speed run it??

Overall I am well aware I am being rather critical and over analyzing an early access version of the game, so I am going to keep an open mind. However I do stand by my thought that the game so far at least in my opinion isn’t completely living up to its predecessor, at least from a story perspective.

#anyways goodnight #imma stop here #anyone who read this entire flipping thing my hat is off to you like this is such a large rant #pomegranate rants #hades #hades game #hades 2 #hades 2 spoilers #spoilers

[okilokiwithpurpose]

9 books

Thank you @cha-melodius for tagging me 💗

Here come 9 books (among so many) I really like. I now realise I probably wrote too long comments about them. Sorry for that!

The Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb (as well as the following series, including the Liveship Traders and the Realm of the Elderlings) It took my sister months to convince me to start reading this series (not that I wasn't interested, but it represents a big chunk of reading and therefore a big commitment) but, well, it was definitely worth it! Love the worldbuilding, the different sorts of magic, the different cultures... And yes, even if he sometimes makes the dumbest decisions, I do like Fitz a lot too!

Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie I love whodunit mysteries! I could basically have chosen any other of Hercule Poirot's many investigations. In this one, he reinvestigates a murder that was supposedly solved 16 years ago. All he has to work with are the accounts of the five main witnesses... who of course each tell him their personal version of the story!

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton A whodunit mystery in an old English manor with a side dish of time loop... I was expecting to like this book but I ended up loving it (and kind of made all of my family read it).

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke I'm not sure how to describe this book. It is fantasy, yes but there's something strangely eatheral, atmospheric about it. The poetry of Piranesi's house itself, with its endless corridors, it's statues and the tides... and the mystery surrounding the "other"... Loved it a lot!

The Time Patrol Series by Poul Anderson Yay for a bit of sci fi! Time patrollers are appointed to protect the course of history (and thus preserving a future in which men's far fetched descendants can create the Time Patrol!). It may remember something to my fellow Loki fans (watching Loki s1 sure made my mind race back to the Time Patrol). Though here, there are no time branches, and most missions consist in stopping other time travellers from making a mess. The first novels date back to the 60s and, though it aged a bit, the worldbuilding is nice, the stories play nicely with the possibilities of time travel and you can feel the author made research about the (past) periods we visit.

Brutus: The Noble Conspirator by Kathryn Tempest This one is a biography (well, as much of a biography it is possible to make using the scarce and often biased ancient sources available, as the author explains very well). I have a thing for history and the end of the Roman Republic is such an interesting period to read about - such his the figure of Brutus (yes, that Brutus) who doesn't always get a lot of attention! (also, I happen to have bought that book in the Coliseum's bookshop during that trip to Rome I had wanted to do for almost 15 years!!)

L'Eau des collines [The Water of the Hills] by Marcel Pagnol I had to read the first novel ("Jean de Florette") for school as a teenager and, well, I used to dislike compulsory readings out of principle and was not sure the story would passionate me anyway (it is about Jean, a clerk who inherits a farm and decides to start a new life there, while the locals keep seeing him as "a stranger from the city"). And yet, once I finished it, I had to go on and read the second novel ("Manon des Sources", about Jean's daughter).

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles First, I loved the cover (the one with lovely plant and animal illustrations), then I loved the book! What's not to love about a stiff barronet and a chief smuggler falling in love (after having been sex buddies) in the early 1800s? Somehow, it gave me some warm and cosy feelings - and I learned a few things about gold trafficking during the Napoleonic wars too...

The Scholomance Series by Naomi Novik Ok, I only recently finished the first book in this series ("A Deadly Education") but...I am in love?! The Scholomance is a magical school build to protect young wizards from all the lovely creatures who want to devour them. There are no teachers, no holidays, barley any contacts with the outside world - which doesn't prevent a few hungry creatures from getting in, and every students know better than to let their guard down... ok, my summary is not doing it justice (and doesn't convey how fun it can be thanks to El, the narrator) but, well, this is good and I can't wait to read the rest of the series! I also learned that the author is one of the founders of AO3 so thank you queen!!!

No pressure tag: @bebx @dewdropreader @faylights @im-not-corrupted @loki-is-my-kink-awakening @magiclovingdragon @mirilyawrites@samsalami66 @wolfpup026

#thank you for tagging me 😊 #(I almost mentioned Circe actually but since a lot of people seem to have done so I though I would 'promote' another book ;) #cha-melodius #@cha-melodius #tag game #books #other

[sodamnbored]

I so badly want a Roman prequel series. More than a Solangelo book. There could be so many great things in it.

Ideally, we’d get a series, basically original PJO but on the Roman side, presumably then following Jason in the same way we originally followed Percy.

But that would just be rehashing what we’ve already seen! Jason’s story would be too similar to Percy’s! - I hear you cry. But bear with me.

Yes: there would be some big similarities - following a son of one of the big three as he grows up and masters his powers and all that. And yes it would also conclude with him fighting a titan. But! I also think they’re different enough that it would read more as parallels than just copy and paste. It could be really interesting.

For one thing: Jason is starting way earlier than Percy. And I am desperate to know about the wolves thing. Correct me if I’m wrong, but all the info we have thus far is pretty vague, no? We know he went to the wolves when he was about two years old. But we don’t really know how long he stayed with them.

There’s the idea that he was raised by wolves (which don’t get me wrong I love that) and only went to the Legion when he was older - for parallels sake say about twelve. But we don’t know that’s the case for sure. He might’ve just spent the more or less normal time period with the wolves, or even if he were there longer than most - a year, two years even - he might’ve toddled off to camp still pretty young.

Cause this is another thing: we know very little about Camp Jupiter. In CHB you see for a fact that there are plenty of young demigods there, talking ten and under. Unless I’m mistaken, we never really heard mention of any little kids in the Legion right? Hazel was what, thirteen, in SoN, which is fairly young, but I don’t think there was any mention of anyone much younger than that. There was the little girl helping Terminus, but she was from New Rome not the Legion. And the Legion isn’t a summer camp of course, that’s a crucial difference.

They are quite literally an army, preparing for war should one ever arise. So do they have a minimum age requirement? Would not be unreasonable to assume they would. We know the majority of Legionaries are legacies from New Rome as opposed to actual half bloods, so it’s not unreasonable to think these kids live normal lives in New Rome until they hit a certain age and get conscripted/have the option to join the Legion for training.

If this is the case, then Jason might not’ve been with the wolves for years at all. He could’ve done his time and then been passed along to the care of New Rome. Set up somewhere to go to school and grow up and have something of a life to prepare him for his future in the Legion. That would be an interesting difference from Percy who had grown up not knowing about his heritage, for Jason to be fully aware of his godly parentage and to grow up knowing he was heading to the Legion as soon as he was old enough. I’m not sure about timings because in The Lost Hero pretty sure he’s fifteen and has twelve lines on his tattoo “for twelve years of service in the Legion” according to the wiki; but the wiki for the tattoos alone says the lines can be for years at Camp Jupiter or for completed quests and such, so it could mean he was toddling about CJ at three years old in mini Legionnaire armour like Caligula (oh the irony), or just that he crammed a crap load of cool stuff into just a few years when he was older.

So the series could quite happily start with him joining the Legion and maybe just summarise his life before that, have the important parts explained as relevant to the plot, I dunno. But it would give us more info on how Camp Jupiter actually works because personally I am clamouring for more info on the Romans.

Presuming that Jason is at least a Probatio by the time he’s about twelve (and it’d be cool to see him earn his full place in the legion too), that also means we’d get to see other people’s stories happening alongside his.

We know he fought the Trojan Sea Monster at some point, so that would be a cool quest to see play out. We don’t know a lot of other things he’s done, but we can assume he’d have been in the Legion when Reyna turned up, which would also be a really interesting story to follow.

We know from tSoM that Reyna and Hylla were on Circe’s island, when Percy was about 12/13, and it seems in SoN that he and Reyna were both around the same age, 16 or so. We know Reyna and Hylla spent some time after tSoM on Blackbeard’s ship before she made it to Camp Jupiter. So somewhere between ages 12-16, she would pop up at camp and I firmly believe she would’ve been Jason’s friend before they both became Praetors. And I would kill to see it. I wanna see them go on a quest together so badly. They would be an awesome team.

But we’d get to see Jason go through the steps, Probatio to Centurion to Praetor. We’d see him improving the Fifth Cohort’s standing in the Legion. We’d see Reyna become Praetor. (We’d ideally see Jason and Octavian gently bitch at each other like with Percy, but that’s just for me.) We’d get to see Jason and Reyna being Praetors together for a bit hopefully. That would be cool. And no doubt the series would conclude with their side of the Titan War, with Krios’ defeat - which would be so cool to see!

Being able to see more of their side of the war would also be really interesting as well. Because surely, there was more to it for them than just that one battle out of nowhere right? They must’ve been aware of the war and enlisted by the gods to help out right? Maybe there were some other titans for them to fight, maybe they had defectors too? Perhaps they were under the impression Kronos was still chopped up in little bits and Krios was running the show, either wanting to take Kronos’ place as the big cheese, or thinking the titans were working to reform Kronos, but they were kept out of Luke’s side of things so they didn’t realise that he already had been? Who knows. Certainly not me, cause we don’t have any books on it.

And there would be opportunities to have almost crossovers. Particularly regarding the war. They might just overhear things that don’t necessarily make sense to them but that we get, stuff like that. See some aftermath from one of Percy’s visits to the area. So many options.

Oh also actually, just for added angst and a different view than Percy’s, there was that freaking tragic bit in HoH I think where Jason thinks about his mother. The part about following orders and rules bothered him, but he insisted on doing so and keeping his promises because his mother had abandoned him and broken her promise. That would be an interesting aspect for the narration and his point of view because it’s the exact opposite of Percy. Percy doesn’t mind pushing the limits with the gods and exploiting loopholes or calling them on their faults, focused on surviving till the end of the day when he can go home to his mother and forget the gods and their stupid rules. Jason, on the other hand, doesn’t have anywhere to go back to. Camp Jupiter and the roles he’s given there are quite literally it for him, so even though he may resent it as much as Percy, he feels the need to bite his tongue and do everything in his power meet expectations and stay in line, etc. And yes, it’s for the benefit of others like he said in HoH, but maybe also the threat that if he makes too much trouble, where else is he gonna go and who else outside the Legion does he have?

Unfortunately we wouldn’t get to see Frank and Hazel come into it as newbies because that would’ve only happened after the war, so unlikely the series would continue after they beat Krios. But it’d still be a good set up to lead back into HoO alongside original PJO.

Also, I wanna know if Jason would’ve been particularly aware of his dad handing him off to Juno, or if she took a back seat until yoinking his memories out his head and dumping him on a dusty bus. I quite like the idea of him knowing, that she wouldn’t have been shy about popping up now and again as his patron, maybe sending him quests, offering occasional assistance like Poseidon did for Percy. Juno cared about her little champion, you can’t tell me different. I’d like to see her drop by from time to time. Or if he just accepted he was Jupiter’s and his dad basically never wanted to talk to him, and was a bit blindsided when Juno popped up after his hit on Krios.

Maybe he was just heading to bed after a long day of Titan slaying, thinking what he’d have for breakfast tomorrow and poof - Juno staring at him in his PJs, doesn’t he feel underdressed. Barely gets out an “um-?” before she’s like “got a quest for you. Surprise!”

(Since we got The Fall Of Jason Grace from Apollo in ToA, this series could be called something silly like The Rise Of Jason Grace to mirror it. I dunno.)

Either way, I need this. We deserve this. I will literally pay like 20$ per book if we could get this.

Wrote this hella sleep deprived and without sources and I’m still in ToA and haven’t read the extra books yet like demigod files and the Probatio one, so anything I’ve missed, had been answered, or is just plain wrong, let me know.

#imagine cute little baby Jason in his armour tho #Jason little boots grace #he’d have been cuter than Caligula #we urgently need Roman prequels #please rick #take all my money #just please #pjo verse #pjo fandom #pjo hoo #heroes of olympus #pjo headcanon #jason grace #camp jupiter #pjo Romans #reyna pjo #percy jackson #Praetor Jason is so interesting to me #I really wanna see it #I hope he was friends with Dakota #he could be their third on his quest with Reyna #heroes of olympus headcanons #hoo headcanon #jason grace headcanon #jason grace imagine #heroes of olympus imagines #hoo imagine #pjo imagine #baby jason #percy jackson headcanon

[opheliancano]

    ❝  and there's nothing like a mad woman         what a shame she went mad         no one likes a mad woman         you made her like that ❞

CORINTH TASK: HEADCANONS

Andromeda: Talk about your character’s relationship with their siblings (if they have any).

Ophelia does not have any biological siblings that she knows of. She had adoptive siblings, but never had a particularly close relationship with any of them, as she was treated more like a nanny than a daughter. Once she left her hometown she never had contact with them again. 

Asclepius: Talk about your character’s morality. How do they decide who is morally good and who is not? What does “good” mean to them?

Ohhhhh god. This is... a good question, with kind of a complex answer I’m not sure I can put well into words? Which is kind of funny, because as a fury, Ophelia is all about justice, and she thinks that she has a good moral center. But it’s also unquestionably been warped by her own personal experiences in her human life, like a distrust for authority figures/law enforcement and the belief that following human rules do not automatically equal being a good person. She has very much her own moral code which she holds others to, in whether she deems them a “good” or not. I think it honestly just comes down to vibes, as kind of ridiculous as it sounds. She gets a feel for people and decides off of that? Which... is not the best method probably, consider how easily Ophelia could probably be manipulated. She’s one of those people who subconsciously looks for the good in others, and wants to believe it, even if she herself isn’t aware of that fact. So it’d be more easy to fool her into believing someone is good when they’re not than it would an older fury, probably. 

Atlas: Talk about how your character deals with their “responsibility” to either side of the war for the veil, if they are aware of it.

I think Ophelia sort of views herself as above it all? She’s definitely aware of it happening, has seen the power struggle between the gods in the near-century that she’s been a fury. But the way she sees it is that however it shakes out, it doesn’t really concern her? Her job is to protect the human world against these creatures the gods created to be their soldiers. On one hand, the elimination of the veil and subsequently all the supernatural creatures of the world would make it infinitely safer for humans. On the other hand, would Ophelia be considered one of the creatures that would cease to be? She was created as a sort of checks and balances to keep others from running wild, but still created into something other none the less. The question of what would happen to her should the veil fall is unclear, and while it troubles her at times, since it’s out of her grasp, she’s done a pretty good job at shoving it down and ignoring it. Her job is what matters, ultimately. 

Charon: Talk about your character’s greatest fears.

It depends on what type of fear you’re looking for, honestly. If we’re talking global scale, it’d be that something happens to herself and the other furies, and then there’s nothing left to enact justice in the mortal world. But as of right now, that doesn’t seem like much of a possibility, so it’s more of a worst case scenario type fear. On a personal level, deep down she’s concerned that she’s not particularly good at being a fury. Ophelia is aware of the fact that she has a lot of feelings, sometimes too many, and is concerned it can conflict with her ability to serve her leader properly. As much as she likes to comfort Alexios that he’ll find his footing in this new life he’s stepped into, that it only takes time and practices, there are sometimes when she wonders if that’s true. She has enough righteous fury to cover the planet and then some, sure, and when she acts out her role as a harbinger of justice, there’s no feeling like it. But sometimes the waters can get muddy, where her own emotions get involved and she’s not quite sure what the right decision would be. And she worries that she’s failing in her duty.

Chronos: Talk about how your character deals with their past.

Sad and soft immortal hours baby. That’s basically it, to be honest. She’s very reminiscent, and can get hit with bouts of nostalgia by even the littlest of triggers. It’s not something she tries to run from or even suppress, unless caught at an ill-opportune time. Ophelia probably has the healthiest coping mechanism of any of my characters, because unlike the others, she doesn’t try to pretend like those feelings don’t exist, but embraces them willingly.

Circe: Talk about how your character deals with betrayal.

She’d be heartbroken. And vengeful. Ophelia naively believes that she is a good judge of character, that the people she surrounds herself with are good people at their core. Like mentioned above, her soul wants to believe in the decency of people, even when her head tells her otherwise, which is how she could almost easily find herself falling into the trap of trusting someone she shouldn’t. So long as they don’t have a neon I’M A EVIL PERSON sign over their head, she’s usually open to giving people a fair chance. To have someone betray that trust would absolutely be a crushing experience, and greatly damage Ophelia’s faith in herself and her ability as a fury; that she would become so blind as to be fooled, when she is suppose to be acting as a hand of justice to judge the character of those around her. Depending on the betrayal, and just how deep of a wound it inflicts, it could set forth a chain reaction of her questioning every decision she’s ever made in her life as a fury, and no longer trusting her instincts. And there would absolutely be hell to pay. In the literal sense. Don’t cross someone capable of dragging your ass to the Underworld for eternal torment. 

Eros: Talk about your character’s love life, and how they see “love.”

Ophelia is a romantic at heart. I honestly believe she’s one of those people who could fall in love with anyone, because that’s just the type of heart she has. She’s had two serious relationships, both of which happened in her human life, that she put her heart and soul into in a way that hasn’t happened since. She’s had flings and relationships over the years of her immortality, and I think a part of her has fallen in love with each of them a little bit, all in different ways. But ultimately, none have been to the degree of her second love. As of right now, her girlfriend from her human life was the love of her life, and she still looks back on those memories in fondness and longing. At the same time though, she’s not crippled by it, and it hasn’t keep her from experiencing those emotions again with anyone else unlike Lykaon’s stubborn ass. She’s open to it, basically. Romanticizes it. 

Euryale: Talk about someone’s death that would hit your muse the hardest, or their greatest loss.

I don’t think Ophelia’s been exposed to much death, really. Not at least in terms of physically witnessing it. The one that hit her hardest would be the death of her first love, a soldier boy who died in World War I, but even then it almost seemed... unreal? That because there was never a body to bury that came back, she didn’t really have to acknowledge it. The same thing with her second love, the woman she knew in Chicago. Though rationally Ophelia thinks her to be dead at this point, under the assumption she lived out a normal human life, she never had to witness it firsthand. When or if it actually happens, I imagine it’ll be a sort of a reality shock. I could honestly see her even trying to travel to the Underworld to bargain with the furies for the soul of the person, if it’s someone she particularly cares about, or at least trying to seek permission to walk them through their passage into the afterlife. Losing any of the other furies would absolutely break her, but fortunately, their species is immortal with no known methods of killing them yet. 

Hektor: Talk about how your character deals with something that is out of their control.

There is very little Ophelia feels like she cannot control, in one way or another. Thus, when faced with such a problem, it perturbs her like nothing else. When something is truly, completely out of her hands, her method of dealing with it is to just ignore it. If she chooses not to acknowledge it, then it can’t affect her, right? Right. Excellent logic there.

Lamia: Talk about what other species your character would be/wants to be.

She’s very happy to be a fury, and I don’t think Ophelia would willingly trade it away for anything else. Despite the doubts she might have on whether she’s particularly good at it, she’s very grateful that Megaera gave her this gift, and would not give it up for anything. That being said, if I had to pick something else for her, when I was first playing with her character model I had her as a vampire. I think it would be interesting to mix in her strong sense of justice with a creature that’s less morally-aligned than furies are, especially one that has to feed on others to survive. Ophelia would probably be one of those vampires that’s constantly at war with her own nature, and yet using her compulsion as freely as she uses her mental manipulation currently. In her mind, she’d see herself as the hero of the story, but whether that would align with what others would view as “good” is... an interesting idea. 

Lethe: Talk about if your character would rather forget certain memories or hold on to them.

Ophelia would not give up any of her memories, not even the bad ones. Again, she’s very nostalgic by nature. Her thought process is that without the bad memories, the good ones would not hold so much meaning. You can’t experience true happiness without experiencing true sadness first, and all that type of philosophy. 

Medea: Talk about your characters thoughts on redemption, and if they think they need it or are worthy of it.

She is a big believer in redemption, though with her role as a fury, she does not think herself in need of it as Ophelia already views herself as on the right side. 

Philotes: Talk about your character’s best friends and what friendship means to them.

Again, undoubtedly the furies. @selaxamin and @alexiosflorus, in particular, although that’s easy to say when they’re the only other ones currently in the group right now. But even with others, I think it’d be true. Sela was the one that took Ophelia under her wing when she first became a fury, fulfilling the mentor role that Ophelia now serves as for Alexios. There’s few who she looks up to so reverently as Sela, and almost no one whose opinion she values more. And Alexios she’s almost completely adopted as her son, at this point. Outside of the furies, a few friends that she’s made that she’s already beginning to care a great deal for (or will come to care for) would be @silaskyun, @ajaxgriffin, @leonidaskaratasos, @winterdupont, and maybe @atlasxrose. Ophelia has never had a problem making friends wherever she goes, because the display she puts on most of the time is that of a charming, kind young woman. 

(The) Phonoi: Talk about your character’s view on murder.

Mixed. Unjustified murder is bad, obviously. She doesn’t have to be a follower of Tisiphone to know that. But at the same time, a murder can be justified. Like someone acting in retribution for a wrong. So long as it’s justifiable, or she can reason it, then Ophelia can condone it. There was actually a meme I answered on this scenario, where she walked in on Atlas committing a murder, and honestly it’s pretty accurate to how she would respond, especially if it were someone that she cares about. You can read it here if you want.

Ponos: Talk about what would make your character emotionally break.

Again, I feel like betrayal would be pretty high up there. But also, like previously mentioned as well, witnessing the death of someone she cared about. 

Tartarus: Talk about your character’s view on retribution.

It’s her whole thing, baby. What she’s been put on this earth to do. Retribution is a big part of who Ophelia is, to the point where if she witnesses an injustice happening, she cannot rest until she corrects it. It does not matter whether it happens to her, someone she knows, or even a stranger on the street. She cannot abide by immorality that harms others unnecessarily, and if the person that was wronged is unable to enact justice themselves, then she will be the one to do it. 

#corinth.task #&. — musings #&. — headcanons #&. — char inspo #will i be sticking folklore lyrics on the top of each of these? maybe so

[ladyshilya]

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Season 3

I watched season 3, while it wasn’t a bad season and I enjoyed it. There are some aspects of the season that were just a let down. 

I really thought it was going to take most of the season to get Nick back.  The fact it happened in the first episode seems rushed.  I would have been much happier with this taking longer to happen. 

Also they make Sabrina, Queen of Hell way too fast.  I feel like that is something though should have happened at the end of the season.  I feel like that aspect of the season felt like too much.  It was just something added in so they could uncover the Unholy Regalia. I am sure they could have found a way to bring those items so they could be used with the time egg differently.  Wait, they could have found something that mentions using the those items to power the time egg.  Yes, I know that is the easy way out but come on they have their own stone circle like Stonehenge under the academy.  

This season really just dropped the ball on some characters like Lilith, The Dark Lord and Father Blackwell.  I get it wanting a different threat but then don’t have these characters involved.  At least don’t give them major aspects in the story line only to barely use them and destroy any characters arcs they previously had.  I would have been fine with them bring the major villains of the season again.  The whole coven losing powers because of Lucifer being dethroned was a big deal.  They could have done some much more with it. Hell, Lilith was so passive the whole season until she got Father Blackwell to knock her up.  Which was a great move to prolong her life.  I really want to see what everyone is going to do about this baby next season and what chaos it will cause.  

I did like the introduction of other kinds of magic since that is a real thing. At the same time they had Pan who is God worshiping another God? I feel like Pan should be able to do more then make people go crazy.  EDIT: as I have learned from some research The Green Man is associated with Pan.  Basically he was getting people to worship himself.  They had a gorgon just to have one running around. A living snake who was no where near as cool as she could have been.  Circe who they basically downplayed her other magic skills because she is great at hebalism. Granted they left in the fact she can transform people into animals, that was good. 

Robin Goodfellow is the other name for Puck.  One of the most mischievous Fae’s out there.  He was so boring.  I happy he was a love interest for Theo and that he did the right things had helped the group in the end. He could have been so much more fun. Also was I the only person who didn’t care if Ros and Harvey had sex?  Really, didn’t need all that screen time.

I am happy they called in the Hedge Witches and looks like we should be seeing more of them.  Mama Mambo is a great a addition and looks like she will be a lot of fun as a character.  I am curious to see where things go now they are worshiping Hecate. 

I was not here for Hilda being turned into a spider and almost killing Dr. Cee.  That was heart breaking because I was happy they got engaged and that she has someone.  It just felt like a forced aspect of the show to give Hilda more screen time. I feel like they could have found something else better.

The whole Caliban thing was annoying.  Let’s be honest he was just there to give Sabrina a possible new love interest since things were failing with Nick.  Who was a major ass when he got back.

I get it he was dealing with a lot and he wasn’t handling it well. At the same time he needs to acknowledge he wasn’t handling shit right and make things right. Sabrina did go through a lot to bring him back.  Back to all the shit going on in Hell. Caliban really was there look pretty and give a reason for the Unholy Regalia.  I liked everything about the Unholy Regalia from having to find them to, to the guards, and having to them. One of the better aspects of the story. 

What I did not like was how without Sabrina, Armageddon basically happens and only she can fix it. That would make sense if Sabrina had more magic then being a witch. She was losing her powers the same as everyone else the coven.  Besides making Sabrina Queen of Hell there is no benefit to her being The Dark Lord’s kid. She has no extra abilities and well know she as celestial blood in her. All she did to save things was teleport everyone away and poison the Green God. Did anyone else think Gargoyle King when looking at it or was that just me?  And Sabrina might have messed with the Space Time Continuum with there being two of her. I am sure that is going to be a huge issue next season.

Also what was Sabrina wearing as Queen of Hell.  Lilith didn’t wear anything like that way does Sabrina have to?

Other thoughts I had while watching the show. Do all cheerleading squads in that area sing and dance? I don’t think I have ever heard any of them do an actual cheer. They basically made a reference to Pop’s, had a Southside serpent show up, mention the Blossom family and got to Riverdale. Does this mean we are going to see some kinda of a crossover? They did have Lucifer show up in the Crisis proving that a Netflix’s character can make an appearance. The creator of the Arrowverse shows does Riverdale and Sabrina. I am just saying it would be cool not to mention Archie is one of Sabrina’s love interests in the comics.

I didn’t like the fact they broke up the weird sisters. While Dorcus was the most boring of them I didn’t want her to die. I like the three of them together. I get it is needed for character growth and change. Prudence is going to be a very different person next season. I wonder what they are planning on doing with Judith and Judas since they were boring and just there this season. I would expect them to be powerful considering who their father is why not use them.

I want more Salem but I know the actress who plays Sabrina is allergic. He could show around other family members like when Ambrose had him guarding Hilda from the banchee. I love the fact this Salem is an actual ghoul or demon. It gives him so much more magical abilities. They need to be explored and used more.

Even with the issues of this season I am looking forward to next season. I am curious what the new coven will look like.  What Father Blackwell released from the time egg. How they are going to deal with two Sabrinas.  What is going to happen with Liltih being pregnant.  

#the chilling tales of sabrina #chilling adventures of sabrina #caos #caos season 3 #caos s3 #caos sabrina #caos spoilers #sabrina spellman #zelda spellman #hilda spellman #harvey kinkle #theo putnam #prudence night #ambrose spellman

[charlottestarchild]

Abuela Ayahuasca

I think it was about 3 or 4 years ago when I read about Ayahuasca in Time Magazine for the first time. What was described there sounded far from appealing or spiritual. The piece was about a Ayahuasca center somewhere in New York I believe, where groups of 20 people would come together to take the medicine and then all vomit into their buckets during the process. 

Since then, I came across Ayahuasca a couple of times in various conversations. One very good friend of mine started talking to me about it about a year ago and described it as a beautiful experience that heals the body and the mind. Slowly I started thinking that maybe there is more to it than the image of a group of people barfing violently I had carried in my mind since reading that article. 

But I was hesitant. I had been dealing with depression and burn out for a few years and I knew I was carrying a lot of baggage regarding my family, so I wasn’t sure if I wanted to open that “door” and see what’s behind it. By this description you can already tell what sort of an expectation I had. To me, taking Ayahuasca meant discovering something hidden. Something I didn’t know or wasn’t aware before. Like there was something locked down inside of me that was the reason for why I was just a shadow of myself, never enjoying the present moment, always ruminating. And if only I could open that door and see, everything would make sense and I would finally start to live my life. 

Another year passed and my friend told me that there would be a ceremony on the 27th of December. He mentioned it casually but I knew he mentioned it because he wanted me to go. He was certain it would be good for me. Heal my heart and align my mind. Well, that’s what I need right? It’s what I’ve been craving for. For someone or something to finally align my mind and stop me from overthinking every single bit and start to actually enjoy, treasure and value my life. 

So after a few weeks of sitting on the idea I decided to go for it. The only reason I was hesitating was because I was mortified of shitting my pants in front of other people or otherwise embarrass myself. And another part of me was afraid I would have an allergic reaction or lose my mind and come out of the experience a vegetable. But hey, no risk no fun. Maybe this is the step I need to take to be free. 

I asked my friend to sign me up and asked for some instructions. What to wear, what should I bring, should I stop eating at some point during the day? The first surprise was that the ceremony would go through the night starting 9pm and ending around 9am. Ok... one night in the jungle it is. I knew the place where the ceremony would be held. I had done a Temazcal there a few months back and thought it was a beautiful experience. I knew some of the people but was still nervous because my friend was not able to attend and be by my side (he didn’t have the money, 1500 pesos was just not in it for him right now). He assured me though that his family of friends would take could care of me. 

The day of the ceremony I felt slightly nervous. Still mostly worried I would end up in hospital. But at some point I decided to let go. I hitched a ride with another German who also went there and did it for the first time. What a comfort. 

We arrived and there was a circle of grass mats in a wide open area among beautiful trees. It was dark already so I couldn’t really see the faces of people and had no idea if I knew anyone or not. There was one familiar face though, a guy - super handsome - from the neighbouring village who met a year ago. I was pleasantly surprised that he remembered me. I sat next to the other German girl, who sat next to pretty guy and we waited for things to settle. It took quite some time and I’m guessing it took about 2 hours of sitting around before things started happening. 

The Shaman was from Ecuador and he came with a full entourage who were all sitting right next to us. His “wife and daughters” - which was puzzling me a bit because the 3 ladies right next to me all looked of the same age and it was hard to tell which was which. I could sense scepticism in the back of my head of the credibility of this bunch. One of the women had a small baby, I’m guessing 1 year old. 

The Shaman started explaining in Spanish and then translated a bit into English because there was one other foreigner among us. Me and the other German thought to speak enough to understand so we didn’t out ourselves as needing English translation. I felt a bit guilty for making the other foreigner feel like he’s the only one. Guess it would have made him feel better if he knew there’s other non native Spanish speakers. 

We were told that you always walk in a circle from left to right and usually you do a full circle before exiting the circe but because Ayahuasca is so strong and has its own ways it’s ok to just go from your place to the exit and back. One should still respect a few rules though, like not leaving the circle when chanting is going on and not crossing in front of someone who is barfing. There it was. Barfing. He said it. So that seems to be a thing indeed. 

He continued to explain that if you need to vomit you should do it straight in front of you. Apparently something to do with energy. Someone would then come and put soil on top of the vomit so not to worry. There would be two occasions where tobacco pipes will be smoked. In the beginning and the end of the ceremony and it is recommended to be present in the circle during those times. 

Ok. Leave the circle only from the inside walking left to the “exit” but not when someone is vomiting or chanting; if you need to vomit, just vomit. All clear. I think I’m ready.  

After quite a bit more talk and explanations on how the dry toilets work, the Shaman took the pipe and started saying his “prayers” and thank yous. Chanting started and then he would take the big glass jug filled with Bordeaux coloured liquid and start to distribute it going through the circle one by one, handing everyone a small shot glass full of the medicine. I’m 4th in line after the wife and 2 daughters. I take the glass, swallow the juice, it tastes bitter but not horrible. A small plate with slices of apple is passed on, apparently to help against the bitter taste. I chew on a slice. 

The Shaman walks the whole circle and serves everyone an equal portion of the medicine. And to my bewilderment, he also serves it to a few of the kids. I’m bad at guessing kids ages but I’d say they are around 8 or 9. I’m surprised, maybe a little shocked even. But hey, I’m not their parents and I’m not here to judge. I watch the Shaman finish the circle and sit down. We all sit in silence for a while and then the entourage starts chanting. 

At this point I’ve been sitting cross legged for probably 4 hours so I decide to lie down. 

I’m not sure how much time passes but suddenly I realize that I’m seeing things. My eyes are closed but I am surrounded by bright white light, more like I’m in an all bright white room and on the ceiling garlands of bright colors start to appear. Many colors, bright rainbow colors, it’s almost comic like, kind of what I always thought it must be to be on LSD. Once I realize that something is happening I force myself to open my eyes. I want to see what the world around me looks like high... So I slowly open my eyes, lying on my back on the ground and I look up towards the sky. I startle a little bit because the trees that are looming above me don’t look like trees anymore. They look more like woven nets or a mosaic made of geometrical shapes and they look like they’re looking at me, for a second I’m seeing a small monster sitting in the crown of the tree looking at me with curious eyes. I close my eyes again, gather some more strength and force myself to look again. And once I get over the initial scare I see how beautiful it looks. It’s a beautiful vision, hallucination and I start to smile at its beauty. Right that very moment when a smile forms on my lips a huge leave lands right on my face and I twitch to the side in shock and quickly wipe the leave off my face with my hand - we’re in the middle of the jungle after all, anything could have landed on my face. But it was just a leave and I start to relax again. I look up at the trees again and they still look beautiful. It’s a weird structure, kind of reminding me of the huichol beaded art that they sell here everywhere. There are no colors though, it’s almost only black and white. I smile again, smiling kind of takes an effort, I need to deliberately command my face muscles to “smile” and it feels like my face is made of rubber. 

After a while I decide that it’s time to get up. I can’t be sitting around all the time. So I make an effort to put myself up right to a sitting position. When I get up and look around it’s like everyone is in a trance, moving in wavy motions back and forth. The ground seems to be shifting as well. I think I hear someone barf. The whole scene is rather odd and I’m not sure I’m liking it. 

I sit upright for a while, looking around, looking at the fire in the middle of us. I can’t really tell for how long I sit there but at some point I feel like the hallucinations stopped and I have my wits together again. I look up at the sky, the trees and the trees just look like trees again. At some point I think I decide to lie down again. I’m feeling my body, kind of trying to see if I feel ill. But I seem to be feeling fine. Suddenly my stomach starts to squeeze but it’s not too bad. Then, lying down again, I start to feel different body parts, my legs, thighs, my hands, my face, it’s kind of tingling, numbing sensation. It feels kind of nice.  I think I’m drifting off into sleep. Suddenly I’m wide awake again and I feel incredibly drowsy and heavy. I thought I was done but out of the blue the medicine decided to kick me into the stomach. I am lying on my side and notice that I’m talking to myself in my head “I don’t want this anymore. Please, make it stop. I just want to go home. I don’t want this anymore”. I answer back to myself “stop whining, you wanted answers no try and live through this and make the best of it”. But my stomach isn’t having it and I realize I have to get to the toilet as soon as humanly possible. So in my utter delirium I get onto my feet and wobble out of the circle. It’s a miracle that I am not falling face flat into the flames of the fire pit that is right in front of me. I walk as fast as my legs carry me towards the dry toilet only to notice that it’s occupied. Fuck. Fuck it. I have to poop. I sit down next to the dry toilet building, pull down my pants just in time for explosive like poop to make its way onto the jungle floor. I squat on the ground and try not to wobble or topple over. I have no clue who is in the toilet and I couldn’t, literally, give less of a shit about that person hearing me shit loudly like I never shat before. At some point the person leaves the dry toilet and walks by me. I look to the floor for him or her not to see my face. I wipe my but with a piece of paper I find in my pants pocket and make my way into the now available dry toilet. But I’m done. I sit for a while and then get back to the circle, again wobbling like I’m made out of rubber, passing people vomiting (fuck the rule of not passing someone who is vomiting), I need to get back to my place and sit / lie down.  

I’m not sure what happens next. I think I fall asleep. I’m done. None of this is fun anymore. People left and right are barfing like there’s no tomorrow, loudly as if they’re throwing up their intestines. I feel sorry for them. 

I hear a baby crying. Right, one of the Shaman’s harem ladies had a baby with her. It’s crying. And someone is comforting it but it sounds like the person is doing it too harshly. I’m worried. And annoyed. How could someone be so irresponsible to bring a baby into this circle of hallucinations and projectile vomit? Everyone in the circle drank the Ayahuasca. Everyone. Not a single person stayed sober. What if someone needs help? Who would be able to drive to the hospital? All sorts of things could happen. 

The Shaman asks once or twice if anyone wants more Ayahuasca and a few people say yes. 

Some more time passes and I drift in and out of sleep. I think the worst part is over. I feel ok. Rather sober in fact. I listen to the chanting. It’s beautiful. Also the other people around me seem to be sobering up. 

The wife of the Shaman is walking around the circle with a fan made of eagle feathers, doing some cleansing ritual. When she’s done, she grabs the jug of Ayahuasca and proclaims that now, we will all have the last round of Ayahuasca and that, although not mandatory, it is strongly recommended that everyone takes some. She’s saying it in her rooster, cocky kind of way, kind of jokingly but with an authority that I don’t feel she deserves. 

She starts to make the round. I’ve made up my mind that I will not have any more of this devils potion. “No valio la pena” as the Mexican would say. Not worth it. I just got over feeling super shit and happy it’s over. So when she reaches me, I politely smile at her and say “no gracias”. She looks at me in astonishment and talks to me like I’m a small child, insisting I take some more. It’s just a little sip and I will be surrounded by beautiful flowers and love and I should have some. Have some. She pushes the shot glass in my face and push-over as I am, I take the glass and swallow the brew. I’m annoyed. This is my first time and a no should be a no. WTF. 

I’m only hoping that the tiny bit won’t really do much. And it actually doesn’t. No hallucinations and I only feel a little nauseous at some point. I don’t even need to poop. Well, how could I, there is no chance there’s anything left in my stomach. So after I feel safe that no further run to the bathroom is required I decide I’m ending this and go to sleep. I manage to sleep quite well. I even have a dream but I can’t remember what it was after waking up. 

The sky looks like we must be getting closer to sun rise. What a relieve. This feeling is confirmed by the Shaman preparing the tobacco pipe. “We will have two tobacco ceremonies - at the beginning and the end” he said. So this must be the end. He prepares the pipe, takes a puff and starts to talk. And talk. And talk. And talk. I am sure, some of it, if not a lot of it is lost in translation. But I’d like to believe that my understanding of Spanish is good enough by now to be able to tell that what he is saying is of absolutely no substance. All I hear is “let’s be grateful for our sea, mountains, trees, .... listing all possible natural elements.... for our family, our cousins, mothers, fathers, kids, .... listing all possible relatives... and he says that in various ways in what seems an endless loop. Finally he passes the pipe on to the next person. The wife of the owner of the land we’re on. And while I thought “well, she’s surely gonna cut it short since he was rambling for like ever, she too, goes into an endless monologue of gratefulness. I mean like, she talks for 15min non stop. 

I don’t want to sound like an asshole here but I am exhausted and all this talk really doesn’t speak to me. The few words that my friend Memo usually says during his Yoga classes seem so much more meaningful to me than this endless bla bla of statements that seem so utterly self explanatory that I just don’t see the point. This is preaching to the quire out of the books. 

After the pipe finally makes it’s way back to the Shaman it seems we’re nearing the end of the ceremony for real. We’re all awake now, nobody is barfing anymore and nobody seems to have taken any major damage. Even the baby and the kids are fine. 

Water is being passed around. Which again turns into a ritual of endless talking before the first person actually gets to take a sip. The person passing around the water is the owner of the land, my good friend Memo’s friend and the person Memo would say would also make sure that I am fine. When he finally gets to me and passes me the water, I make eye contact and say thank you for the water, we shake hands, say “buenas dias” like he did with everyone and he moves on. Wouldn’t it have been nice of him to ask “how are you? everything ok”. But no. He chit chatted with others but he didn’t seem bothered to inquire about my wellbeing. Fair enough.  

They’re inviting us to stay for the Temazcal which will be prepared within 1,5h but right now I think I just want to go home. Not even so much because I feel exhausted, but because I don’t feel comfortable. I don’t feel like anyone in this round was particularly interested in me feeling comfortable. After I came back from the bathroom, it seems my alarm went off and so my phone had been ringing. A lady pointed at my bag and snapped at me “your phone has been ringing for like 5min”. It’s 8.02 so as a matter of fact it had been ringing for 2min. Which can be annoying, I get it but the ceremony was over, people were standing around and chatting. It’s not like it went off in the middle of the ceremony. 

And besides, before ANYONE ELSE, it was the Shamans wife who took her phone out first thing after the ceremony officially ended. Give me a break. 

It’s funny how even in supposedly spiritual situations like this I study and analyze the people around me. Or more like, how some people stand out for better or worse. There was pretty guy, gay guy, red head gringo guy and there was the Colombian girl who so obviously wanted to be “teachers favorite” that it really annoyed me. The way and the kind of questions she asked and everytime the “mic would be opened to the public” meaning other people than the Shaman and his close circle could speak she would start to speak so fake poetically that I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. And of course at the end of her speech she would start crying. Oh my. 

But also the wife of the Shaman was, in my honest and very personal opinion, full of Bullshit. A pretty woman, no doubt, and very aware of it she would walk around the circle like a all too proud rooster. And at times, she would even interrupt the Shaman. I might have to give her benefit of doubt due to language barrier but sometimes she would bluntly interrupt the Shaman and she would kind of make a joke of what he had just said. You know, the kind of like when someone says “The sky is blue” and the other person kind of goes like “blue, eh?” as if to say “aren’t you just stating the obvious”. 

So what do I think about all this now that a few days have passed? I think my conclusion is that it was an interesting but not a very nice experience. 30 people are way too many people to have an intimate experience. Sure, if you know all 30 and consider them your friends then you might feel alright and comfortable. But for a stranger, it really didn’t work. Neither did I feel save, nor particularly welcome or taken care of. And some things just seemed like bullshit too me. At least I didn’t feel like it was an authentic experience. Maybe if the Shaman would have been on his own yes, but the whole entourage around him - I didn’t get that. I don’t understand for example how his wife had the authority to pass around the medicine. She liked her role way too much and that’s the problem. She was playing a role. 

As for the actual medicine. It wasn’t worth the trouble. The little hallucinations I had didn’t feel spiritual in any way. I didn’t feel like I learned something new about myself or felt more connected to nature in any way. And just for some pretty rainbow colors and monsters in trees I don’t need to be surrounded by barfing people for a whole night. 

I also couldn’t really say that it would have helped me afterwards with any of my conditions. Quite the opposite. I found myself propelled back into a major depression, my skin issues flaring up again big time. Things I had worked hard to get over and instead of helping me progress I felt I made 5 steps back. 

All in all, I don’t regret having done it but definitely feel like I could have spent my time and money more wisely. Maybe I’ll just get a nice massage next time. 

#ayahuasca #spiritualjourney #mexico #shaman #medicine #drugs #ancient medicine #ecuador #authentic #self love #nature

[81scorp]

Constructive criticism: Wonder Woman 1984

Ah yes, Wonder woman, the first time Wonder woman got her own (live action) movie, and also the first DCEU movie that was made competently.

After the positive response it looked like the course was clear for a sequel. A sequel was made and... it looks like the (by the time I`m writing this) latest DC movie embraced the tradition, that started with the first DCEU movies, of being divisive.

The tone was very different from the first WW movie, but taking that aside... there were still more problems.

And I`m not just talking about the controversy of Steve Trevor possesing the body of another man and taking it out for a spin without the man`s consent.

From what I`ve heard Patty Jenkins wanted to capture the spirit of Richard Donner`s Superman but it seems she instead recreated the spirit of the Richard Lester movies.

With a tiny pinch of rapiness.

I have a confession to make: I haven`t actually seen this movie, because I don`t have HBO Max, but I`ve heard about the plot from several movie reviewers on youtube. And from what I´ve heard, it sounds like this one is worthy of getting the old CC treatment from ol`Scorpy.

Before I rewrite WW 1984 I want to say something about the first WW.

In my editorial "DCEU in general" I wrote that there was a only a tiny thing that I wanted to change. I`d like to add one more thing: Sir Patrick should not have been Ares.

Here`s how I would have changed it.

When Sir Patrick shows up in the tower and Diana uses her lasso on him he reveals that he is in fact Hermes, the messenger of the gods. The real Ares is still alive, imprisoned in a dungeon somewhere. The gods of olympus are still alive, they have just distanced themselves from the mortals. Diana is meant to be an agent that takes care of all the mess that the gods themselves have caused. Since Ludendorff is a disciple of Ares it technically means that it`s a job for Wonder Woman, it was Hermes job to get her out on the field and into the war. Since Ludendorff is dead now it means that Diana has finished her mission. What she does now is up to her. Diana is of course disillusioned. Steve gets on the plane, flies away in it and blows it up. Diana is distrought, sees Dr Maru and wants to kill her. She goes after her, is attacked by soldiers but easily throws them to the side. Diana is about to kill a helpless Dr Maru but... she can`t. She angrily tells Maru to get lost and leaves the base.

A few days later Diana (still disillusioned) sits at a cafè. She sees a boy being reunited with his father, it opens her eyes a little to the goodness of humans and what she helped to protect. A little girl gives her a flower. Diana smiles a little. She leaves the cafè and starts walking. She has a long journey ahead of her.

And that`s how I would do it.

It would work better with Steve`s little speech about how everone`s to blame, but it would also work better with what I have planned for the WW sequels.

So, with the first Wonder Woman out of the way... if I had a wish granting dreamstone that would let me travel back in time and make some adjustments to this movie, what would I have done?

1: instead of having it take place in the past I`d have it take place in the present. Chronologically after the first Justice League movie (OR the Batgirl and Supergirl movie.)

2: Wonder Woman would be able to fly and she can`t make things invisible.

3: Like I said in my CC of Justice League: Wonder Woman wouldn`t have a secret identity in my version. That`s right, Diana could be open about her superheroing and still keep her day job. (Hey, it works for Jennifer Walters.)

What would I call my version?

Either Wonder Woman 2 or Wonder Woman: Something something far from homecoming.

Plot

WW stops a bunch of terrorist from terrorizing. She leaves them for the police to take care of and is unaware of that she is being watched from afar by a red haired woman.

She has dinner with Barbara, an old work buddy from the museum. Barbara looks up to and is a little jealous of Diana, she would also like to be part of something big, make a real change in the world. During the conversation she mentions that her parents were not very encouraging. Besides that she asks Diana if she`s gonna show up at the museum`s new exhibition that is tomorrow. Diana thinks she`ll just steal to much attention from the historical, greek artefacts (her being a superhero with no secret identity and all) but decides that she`ll show up because the publicity will be good for the museum.

End of the day: Diana walks home, signs some autographs and meets the red haired woman that we saw earlier and recognizes her from her childhood! It`s Circe! Circe hasn`t aged a day since Diana last saw her.

She and Diana used to have fun together, Diana once showed her the different sights of the island, like the Temple of Athena, the Temple of the seven siblings and all the cool beaches. Circe used to say something about poetic about the setting of the sun. After a while Circe was banned from Themiscyra  by Diana`s mother, Queen Hippolyta. She was afraid that Circe was having a bad influence on Diana. Circe admits that she had an irresponsible side back then, but she has changed now. Now she`s trying to do something good and productive with her immortal life. They say goodbye and hope to meet again and talk some more.

Meanwhile: Barbara is using the subway. There`s a guy who is obnoxious, unpleasant and bothers the other passengers. Barbara gets so annoyed with him that she fantazises about beating him up, she is the kind of person that always bottles up all her anger.

Somwhere else: Diana is having a date with... Steve Trevor? They`re at an amusement park having a good time until Steve tells her that he has to catch a plane. Diana tries to warn him that the if he gets on that plane he`ll die but can`t, her voice is gone and her feet are stuck in the ground. Steve gets on the plane, it flies away and explodes. Diana wakes up. It was a just a nightmare.

Next day: Diana stops a robbery of an armed van. The van almost runs over... Steve Trevor? Diana stops the van and the robbers and checks if Steve is OK. He is fine, but he is also not steve Trevor. Diana had an hallucination.

Later that night: The inauguration of new exhibition at the museum. There are many people there, including Diana and Barbara. They talk and mingle. (This could be a good place for a Lynda Carter cameo.) Barbara has a pleasant conversation with a woman who turns out to be Circe, Diana doesn`t ntoice because she`s busy talking to other people. Some of the people are actually there to see the ancient, greek artefacts. Diana sees Steve Trevor again. She follows him, taps him on the shoulder, he turns around aand... it`s just Jimmy Olsen.

Diana is starting to doubt her sanity. What if her hallucinations get worse? She could risk the lives of innocent people. She goes to a psychiatrist who suggests that she take a vacation. When Diana leaves the psychiatrist turns out to be Circe in disguise. Diana puts on her WW outfit, packs her bags and flies to Themiscyra where she is welcomed by her  Amazon sisters and is reunited with her mother.

Next day: Subway. Once again Barbara is annoyed by an obnoxious man on the train and once again she bottles up her anger. Circe sits behind her, talks to her, says that she understands how she feels. They hear from a guy next to them who watches the news on his smartphones that Diana was seenflying over the atlantic with packed bags. A source has confirmed that Diana has been going through a lot of stress and is taking a vacation. Circe says that she doesn`t blame her, must be a tough job. She also adds that it would be nice if there could be someone to do her job while she`s gone. Barbara is interested in such a job. Circe takes Barbara to her  fancy apartment, gives her a potion to drink that turns her into Cheetah.

Themiscyra: Diana (wearing a typical Themiscyrian outfit) spends most of her day farming. At the end of the day she still has a hallucination involving Steve Trevor.

She worries if she will ever get well.

U.S.A: Cheetah stops a mugger. She enjoys beating him up a little too much, she doesn`t kill him though, he lives but is badly injured. Circe who saw her in action shows up and offers a few comments and a little constructive criticism but is otherwise pleased with how well it went.

Cheetah, still high from the adrenaline, leaps off into the night to find more robbers to beat up.

Themiscyra: Diana spends most of her day making pottery. After a long day she sits down and relaxes. A plane crashes nearby, it is on fire, she rescues the pilot who turns out to be a badly burnt and dying Steve Trevor. He dies in her arms. She wakes up. It was a nightmare.

A little later she talks to her mother about her problem. Hippolyta suggest that she goes to the temple of the seven siblings.

We get a flashback where Hippolyta explains to Diana as a child abut the temple. In the temple there`s a carving on the wall depicting what appears to be a jewel. The Stone of Morpheus. Morpheus is one of the seven siblings. It is said that if you touch that carving you will, the next time you fall asleep, have a dream that guides you and helps you with any problem you might have.

Back to the present: Diana is sceptical to that whole "touch the image of the stone and it will help you in your dream" thing because she believes it to be just superstition. Buuut this time she`s willing to try anything, so she gives it a try.

U.S.A: Cheetah beats up some small crooks. Circe gives her a couple of bracelets that will increase her strength because she believes that things are about to get serious. (Cheetah is strong but not take-on-Wonder-Woman strong).

Themiscyra: Night: Diana wakes up and sees a  little girl standing in the door. The girl looks like a child version of herself. The girl tells her to follow, Diana (in her WW outfit) follows her outside the city to a cave. Diana goes into the cave. She goes deeper and deeper, further and further. She meets Steve Trevor who tells her to go back, it isn`t safe. She ignores his advice and continues. She comes to a giant underground hall. There are statues in the hall, statues of her. In the center of it all is a green jewel stuck in a giant web of stone. Diana believes that the stone is the cause of her troubles and goes up to it to destroy it. Steve Trevor once again shows up to stop her. Diana tries to ignore him like last timebut this it`s not that easy, because now he fights back. Diana is forced to reluctantly fight Steve Trevor who is just as strong as she, and he can also teleport. Steve says something about the setting of the sun. That sounds familiar to Diana, where has she heard that before? Wait a minute! Of course! How could she miss it? This is is all Circe`s work. When she realizes that Circe is behind this Steve Trevor changes and becomes Circe. Diana have no qualms about fighting Circe. She defeats her, goes to destroy the stone, Circe tries to stop her with her magic and succeeds, but only temporarily. Diana gets near the stone and smashes it. Circe is gone. Diana leaves the cave and wakes up in her bed.

Sunrise: Diana changes to her WW outfit, says good bye to her fellow amazons and her mother and leaves Themiscyra.

U.S.A: Diana lands outside the museum and is soon joined by Cheetah. Cheetah, glad that Diana is back, suggests they team up and become a crime fighting duo. Diana wonders what happened to her, Cheetah  explains that some one named Circe is responsible for her transformation. Diana needs to find Circe and tells Cheetah that Circe is evil. Cheetah doesn`t like hearing that, things escalate and they fight.

Diana manages to break Cheetah`s bracelets and defeat her. She uses the lasso of truth to find out Circe`s whereabouts. Cheetah doesn`t know where she is now but remembers where her apartment is.

Diana goes to Circe`s apartment, this time it`s empty and it doesn`t look fancy at all, it looks like no one has lived there for years. A candle lights up by itself. Above the candle we can see and hear a pre-recorded message from Circe. She tells Diana that she can`t be there right now, she has more important things to take care of. She also tells Diana not to worry, the house that she`s currently in is empty, no innocents will be harmed.

The building explodes.

Diana survives with only a few bruises (she`s Wonder Woman after all).

Somewhere in a Las Vegas hotel: Circe is sipping on some champagne when she sees that a ring on one of her fingers is glowing. She knows that this means that Diana has gotten her message and the building has exploded. She picks up and looks at some ancient-looking artefact (one of the ancient greek artefacts that we saw earlier at the museum to be exact).

Her cellphone rings, she picks it up and tells the person/persons on the other end that she has the artefact. We get a flashback that shows that she stole it from the museum as soon as Diana left for Themiscyra. (And for a skilled sorceress like her it was super easy, barely an inconvenience.)

Circe: Don`t worry boys. I`m gonna get your daddy out of prison.

Back on Themiscyra: Diana talks about how it went and laments that two of her old friends turned into enemies. Hippolyta comforts her and says some encouraging words.

Later that night: Diana is wearing a fancy dress at a very fancy restaurant with... Steve Trevor?

She`s having a dream again. The reason she sees him this time is because deep down she wanted to say good bye to him in a more positive way, she doesn`t want her fight with him in the cave to be her last memory of him.

Steve: Let`s end this on a high note.

The two of them dance to classy, romantic music. (Maybe a cover of "The way you look tonight".)

She`s having a great time. End on a freeze frame. Fade to black.

End credits roll.

Not great but hopefully not bad. A little short in the second act.

And yes: the temple of the seven siblings thing and the stone of Morpheus is my sneaky way of sneaking the Sandman characters into my DCEU.

Cheetah would later come come back in Justice League 2. She`s one of the villains that Lex Luthor has recruited for his Atlas shrugged-inspired plan to take over the world. (The other villains are: Metallo, Doc Hammond, Poison Ivy, Deathstroke and King Shark.)

Cheetah`s next appearance should be in Justice League 3. In this movie she switches to the good guys`s side and after the giant climax she and Diana become a romantic couple, that way we get some important LGBTQIA+ representation.

And in Wonder Woman 3 Diana, Cheetah and Supergirl teams up to fight Ares (the real one this time), who has been freed from his prison by Circe, Phobos and Deimos.

And that`s how I would do it.

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Deviation nr: 143 Written Stuff nr: 36 Hope you like my written stuff, because it`s pretty much the only thing I`m gonna be able to upload for the forseeable future. Technically I CAN upload more than just written stuff, as long as it is something that can put together digitally and doesn`t need to be scanned or anything like that.I may upload visual art as long as it is an edited photo. (Kinda like Clown queen of crime or If I were pop art). Related editorials Constructive criticism: DCEU in general: www.deviantart.com/81scorp/art… As usual: english is not my first language, so if you find my writing a little wonky, now you know why. Also: My sister has a patreon if you`re interested. www.patreon.com/mariabohm 

Originally uploaded on Deviantart January 25, 2021

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