#Mr. Pax makes his return yet again

[lets-try-some-writing]

Could we have more Teacher Pax?

Do the kids find out Mr. Pax? What's their reaction?

Of course you may have more Teacher Pax! I do love this AU as it is.

Previous part here.

Double Life

After the kids became part of the team's life, Optimus quickly began laying low. Ratchet gave him a stern talking to about sharing Cybertronian anything with the humans, but Optimus largely ignored it. He wasn't giving his students access to any sort of weaponry or tech, he was merely instilling a sense of Cybertronian culture into them. What could be so wrong about that?

Still Ratchet was right on one front, that being that his lives as Mr. Pax and Optimus Prime needed to be kept separate. Thus Optimus did what he could to keep the children out of the loop. He even went so far as to take on the guardianship of the children while they were at school by playing his teacher role at the same time. His logical reasoning for it was that more of the team would be available to act and he would both be doing his job as a Prime and teacher. It was largely foolproof so long as nothing went wrong.

And for a long while, nothing did ever happen at school that was worthy of note. The kids came to school and were safe and then came to base where they somehow managed to get into all sorts of trouble.

It was all well and good, right up until the children gained a place in Optimus's spark as more than students. They were his little archivists, yes, but they were also his. Much like how Alpha Trion treated Orion with fatherly affection, Optimus did the same to his three human children. He simply couldn't help but give them more affection when it was appropriate. However that also meant that weather intentionally or not, he took everything regarding them personally.

It got to the point where when he found Vince pushing his luck again by attempting to fight Jack, Optimus grabbed the child by the ear and threw him to the ground without much care. His holoform's eyes blazed and he was unable to stop the way his presence radiated wrath. He tried to be calm, he tried to be composed and not favor one student above another, but Jack was one of his now. Even back at base the team noted Optimus's expression shifting into one of discomfort and focus, his field even lashing out there. He ended up sending Vince home and tending to Jack's minor injuries personally as a true guardian should.

It wasn't much better when it came to Rafael. At one point the boy's parents seemed to have forgotten him on a day where he was to head directly home instead of to base, and Optimus could only feel bitterness over it. He sat with Rafael on the steps of the school for hours, eventually trying and failing to get ahold of Rafael's parents. It saddened him greatly, especially when the boy fell asleep against his side with watery eyes. And so he stayed, even as the team worried for him and tried to call Optimus back, he didn't so much as twitch. Rafael needed him, and so he remained until at last at nearly 9pm when the school started to grow worried, Rafael's parents arrived. They took the boy, but they seemed more exhausted than anything else. It hurt his spark.

When it came to Miko, Optimus almost wished he could take her to a human residence of his own with how often she was left alone by a less than attentive host family. There were many a day when he too sat with her when the team was not in charge of her guardianship. They tended to quietly talk and draw, Miko often being more toned down with Optimus as he silently wrapped her in his field and sang a song too low for her to hear. The girl was a very lonely child when not able to come to base. Thus Optimus began bringing her little gifts to cheer her up on such days.

He loved all his little archivists, but the children were special. He really couldn't help it when he smiled around base as the children spoke fondly of Mr. Pax. It took a great deal of effort to remain at least somewhat impartial. However as with all things, the children began putting dots together when Mr. Pax turned up on a fragging battle field of all places when the children fell into a crevasse to pull them out.

The hole was too small for the Cybertronians to get into, and lo and behold, Mr. Pax turned up to get them out instead. Optimus was sprawled on the ground seemingly out cold and the team were fidgeting uncomfortably as Mr. Pax led the children to them. The children were bewildered as the team dragged Optimus back to base and Mr. Pax led them along, totally comfortable and unconcerned with everything as he sat them down to explain while the team watched on.

Mr. Pax: I assume you have questions.

Jack: Yes, quite a few actually-

Miko: HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE BOTS??!

Mr. Pax: I know of the Autobots because I am one.

Rafael: What? How can you be an Autobot if you aren't Cybertronian-?

Mr. Pax: *dissipating in a mix of static and light*

Jack: What the-

Optimus: That is because I am a Cybertronian, I have merely been using a holoform to integrate with your kind.

Miko: You mean this whole time-!

Optimus: Yes, I have been using my holoform to teach at your school.

Rafael: But why? You have cons to fight and a team to lead. Why teach us?

Optimus: Because I have always desired to teach, and when I took up the position Megatron was unconfirmed to be dead or alive. It was a good use of time otherwise spent idly.

The children were shocked, the team were mainly just happy to no longer have to cover for Optimus, and the Prime himself was content to be able to walk freely among his little archivists without fear for his identity. It took a while for the children to process, but suddenly everything made sense and Mr. Pax's oddities were all explained away.

He didn't act human because he wasn't human. He was a robotic demi-god millions of years old from an alien world. Of course everything made sense now. Miko was excited above all else and quickly grew to appreciate Optimus in both his true form and alternate human one. She loved coaxing him to dance the real Cybertronian dances he taught her. He obliged without much of a fuss, often adding song to his dances as well when he showed her. Sometimes he would even alter his holoform to be younger and smaller so he could dance with her and show her the steps.

Jack was largely unaffected for the most part once the shock value wore off. He found it a little startling to see Optimus at school but got over it pretty quick. He relied on Optimus more for aid with his work at base and was overall more comfortable around him, but nothing too big. Although he did ask Optimus to go easy on Vince once when he caught the Prime stewing over the boy's actions.

Rafael for his part was just happy to know his teacher and Optimus were one and the same. He began talking exclusively in Cybertronian when at base just because he knew he would be understood. He took great pride in showing Optimus his improvement both in school and at base. He also stopped feeling so lonely when his parents were too busy to collect him since Optimus would tend to him after school, taking him back to base or walking him home instead. it was a safe feeling knowing he had Optimus Prime backing him.

#maccadam #transformers #transformers prime #optimus prime #team prime #lets try some writing mumbles #tfp kids #teacher au #Mr. Pax makes his return yet again #I love this AU so much dang it

[jihyuncompass]

A Birthday Visit

Well well well would you look at that. My very first Tears of Themis fic is for Marius’s birthday who could have guessed (anyone who knows me) Happy Birthday Marius, I can’t wait to see you again <3

For future reference, this fic was written for Marius’s 2021 birthday. As of yet Tears of Themis has not been released for the English audiences. I have played the beta but there is a chance Marius will be a little out of character as a result of the timing. 

Summary: You visit Marius’s work to celebrate his birthday with him, even if he’s a little busy 

Marius x MC

Word count: 2.1k

Warnings: N/A

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The PAX building was an intimidating one. That thought always came into your mind when you approached it. While the Law Firm was also one of the large skyscrapers that made up the Stellis skyline, the PAX building was taller, and quite the intimidating addition to said skyline. 

It wasn’t the first time you’d been here, far from it, but it was rare for you to go into PAX for a non professional reason, or without being explicitly invited by Marius. You looked up at the building, even without meaning to your eyes focused on the window you knew belonged to Marius’s office. There was a good chance he was in there right now. 

Adjusting your bag over your shoulder you walked through the doors and into the bustling first floor.  

You walked through the groups of professionally dressed employees standing to chat idly, or summarize the recent meetings they had. Or stop to enjoy their coffee for a little while before getting back to work. 

“Welcome to the PAX group.” One of the receptionists started as you walked to the desk. “How can I help you today?” You cleared your throat, speaking as eloquently as you can. 

“Hello, I’m here to see Mr. Von Hagen? I’m a friend.” You said to the receptionist. She raised an eyebrow and looked up at you. Scrutinizing your appearance.  

“I’m sorry, Mr. Von Hagen doesn’t see anyone without a meeting.” You pressed your lips together, 

“I can promise you he’s a good friend of mine, it’s his birthday and-” 

“I’m sorry I have no way to verify that you are who you say you are.” The receptionist said. You reviewed your options in your head, clearly she wasn't going to let you go up there on the promise of being a friend. 

After a moment of brainstorming an idea came to you, digging through your bag you showed the receptionist your work ID badge, listing you as a lawyer for the Themis Law Firm. 

“I’m also Mr. Von Hagen’s personal lawyer, he knows who I am.” The receptionist squinted at the ID, hesitant of it’s quality and authenticity. After typing at her computer briefly she sighed and relented. 

“Aright, I do see your name here. I’ll let you up there and I’ll give a call to Mr. Von Hagen’s assistant to let them know you’re here.” You thanked her and hurried to the elevator. The first challenge was dealt with, now it was just time to go through with the rest of the plan.  

You piled into the elevator with a group of suited men heading to what you assumed were their own desks and offices throughout the building, but you’d be one of the only people going as far up, to nearly the top floor where Marius’s office would be found. 

The elevator was nearly empty by the time you made it up, only a few people exiting with you. 

One of Marius’s assistants was waiting for you on the other side of the elevator. They greeted you as you approached them. 

“Good afternoon.” They said. “I’m afraid to say that Mr. Von Hagen has been stuck in meetings all day so I’m not sure if he’ll be able to see you.” 

You pressed your lips together, you should have asked him in advance, he was usually busier than he always let on. 

“Well I just have a couple things I want to show him, I’m happy to wait for when he has a spare moment.” The assistant seemed unsure but shrugged. 

“Very well, I’ll take you to his office, you can wait there. I’ll let him know that you’re there.” You followed the assistant down the long hallway to the office at the end, the largest by far, belonging to Marius. 

The assistant closed the door behind you, the office was neat and tidy as it always was. Although it was Marius’s office, you were always a little disappointed by just how little of Marius seemed to be in the office. The sleek professional furniture, the carefully organized files, cup full of standard ballpoint pens didn’t seem like Marius. The rebellious, creative and playful Marius you knew well and had grown to adore. 

Sitting on the couch in his office you decided to make use of your time by setting the present you’d gotten him out on the table, along with the small cake box. With your job and caseload you hadn’t had the time to make a particularly fancy or intricate cake. But something small the two of you could easily share.  

You hummed to yourself gently as you got everything set up. Your eyes focused on the work in front of you. So much so you didn’t even notice as the office doors opened while your back was turned. 

“So.” A voice said from behind you. The sudden noise startled you, making you jump. Quickly turning around you were face to face with Marius. Dressed with a full suit, although he had that playful gaze he kept around you. Seeing him, your shoulders relaxed, and a smile crossed your face. “I heard you wanted to see me.” 

“I hoped I could catch you for a minute for your birthday.” You explained to him. “I should have asked about your schedule, I wouldn’t have come if I knew you were so busy.” Marius shook his head. 

“Nah I’m glad you’re here. It’s a perfect surprise.” Marius looked past you and to the table behind you where everything was set up. His eyes lighting up with that almost childlike excitement he got. However that excitement was quickly clouded. 

You frowned. “You don’t have a lot of time huh?”

Marius hesitated to answer you. “I don’t have a lot of time, I have a meeting in a half hour.” 

As you looked from Marius to the table you straighten your back and beamed at him. “Well then let’s make this a fun half hour! Enjoy the time we have.” With this the playfulness returned. The Marius you loved to see. 

Sitting beside one another, you made quick work of slicing the cake into two even slices for the two of you. 

“I’m afraid it’s nothing fancy.” You said. “But I have no doubt it tastes good and that’s what matters, doesn't it?” 

“Did you make it?” Marius asked, a brow raised curiously. 

“I did, I’m not a baker though so be warned.” Marius picked up the fork, picking up the perfect bite of cake to get both the cake and the frosting on top. Watching him closely you made note of his reaction. “What do you think?”

Marius nodded. “It’s good, I think I would even say I’m impressed.” You relaxed against the couch. 

“I’m glad you like it.” You said. “I was worried it wasn’t going to be very good.” You took a bite to taste it yourself, the sweetness of the cake hitting your tongue immediately. You’d had better cakes, but still you couldn’t deny the little part of you that was proud of what you’d made. 

Not wanting to waste your time you quickly leaned forward to push some presents closer. This seemed to grab Marius’s attention away from the cake in his hand. He set it down to pick up one of the gifts, looking over the basic wrapping paper. 

“Go ahead.” You encouraged. “Open it up! Take a look.”  Marius stared with the smallest one, quickly tearing off the paper without much thought. He pulled out two tickets, reading the tiny text on them. “They’re for an upcoming art exhibition I read about online, I thought it’d be fun to go together. I don’t know nearly as much about art as you do but maybe you could teach me some stuff.” 

Marius smirked. “I guess I could spare some of my expansive art knowledge to impart some on you.” 

Holding back from rolling your eyes instead you gave him your best genuine smile. “I would love that. I’d love to learn from you.” Marius seemed pleased by this, as evidenced by the redness that quickly started growing on his face. Looking back at the gift he tried to get himself back under control. 

Similar to the first gift Marius tore the wrapping paper off the second one. This one, a hand held sketchbook, bound nicely with a leather cover, his initials MVH put onto the front. A small note you’d written scribbled onto the first page. 

“This is-”

“Well, you’re always working so hard here, or studying hard at university, and I know you would probably much prefer to be in your studio painting. So, that’s a little sketchbook, one you can carry anywhere.” Flipping through the pages, Marius’s expression turned soft, warm, happy, not holding that playful spark. “I know you probably could afford any notebook in the world, but this one is customized just for you, not another one of these exists just like it.” 

The softness in his face stayed even when he looked up at you, even when he looked down again. 

“Thank you, for this.” He held it carefully in his hands, as if he was afraid of damaging it too soon. Before he could even put pencil to paper for the first time. There were still a couple gifts left, but you let him linger on that one. Trying to memorize every single second in your mind. 

The rest of the gifts were more basic things, special sweets, some art supplies you’d seen when you passed by the art store on your way home. Despite how basic many of these smaller gifts were, he never seemed ungrateful, and equally happy to see each one. 

All the presents unwrapped, and cake nearly finished you both sat together happily. Looking at Marius with the initial excitement wearing off you started to see the exhaustion peeking through. The heaviness in his eyes, the way his shoulders were stiff yet slumped. He looked tired, worn out already. 

“Your assistant said you’ve been in meetings all day?” 

Marius rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, PAX has a big thing coming up. I’ve been in meetings since eight. This is the first break I’ve had all day.” As he spoke he loosened his tie, letting it release some of the tension in his shoulders and neck. 

“You look exhausted.” You said. He sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds. “Have you been resting?” 

Marius’s eyes opened again. “I was at my studio late last night. But I’m fine.” 

You looked more concerned, you doubted he was really resting enough. With everything he did, there was no possible way he was letting himself take breaks. Even on his birthday he seemed to be working full steam ahead. 

“Marius, why don’t you lay down for a bit? Let yourself rest?” Marius looked over at you, as if he was trying to think through it, crunching the numbers in his head. Gently touching his shoulder you turned him to face you, his eyes raised to look at your face. You loosened up his tie some more and unbuttoned the top button on his dress shirt to let him relax. 

 “Come on.” You said in a soft voice. “Rest for a little bit.” 

He considered this for a little while longer. Then let long a long sigh, he let himself lean forward enough to rest his forehead against your shoulder. Reaching up you rubbed his back, gently massaging to let him relax against you. 

“I can’t rest for long.” Marius muttered. “There’s that meeting-”

“Something is better than nothing.” You reminded him. “How about you lie down? You can rest with me until your meeting.” He was still for a little while longer, then lifted his head long enough to move. 

Marius’s head was laying in your lap. You gently played with his hair, running your fingers through the strands. Marius’s eyes slipped closed, his breaths long and even. 

“My meeting-” 

“I’ll get you up when it’s time. Rest right now.” You told him. He sighed and let himself fully rest. 

“Thank you.” He muttered. 

“Happy birthday Marius.” You whispered to him. Watching him rest, you couldn’t help but smile. This moment was going to be over sooner than later, soon he’d have to get up and get himself cleaned up, he’d go to that meeting, and then the next one and the next one until he could call it a day. He’ll probably go to his studio again, even if he’s exhausted. He’ll try and get some rest, but eventually he’ll get up and start it all again. 

But right now he’s with you and resting. Enjoying the short break he could afford. Maybe not the best birthday one could have, but one that was more than happy. 

#tears of themis #tot #marius von hagen #lu jinghe #marius x reader #lu jinghe x reader #wrote this in one day with a wrist brace how's everyone else doin

[tabloidtoc]

Life & Style, May 10

You can buy a brand new copy of this issue without the mailing label for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Celeb Diet & Fitness Tips

Page 1: Photo Flash -- Tom Cruise is well known for doing his own stunts, but during a location shoot in Yorkshire, U.K. for Mission: Impossible 7, Tom's co-stars Hayley Atwell and Esai Morales proved they were no slouches either: all three actors wowed onlookers with their daredevil moves aboard a train that was in motion

Page 2: Contents

Page 4: The Top 10 Floral Looks -- follow these stars' style lead and celebrate the spring season in fresh prints -- Penelope Cruz, Lupita Nyong'o, Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara, Kelsea Ballerini

Page 5: Cate Blanchett, Elle Fanning, Gabrielle Union, Kathryn Newton, Mindy Kaling

Page 6: There's no limit to what Angelina Jolie wouldn't do for her kids and instead of living abroad, she purchased a home for them in L.A. because she wanted it to be close to their dad Brad Pitt and now, Angie reveals she's had to give up her dream of directing because she had a change in her family situation that's not made it possible for her to direct for a few years and she needed to just do shorter jobs and be home more, so she went back to doing a few acting jobs -- Angie filed for divorce from Brad in 2016 and while they were declared legally single in 2019, the former couple have yet to settle on a permanent custody arrangement for kids Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Knox and Vivienne while at age 19, son Maddox Jolie-Pitt is able to make his own decisions about whom he lives with and Angelina is blowing through millions of dollars on lawyers and she isn't broke, but she can't exactly afford to stop working either and amid mounting legal bills, Angie's signed on to blockbusters like Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and Marvel's Eternals and while Angelina would rather work behind the scenes, it's too time-consuming and as an actress, she can make ends meet and be there for her kids

Page 8: Less than a month after giving birth to her third child, a baby girl named Mae, Hilary Duff is opening up about the pressure that comes with breastfeeding, saying all of the babies latch really great but she's just not a huge milk producer, so it's emotional for her and she has tons of anxiety, and then she's in her head, and then she doesn't feel like enough, and then the spiral continues from there -- she decided to share her postpartum struggle as a way to cope and to let other new mothers out there know that they're not alone in this

* Sarah Jessica Parker is trying to convince Hugh Grant to star in the upcoming Sex and the City reboot because it's unlikely Chris Noth will be returning as Mr. Big, so she needs a new leading man and Hugh's the perfect candidate -- Sarah Jessica finds him so charming and talented and she was blown away by Hugh's recent acting in The Undoing so she's desperate to have him on the show -- Sarah Jessica, who appeared alongside Hugh in 1996's Extreme Measures and 2009's Did You Hear About the Morgans?, absolutely loves the idea of working with Hugh again and he hasn't agreed to anything yet, but she's hoping he'll say yes

Page 12: The Week in Photos -- Bathing Beauties -- Sailor Brinkley-Cook and her rescue pup Chester, Rita Ora on the sand of Bondi Beach in an orange bikini, Kate Hudson celebrated the launch of Fabletics new active swim line by jumping in the pool

Page 13: Olivia Culpo in a green bikini, Vanessa Hudgens in a red-halter swimsuit

Page 14: James Corden dressed up as rapper Bad Bunny's arch rival Good Bunny for a sketch on The Late Late Show

Page 16: Stars Behaving Badly -- Derek Hough played makeup artist for Hayley Erbert, Total Bellas twins Nikki Bella and Brie Bella put Bachelor Nation's Jason Tartick and Matt James in headlocks at Wrestlemania, host T.J. James let his tongue do the talking on the NYC set of Good Morning America

Page 18: Say What?! Mark Wahlberg on trying to put on 30 pounds in six weeks for the movie Father Stu, Selena Gomez on her Only Murders in the Building co-stars Steve Martin and Martin Short, Margaret Josephs on five decades of wearing fake eyelashes, Jamie Dornan on his devotion to The Golden Girls

Page 20: Chris Hemsworth landed in hot water with Elsa Pataky after pics of him hanging out with Australian stunner Cheyenne Tozzi hit the internet -- Chris was photographed with the model at Zambi Wildlife Retreat in Wallacia while his wife was off shooting Interceptor in Sydney and it's definitely put Elsa on high alert and she had a lot of questions for Chris when they finally spoke and Chris said he had the kids with him and it was all very innocent -- the couple has often been at odds over their careers and while Chris and Elsa try to coordinate their schedules so that their children, daughter India and twin sons Sasha and Tristan, are always with one parent, Elsa was usually the one forced to put family before fame, but now that Elsa's been working more, she's not always home like she used to be, and this little incident was a huge wake-up call because she might trust Chris, but she isn't stupid: who would want their handsome husband running around with a blond bombshell?

Page 21: Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Claudia Jordan is alleging that Kanye West made a move on her while he was still with Kim Kardashian, saying he tried years ago when she and Nikki Chu were in the club and they shut the door and she had met him before and she hung out with Kim as well and because of Girl Code, she couldn't do it

* Jennifer Lopez isn't wasting any time getting back on the dating scene after splitting from Alex Rodriguez -- J. Lo can't help feeling that she squandered a good couple of years on A-Rod and she doesn't want another ring; she just wants to have fun

Page 22: Cover Story -- Stars' Summer Body Secrets Revealed -- discover the diet and fitness tricks these celebs swear by -- Gwen Stefani's shedding for the wedding, Julianne Hough skips the gym

Page 23: Kate Hudson's flat belly formula, total transformations: Adele, Rebel Wilson

Page 24: Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker engaged on her 42nd birthday -- after just four months of dating, Kourtney and Travis are ready to take the next step in their romance

Page 26: The Osbournes: Family in Crisis -- personal, professional and physical setbacks plague Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne and their daughter Kelly Osbourne -- after a heated on-air argument over Piers Morgan's treatment of Meghan Markle, Sharon was accused of racism toward co-hosts behind the scenes -- Ozzy's health is always an issue and he's had to rehab from pneumonia, neck surgery and more over the past few years but he's stubborn and acts like he's still a young rock star -- while she's back in AA, Kelly was scared to admit she'd relapsed while her mom was dealing with her own scandal

Page 28: Prince William and Duchess Kate: Stepping Up for Queen Elizabeth -- as the queen grapples with tremendous loss, Prince William and Kate Middleton provide support -- a frail-looking Queen Elizabeth sat alone due to COVID-19 restrictions at the funeral of Prince Philip, whom she called her strength and stay and the loss has been even harder than she expected -- William and Kate are lightening the queen's load and they worked on the queen birthday to give her time to mourn

Page 30: John Travolta breaks his silence on losing Kelly Preston -- for the first time since Kelly's death, John opens up about his personal journey through grief

Page 36: Who Lives Here? Rihanna

Page 38: Beauty Beat -- spring's prettiest pastel polish -- embrace warm weather with a lacquered look the complements the season -- Jennifer Lopez

Page 40: Diva or Down-to-Earth? Alison Brie shopped for her own groceries at Gelson's in L.A. -- down-to-earth, Rachel Brosnahan's hairstylist went to work in between scenes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in NYC -- diva, Kylie Jenner kicked up her heels on a private plane -- diva

Page 42: Social Stars Posts of the Week -- Kerry Washington stopped and smelled the roses, Snoop Dogg and Blake Shelton, Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman looked straight out of the '80s in a scene from the latest movie Thunder Force, Nicole Scherzinger in a bikini in Hawaii

Page 44: Horoscope -- Taurus Adele turned 33 on May 5

* They're Not Together, But They Should Be -- Sagittarius Ashley Benson and Cancer Chace Crawford

Page 48: What I'm Into -- Mayim Bialik

#tabloid #grain of salt #tabloidtoc #tabloid toc #gwen stefani #julianne hough #kate hudson #adele #rebel wilson #kourtney kardashian #travis barker #sharon osbourne #ozzy osbourne #kelly osbourne #prince william #duchess kate #kate middleton #catherine duchess of cambridge #queen elizabeth #john travolta #kelly preston #rihanna #mayim bialik #chris hemsworth #elsa pataky #cheyenne tozzi #claudia jordan #kanye west #kim kardashian #jennifer lopez

[asilentguardian]

My Thoughts on Gotham

My mom and I finished watching Gotham on December 29th, and this analysis has been sitting in google docs since then. Some of this is a bit incoherent, some of it I wrote as I was watching, and some of it I wrote after finishing the entire show. So here it is. 2,000 words or so of rambling about Gotham. 

My thoughts on the show as a whole: Gotham changed my opinion on a lot of Batman’s villains. I used to be indifferent towards Penguin, now I love him. I used to hate Firefly, now I love her. While there were one or two decisions that I disagreed with, the portrayal of these characters was satisfying and the tone of the show as a whole was refreshing. The writing was good for the most part, however there are issues with sexism and homophobia that I personally noticed.

And now I’m going season by season cause I’m a nerd.

Season One

Season one is a bit of a mixed bag for me. It seemed to me that the show writers and the younger actors were still trying to find their footing and decide what kind of world their Gotham was. Some episodes are slow, but overall it’s intriguing and I was invested after a couple of episodes.

The pilot has a lot of moving parts and it still works. They did a good job of intertwining all of these characters before starting them all on their own paths.

I can’t imagine anyone else playing these roles. I am really happy with the casting choices for this show. Jim Gordon, Harvey Bullock, and Bruce Wayne especially.

Fish Mooney is an interesting but welcome edition! To be honest, the first time my mom and I tried to watch Gotham, we hated her. The second time around, however, I LOVED her and her role in the rise of Penguin.

Having Edward Nygma start at the GCPD was a really cool idea! I think they executed his descent into madness perfectly. I wanted Ed to prevail and to be a goodman just as much as I wanted to see the Riddler emerge.

Speaking of the GCPD, the corruption and the conflict within the precinct is very believable and compelling. It’s easy to believe that Jim Gordon is a young and optimistic detective who believes wholeheartedly in doing good. I also appreciate the fact that Jim Gordon doesn’t lose that drive for good throughout the show. I also don’t find it too cheesy, even if it’s a common trope.

The Batman universe is huge so I was expecting references and easter eggs at every turn, and I was half right. There's plenty of references and cameos but they work and they aren’t essential to the plot which helps casual fans keep up with the story.

A lot of seeds are planted during this first season, and it’s rewarding to see them pay off. I don’t feel as if the first season suffers from the thing that a lot of movies do where they are clearly trailers for the next part in the franchise. 

I think my favorite episode of this season is episode 20 “Under the Knife.” The stakes are high and the story line with the Ogre is definitely unexpected and horrifying but in the best way. Also Ed kills Dougherty and it’s very satisfying.

Season Two

Rise/Wrath of the Villains!

Theo Galavan and Hugo Strange were the big bads of this season and I think they were written and acted very well.

Something I’ve noticed about some of the villains on this show and their interactions with children and Bruce in particular is that they’re... unsettling. I suppose that’s intentional and I definitely think it makes some of the villains more intimidating, but it’s really creepy. There are a lot of adults that are preying on Bruce’s innocence in this show. 

Theo Galavan was not my favorite. He was intimidating for a bit, but I kinda grew bored of him. I did enjoy the nod to Azrael. 

Hugo Strange! I was kinda indifferent to him when playing Arkham City but I enjoy him in this show! Loved when he showed up again in subsequent seasons and you immediately knew some Fucked Shit was happening.

So Mr. Freeze. I’m not too sure how I feel about Gotham’s take on this story. The casting is solid, but killing Nora? Not the move. Actually very angry about that to be honest. The Mr. Freeze episode could’ve been so much more compelling and emotional but instead it was a way to move Lee and Jim’s relationship forward :(

They managed to make Firefly not annoying, but I only found Firefly annoying before because of that stupid boss fight in Arkham Origins. But I liked Bridget.

Penguin and Nygma’s relationship is very fun in this season! More on them later, but at least in season two it’s very enjoyable to watch them learn to trust each other. My mom and I adored their story line.

I LOVE Nygma’s character arc in this season. His interactions with Gordon are some of my favorite bits from this season. They are very rewatchable and I find their relationship to be one of the more intriguing ones in the show.

Overall season 2 was decent. Some of the villains were forgettable, but the relationship arcs and character arcs that were compelling kept me interested.

Episode 15, Mad Grey Dawn, was one of my favorites this season. Seeing the Nygma v Gordon thing play out was so so so fun. I really loved being able to follow Nygma’s logic and feel Gordon’s frustration at being framed.

Season Three

Mad City/Heroes Rise!

There’s A LOT I have to say about season 3. I liked it. There’s a couple of big issues I have with season 3, but overall it was compelling and I enjoyed it.

While I’m not usually one for the “this character has a darkness inside of them” trope, I really didn’t mind it with Gordon. I thought it was believable and interesting enough to be engaging. bounty hunter Gordon was pretty fun, too. And hot. Anyway.

The Mad Hatter v Jim Gordon stuff is intense. Episode 6 where Gordon is forced to choose between Valerie and Lee is where the “dark side” trope lost me a little but I do like that they make a point to have Gordon always make his way back to the light. Valerie’s exit felt very rushed and sudden? I don’t know if the actress was written off for some reason, but it felt very weird.

So. Penguin and Nygma. I don’t know if I would necessarily call it queer-baiting, but it definitely doesn’t sit right with me. Here’s the thing about Gotham’s queer representation: it’s not good, but it’s not bad. There is 100% an issue with making all of your queer characters villains. And there’s a HUGE issue with having Barbara’s attraction to women only be present when she’s a) acting as an antagonist to Gordon’s work at the GCPD (Montoya in season one) or b) on the side of the antagonist and framed as crazy (Tabitha in season two). Also, notice how in season five she’s “sane” when she’s with Gordon. It’s homophobia luv.

However, in the case of Penguin and Nygma, the added layer of Penguin’s love for Nygma makes their arc a little more interesting and compelling (there’s still an issue with queer love being framed as toxic and obsessive in this show, but if I don’t stop talking about that this post will be miles long).

The Ivy thing is certainly a new plot device, but I don’t hate it. Took a bit to get used to, but older Ivy makes sense and to be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of child Ivy. Not that her character was bad, but I personally found her a tad annoying.

SEASON 3 EPISODE 14. THE GENTLE ART OF MAKING ENEMIES. I HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THIS. Bruce’s character development in this episode made me extremely happy. I haven’t talked a lot about Jerome-Joker yet, but I really like him. Joker is one of those characters you can take a lot of liberties with and it can either really work or really suck (looking at you Jared Leto). Gotham’s version of Joker, while a bit rushed, is a good fucking Joker.

The reason why I like s3e14 so much is THIS is what the Joker vs Batman relationship is about. This is why they are perfect foils. Batman always has a reason, a method. Motivation and a cause. He believes in Gotham and he believes that EVERYONE has the capacity for good. Joker does things just for the hell of it (i.e. kidnapping Bruce). His point is anarchy and chaos. His point is that everyone has darkness and that they are “one bad day” away from giving into that darkness (subtle nods to The Killing Joke, very nice). This is illustrated SO beautifully in this episode. However, I do see an issue down the line of Joker knowing who Batman is instantly, but I digress.

The birth of Riddler! The development of Penguin and Riddler’s animosity! mwah!

Also. Bruce standing above Gotham in an early version of the suit. There’s no ears or cape but my mom and I were VERY excited. I felt so giddy.

Bruce’s vow not to kill was beautifully framed, props to the DP on that one. It felt nice to hear a live action version of Bruce Wayne say that. (Note from the future: yes he breaks it. Sorta. I’m mad about it, but I explain my feelings in depth later).

Season Four

A Dark Knight!

Alright. Season 4. To be honest, it took me a while to warm up to this one.

Scarecrow. Love his costume. Love his escape. Scarecrow is one of my favorites because he’s creepy and cool and terrifying. Well done. The episode where Jim goes after him is really brutal. He goes there alone, not even Harvey by his side, and he is forced to stare his biggest fear in the face. I loved it!

The Pax Penguina. I’m easily won over by references to old literature and history. This show has made me actually like Penguin. I used to find him annoying and didn’t understand why he was people’s favorite, but this show has proved him to be a competent and cunning villain. I love to hate him. It’s fun seeing him at the top of Gotham.

Riddler’s escape and Nygma’s return. His friendship with Lee and Grundy (Grundy!!). Ed and Lee was certainly an interesting choice. I didn’t hate it, it just seemed really odd. I enjoyed Lee’s rise to power though! 

Sofia Falcone. Not really a fan tbh. Didn’t trust her from the start and it was SO satisfying to see her get shot in the head. Talk about a ruthless mastermind. To be fair, I did love to hate her in the beginning, but then she kinda got on my nerves? The actress that played her was really good though!

Captain James Gordon. Yessir. What a legend. One step closer to Commissioner. But also ouchie he had to go behind Harvey’s back. That subplot hurt so good.

Professor Pyg is. A lot. Gotham is a mature show, but it’s hard to like Pyg even as a villain. He’s unsettling and his episodes are a bit too much. I tolerated him but it just got to be gratuitous. I will say that I am relieved that they weren’t heavy handed on the cross-dressing thing. Would prefer not to see that played for a joke anymore, and this show does not need to vilify queerness more than it has.

Jerome and Jeremiah! ahhhhh!!! What wonderful interpretations of the Joker! Jerome was great, but I think I’m partial to Jeremiah. Maybe because his costume looks so much like the Joker from the animated series and Mark Hamill will always be my Joker. Either way, I LOVED their story line in season 4.

Kinda love Barbara being involved in the League. Very sexy of her. Also very sexy of her to not be dead. 

Alright. Here we go. Ra’s Al Ghul and Bruce Wayne. I have mixed feelings about this. So Bruce kills. Technically he’s not Batman yet, and obviously Ra’s didn’t stay dead, but he already took the oath. I have a hard time staying with any adaptation that makes their Batman a killer, but this one wasn’t awful? And then technically Barbara uses Bruce’s hands to kill Ra’s in the finale. I’m upset that they went with a “what if Batman kills” story line in the first place, but the resolution wasn’t too terrible.

Those last three episodes of season 4. Wow. My mom and I couldn’t stop watching. The nods to The Killing Joke were cool but not too on the nose. The stakes felt high and I was so deeply invested because this story line in particular was very well crafted and planned out and it definitely shows. There’s so many loose ends at this finale, and somehow it works and you still have hope. But holy shit, those bridges coming down, the utter panic and confusion as you’re wondering “is X person okay? what happened to X?” wonderful, chefs kiss.

Season Five

Legend of the Dark Knight!

Oh gosh. I have so much I want to say, but I don’t know how to put it into words. I loved this season. I loved the post apocalyptic vibes of Gotham. Loved the rise of the villains into the people who will one day face Batman. Loved Gordon’s leadership and rise to Commissioner. There’s a few things I have issues with this season, but I’m just so in love with that finale. What a beautiful send off.

I loved how the finale was crafted, how we didn’t see the full Batman suit till the end. I did, in fact, cry when that thing was revealed. The score was beautiful. It felt so much like an episode of The Animated Series, yet so unlike any other piece of Batman media. It was so refreshing to have everything wrapped up nicely, so refreshing to have hope and satisfaction in a finale.

Overall, this version of Gotham City feels like a living, breathing thing that is lived in and flawed. It is wonderful. The set designers did wonderfully and it feels so timeless in the way that the Animated Series did as well. I think that’s part of the reason why I loved this show so much. It made me feel the same way that the Animated Series did.

I know I’ve missed a lot of details and plot lines, so if for some reason you are interested in my thoughts on a particular thing in this show, my inbox is open!!

#long post #gotham #my stuff #my writing #aspeaks #meta posts

[bimollymauks]

This isn’t completely solid yet but I wanted to write out how things go in the twins canon

So the twins were born and raised in Wayhaven, after their father died Rebecca more or less dropped them off with an uncaring uncle and very very rarely ever saw the twins growing up

We’re talking like.....she’d maybe visit for a weekend a month

Poloma dated Bobby in college and it was her first real love but after Bobby stole her work, lied to all their friends making it seem like she was trying to steal from him, and ruining her reputation, she decided she wasn’t going to going to make that mistake again

Pax was one of the people that Bobby couldn’t persuade and after everything he absolutely loathes him

Pax was the first one to be promoted to detective about a year or so before the old detective I don’t remember their name retired, more or less so they could coast through the last year of their career

Poloma was promoted simply because of that detective retiring

Okay so moving on to the events of Book One

Both twins are at the crime scene and both twins go to that abandoned warehouse, they take Poloma’s car since Pax only has his motorcycle and it’s still too cold to be riding that around

Pax pepper sprays Adam

At the Official Meeting, Pax is professional and welcoming, Poloma tries to be welcoming but gets a little snarky with Mason (Felix kisses Poloma’s hand and she likes him immediately)

Listening to the four talk, Poloma highly suspects that these are the same four people they ran into at the warehouse but after asking about it Pax is convinced that they aren’t

At Adam’s dismissal of them, Poloma goes with the “ah yes you obviously don’t need our help since you’ve already caught the guy orrrrr...wait...no you haven’t” which leaves Pax to to play peacekeeper alongside Nate

So since Nate is present in all three investigative routes, here is how I see that playing out, Nate and Pax go to talk to Verda while Poloma makes a call to Tina to get the details on their witness and get a cup of coffee since Pax fixed that earlier

Then when those two are done, Poloma, Nate, and Mason go to talk to Mrs Hudders

After ub leaves for the evening the twins sit down and chat, Poloma still thinks ub are the same guys as the night before and with how weird Nate and Mason were after talking to Mrs Hudders (and after Pax tells her about Nate’s reactions when they were talking to Verda) she’s convinced they’re hiding something and is frustrated that these guys that were sent to “help” them are probably doing nothing more than standing in their way

Pax doesn’t agree, well he agrees they’re probably lying about something but really believes that since ub is there to help that they’re really trying to solve the case while including the twins as much as they can. Since they’re shady Agency types there’s probably a lot of things that are Top Secret. Poloma isn’t convinced.

The next day Pax and Nate go to talk to Kate, Poloma goes back to the station

Both of the twins, Nate and Adam go to talk to Verda

They decide to split up a bit, Nate, Adam, and Pax looking into the weird blood while Felix, Mason, and Poloma focus on the connection between the victims (this is also where there starts to be hints that Felix and Poloma absolutely cannot work alone together because they’ll distract each other)

Poloma loses to Pax in rock, paper, scissors, and has to take the call from the mayor

Both twins get to have their moments with their lis on patrol

Then for the fight with Adam, Pax leaves to talk to Verda, Poloma talks to Kate and comes back before Pax which leaves her to fight with Adam and then she runs into her brother down in Verda’s office

They both decide to leave Adam to cool off and head to the hospital, Pax drives and Poloma calls Mason but after Poloma tells her brother that Nate hadn’t been in the office when she got back, Pax leaves him a voicemail too 

Poloma gets snarky with the receptionist at the hospital so Pax volunteers to go talk to Murphy while she hangs out in the hallway

When she hears the glass breaking, Poloma runs in and of course sees the broken beaker and Pax bleeding, Murphy does the whole take her hand, try to convince her to calm down and sit which doesn’t work so he now has confirmation that these are the people he’s looking for

Pax convinces Poloma that they need to stay at work that night even though Poloma would very very much like to go to the bar with Tina it’s been a week okay the girl just wants a bREAK They work in Pax’s office and when he goes to grab them both a snack and some coffee Bobby makes his appearance and ends up bugging Pax’s office

Somewhere in here Douglas had managed to sneak back into the station, possibly looking for a place to sober up a bit before heading home

Pax returns and immediately kicks Bobby the fuck out of the building

The fight goes down about the same with the added bonus of Pax saving Douglas and telling him to run, each of the twins gets to help out their li, Pax fights along side Felix and Poloma ends up pulling the fire alarm to end it

Only Pax ends up getting knocked out, Poloma manages to duck is this something she ends up teasing him about forever? The answer is a resounding Yes

Everyone heads to the facility, Poloma drives probably to transport her brother? With Nate and Adam at least probably? Either way no one says anything

The facility stuff plays out easily enough, Pax wakes up and is really only happy to see Poloma and Nate, Poloma makes a joke about how she’s fine because “apparently only one of us is smart enough to duck” Poloma takes the “actually them being vampires makes this whole thing make sense” and after a little convincing Pax takes the “...okay” option

The tour is...cold to say the least, Pax doesn’t hold back with the criticisms of Rebecca ,the secrets she’s kept from them, and how she’s made sure to put her work before her children, Poloma says nothing

The reveal about their blood is tense to say the least but they both agree to do the tests

Both of them stop outside of their lis doors though on different mornings

Once they’re back at work, the twins, Nate and Mason all head back to the hospital to scope out the lab

They rotate whose apartment they stay at which is fine with the twins since no matter where they stay at least they each get their own bedroom

Also somewhere in here Felix reveals that it was UB at the warehouse that night and a very vindicated Poloma gets $50 off of Pax and tells him “this is what happens when you doubt me”

Pax and Nate get to have breakfast together, Mason and Poloma get to check on the thralls

They’re at Poloma’s apartment when the attack happens, of course they have their little talk with Rebecca (still just as cold as their every other interaction mostly thanks to Pax) and they both still get moments with their lis since they get their own rooms, how the actual confrontation goes is a little hazy for me since I’m bad at planning big action sequences like that but uh...more thralls probably?

Anyway the twins end up caught

Before the transfusion Poloma just rips Murphy and his plan to shreds because this asshole went through the trouble of kidnapping them and isn’t even sure his plan will work and she’s not at all impressed

The transfusion is rougher on Pax and that leaves Poloma to get them both the fuck out of there (she manages to loosen the buckle with a pen) and more or less has to help heave her brother out into the room where UB finds them

Murphy bites Poloma on the neck

They still end up catching Murphy though by tripping him thanks to both of the twins and then they both pass out (Poloma from obvious blood loss and Pax from exhaustion)

The rest plays out like this, the twins are kept in the same room, Pax heals up faster since he didn’t have to deal with the extra burden of blood loss so they’re playing a card game on Poloma’s bed when Rebecca and UB come to visit, Pax ends up in the hallway talking to Nate while Poloma gets to talk to Mason

Now for Book Two!

Both of the twins have nightmares about what happened, Poloma’s revolve around the bite while Pax revolves around his inability to help his sister both during the fight and the transfusion

The twins talk to the Captain together, both of them reassuring him in their own way that they know they still work for him (Poloma picks the “surely more help is a good thing” while Pax is just like “yes sir”)

They drive separately to the warehouse since the weather is nice and Pax is just itching to drive his motorcycle

More coldness from Pax upon seeing Rebecca again (the fact that she hasn’t seen them at all in the last two months not helping the situation), while Poloma at least tries to be a little friendly by thanking her for giving Adam the dmb

Pax doesn’t approve but at least he keeps his mouth shut

Poloma ends up having to leave first since she gets a text from Verda about some test results pertaining to a case, Pax leaves some time later after getting a text from Tina about work as well

Pax doesn’t like that there’s a carnival in town without a license while Poloma is a little excited about it and the sense of normalcy it brings

Pax stays at the station with Verda while Poloma goes out with Tina to the bakery for a late breakfast

Both twins get to walk home with their lis, though its Pax and Nate that discover the sick supernatural

That means Pax also has to deal with Bobby

Meanwhile Poloma and Mason are interrupted by phone calls about what happened at the same time, Poloma asks “what are the odds that both of us getting called at the same time is a good thing”

Everyone gets updated at the facility, Poloma and Pax both expressing to Nate that while they want to protect everyone, Pax isn’t sure how to do that against a disease, while Poloma says that whatever this is she’s sure they can figure it out

Pax finds Ub outside of the station later and while he doesn’t shy away from talking to the Mayor he also doesn’t make any sort of greeting

Poloma is waiting inside the station for Pax (and her coffee) and bemoans the fact that ever since the attack, Douglas only seems to listen to Pax now

Poloma is the one drawn away by the phone call, while Pax leaves to grab some papers from her office while she’s doing that, when they both return she is the one to threaten Mason with a fire extinguisher when he goes to light his cigarette

Both of the twins are happy to see Verda’s family and when little Cara asks to sit on Nate’s shoulders, Poloma elbows Pax and just grins making him roll his eyes

But he absolutely thinks that’s adorable as fuck okay he just doesn’t need his sister’s teasing

While Pax is being all heart eyes, Poloma is the one that connects the carnival and the illness

Poloma finally gets in a witty remark with the whole “if you need a big car you’re just compensating” line

She and Mason along with Nate and Pax are all going to the carnival tonight though not at the same time, Nate and Pax leave first in an agency suv while Poloma and Mason leave about fifteen minutes later

Pax and Nate go for the carousel first and then head to the games (Pax gives the rabbit to Nate) while Poloma and Mason go the fortune teller and then the carousel, Adam tells Poloma and Mason that Pax and Nate are going for the house of  mirrors first so they need to pick one more attraction before heading there themselves so they go to the games as well

 Since their radios cut out when they go in, Pax and Nate have no way to warn Poloma and Mason about what happened to them before they go in themselves and subsequently cause their own radios to stop working

The twins head home together with Poloma driving after that whole post carnival talk, after she drops off Pax he runs into Douglas and when she gets home herself she runs into Bobby. Pax lets Douglas stay with him for a bit and he ends up seeing Falk and his friends first so he calls Nate first

Poloma’s call to Mason is followed only a few minutes later (which I’m sure went over real well with Adam)

So both Bobby and Douglas end up at the warehouse and while both of the twins are willing to talk about Douglas and why he’s dressed like Pax, both are very obviously more hesitant to talk about Bobby. Pax tries to give Poloma an out simply stating that Bobby is a real fucking annoying reporter but Poloma admits that he’s her ex, thinking that it’s best to get that awkwardness out of the way not that she divulges any more details than that

The twins compare notes about how the attacks happened before each is driven home by their respective li

Poloma and Mason bang

The twins decided to split the difference between fight training and research, Poloma gets research in the morning with Adam and Nate while at the same time Pax gets fight training with Mason and Felix, in the afternoon they switch so Pax gets his moment with Nate in the library while Poloma gets her moment with Mason in the training room

Pax goes to the lab to find Verda and sabotages his work while Poloma goes to find Tina in the backroom and encourages her to find the truth

When they find out about the maa-alused, Poloma suggests that she’s the best person to go speak with them with both Mason and Pax agreeing with her (Pax has a line here about how if his sister says she can do something, he trusts that she will period)

Pax stays at the warehouse with the other three ub members while Poloma and Mason go the carnival and both agree to stay the night afterward and have been given their own rooms

They both also get their moments with their lis in the night after having nightmares

Felix is sent to hang out with the twins but after seeing that Pax really does want to just do work, picks to hang out in Poloma’s office and they proceed to make paper airplanes for hours and the rule that they’re not allowed to work together alone is born

Since Poloma was sent to talk to Falk, he appears in her mirror

Everything at the facility goes down easily enough with both twins impressed by not only UB’s tiers but their own as well. Pax goes for the more aggressive route when they talk with Rebecca about Rook but Poloma cuts in to be more sympathetic when Rebecca tells them that she didn’t look into his death

Back at the warehouse, sitting around with UB just shooting the shit is the first time that the twins really feel like they’re apart of this little family

So of course the subject of Rebecca and their own family is brought up, Poloma fields these questions saying that she’s sure working together will only bring them closer together, Pax rolls his eyes so damn hard its a miracle they stay in his head but at least he knows when to keep his mouth shut (I swear one day they’ll tell UB about how Rebecca abandoned them as children but not today)

Poloma diffuses the situation when Falk and his friends burst into the warehouse, Pax was super ready to fight them

After they visit the burned down carnival, they both get to walk back to their vehicles Pax with Adam and Poloma with Felix

Pax isn’t impressed by Unit Alpha but Poloma loves them instantly

Pax gets the call from Verda and when he tells Pax that Tina has recently gotten into some interesting books, Pax knows that this was Poloma’s doing and oh man is she gonna get an earful later when they aren’t near the facility or anyone that works for the Agency

The twins, Nate, and Mason all go to the sewers, Poloma uses her deductive powers to find the tunnel that the trappers are down in time for Pax who uses a map he downloads to his phone to confirm she’s right (she bemoans the fact that she should have bet money on it, now she’s out like $50)

For the actual fight, Pax fights while Poloma out smarts the leader and the twins work together with Nate to successfully rescue Sanja, Mason ends up hurt

Pax is understandably uhm...tense when they bring up that the Trappers knew who he and Poloma were because of their blood test results (and really how the fuck did they get a hold of those Rebecca hmmmmm) and specifically says that they don’t need her help especially since they’re part of UB now. Poloma doesn’t say anything but at least gives her brother a halfhearted glare

Falk signs the treaty, Pax and Poloma are attacked by the trappers outside of the facility but they deduce and science their way out of that

They run into Tina and Verda’s family at the carnival and Pax is instantly suspicious of what Tina and Poloma are talking about when Tina pulls her away (because of everything he might have forgotten to chew his sister out for spilling the beans)

Pax runs into Douglas while Poloma runs into Bobby, both are equally disturbed for different reasons after their encounters

Both end the chapter getting their moment with their lis!

#kits oc rambling #oc tag #pax jones #poloma jones #this post is so long because I did both chapters #there are a few things missing #either because they weren't different enough to warrant a point #or its something I actually want to write out later #also this has been sitting in my drafts for AGES #time to get it out of there

[jflashandclash]

Traitors of Olympus IV: Fall of the Sun

Forty-Nine: Calex

Not Enough Lollipops

           Tension eased in Calex’s chest.

           “Oh titans, it’s a zombie,” the pile of Pax blankets squeaked. Pax’s head popped out of his bedding, looking a bit too close to the squirming kitten pile in Will’s arms. Calex could only see from Pax’s nose up, as he kept the rest of him buried thoroughly. His black and golden eyes were gleaming with hope. The crazy spikes of his overgrown fauxhawk spiraled out in wispy swirls. “You’re alive! I think! Please tell me you’re alive and not a ghost with a dead kitten! That would be way worse. Does that mean Ghost Boy isn’t spokes and shadows?!”

           Although everyone said that Will had died, Calex never saw the body. The idea of him being dead never really solidified and Will looked very much alive right now.

           “You,” Will growled. Pax squeaked and disappeared back into his pile of blankets. “You should be sleeping on your back. The position you’re in is going to disrupt the healing of your shoulder. You’ve already permanently lost mobility of one hand, do you really want to lose mobility of your whole other arm?”

           No response came from the Pax pile. Calex had to wonder if that dodgy prick was pretending to sleep.

           But the words hit hard. Permanently lost mobility.

           Calex tensed each muscle on his body. Although he was sore, he could feel how painful it was to move all of his limbs. When he glanced beside him and Merry, he saw a stack of bloody bandages, clean ones, and a pinkish tinted bowl of water.

           Will’s tired blue eyes narrowed at Leo. “This isn’t for a prank, is it? I have a lot of patients to tend to.”

           “Kitten cannons,” Leo said, “We’re testing new defenses since our old ones failed.”

           Will sighed and handed him the bundle of mewing kittens. “You’re lucky Chiron told me I needed to get out of the infirmary for fresh air.”

           This crowded room, Calex assumed, shouldn’t qualify as fresh air. He feared what the infirmary looked like.

           “Our party pony is up?” Merry squeezed Calex’s shoulder and said the question his mind was too slow to put together.

           “Yes, he’s been busy tending to the wounded.”

           Will did a quick examination of Lapis’s leg. Sloppily, he cut the pant leg away, revealing a deep gash that was stuffed shut with red sand. Will made a face, giving Lapis a look.

           Lapis raised an eyebrow and glanced to Sadie.

           Sadie cleared her throat. “I, uh, may not have thought to tend much to him. Being a villain and all.”

           Will sighed.

           A reverence quieted the room as Will cleaned and bandaged Lapis’ wound. Calex noted how Will didn’t hum or sing. Calex wondered if his healing powers didn’t bode well with Will’s resurrection. Calex assumed it had more to do with the number and severity of the wounded. Will probably couldn’t waste his powers healing minor cuts and scratches or dodgy blokes like Lapis.

           After Lapis, Will started at one side of the room and went down the line. He widely skirted the covered birdcage in the corner, glanced over Euna’s slumbering form, gave Axel a confused glance, then paused by Calex.

“You’re going to have some serious scars,” he said, gesturing to the pile of bloodied bandages beside Calex. “Merry’s been at your side cleaning your injuries for the last day, but it’s like something sucked your skin off your face and parts of your arms and legs. For you, bed rest isn’t as vital, but you will need to keep your wounds clean. Once you’re well enough, I expect you to report to the infirmary to help me. Your experience at a clinic is invaluable since we’re down so many healers.”

           The words were hollow: a doctor’s report. Calex remembered the shattered structure of the Apollo cabin and wondered if anyone had gotten out alive.

           Will’s blue eyes examined Merry. Their intensity softened. “Merry, are you—”

           “I’m fine, Doc,” Merry said, her voice shaking with the thinly veiled lie. “We’ll talk about that later. Not ready for that downer yet.”

           Before Calex could ask, Will had already moved on to Kally. He knelt down, delicately lifted the sheets around her arm.

Calex glanced at Merry. She touched her cheek and mouthed the word, “Later.”

Merry might open up more in private. He hoped so. Calex swallowed and sat up to inspect Kally.

Kally’s arm was wrapped from her elbow down.

           “No one is allowed to touch this arm. Assuming you two are leaving like you planned…” Will glanced at Leo and Sadie.

Leo gave him a thumbs up. “You got it, medic. Don’t you worry. The Valdezinator will be right back.”

           “Some of my mates from Brooklyn House can clean up this camp as fast as you can say the word, ‘Order,’ and we have a healer,” Sadie said. “And I want to see my brother panic when Leo comes with me to pick them up.”

Will looked back to Merry, Calex, and Axel. “With them gone, you’ll need to make sure Kally doesn’t touch her arm or move it when she wakes up. She has two broken ribs and her opposite hand is fractured, so she won’t want to move much anyway, but the third degree burns in her right hand required a skin graft from her leg. Don’t let it smudge.”

           Calex swallowed. He and Merry nodded. Merry began to tremble.

           Will pointedly skipped Pax and walked to Dr. Claymore. The middle-aged man set his book into his lap and raised his eyes to the healer.

           Will frowned at Alabaster’s still form as he replaced the IV bag. “He should have been up.”

           “Oh, he was, for a period of time,” Claymore agreed. He pulled the edge of his jacket open, revealing several syringes beside a pistol. “Do you really think he’d let himself get bed rest here?”

           Will sighed, closing his eyes. “Fine. Just let him wake up next time. Sherman, Clovis, and the Stoll brothers all wanted to talk to him.”

           “Alabaster will not appreciate their idea of streamers, get-well cards, and singing balloons,” Dr. Claymore warned, tilted his book back open.

           “Take that up with the Stoll brothers,” Will said. Then, he added, “Without using your pistol.”

           Dr. Claymore snorted something about the art of subtlety.

           The son of Apollo walked to the door, paused, reached into his pocket, and stepped back to Pax’s sleeping bag. He set a lollipop at the edge of Pax’s bed. “I found an extra one,” he said.

           Something poked out of Pax’s pile of blankets. It took Calex several seconds to recognize it as a hand. There was a massive blacken spot in the center of the palm, fading to gruesome greens and purples. The rest of the hand was swollen to the point of looking like a poorly made jello-prop. Pax didn’t grab the lollipop like Calex was hoping. Instead the dumb bloke used the side of his hand like a rake, dragging the lollipop into the depths of his nest.

           “Thanks,” Pax said from the inside. “Now I don’t need to sing the lollipop song for the next ten hours.”

           Will sighed again. “I’ll be in the infirmary if you change your mind about treatment.” He returned his gaze to Leo and Sadie, who were fawning over the kittens. “I’ll let the others know you’re heading out soon.”

           As soon as Will left, Sadie folded her arms across her chest and smirked at Leo. “We only needed one kitten.”

           “Yea, but who doesn’t want a blanket full of kittens to lighten the mood?” he asked.

           Axel nodded his head. “Kittens can add a certain amount of happiness and mischief to any situation.”

           Sadie carefully scooped a kitten from the pile and held it towards Axel. “Bast,” she chided.

           Calex flinched when Axel inhaled sharply. One of his hands clutched his chest wound while the other fumbled back onto the sleeping bag to catch himself from falling backwards.  

           Meanwhile, the orange and black kitten in Sadie’s hands grew. Sadie gentle set it onto the floor. At almost the same time the paws touched the ground, they had shifted into hands and feet.

           A woman knelt there. She was beautiful, with black hair and caramel skin. Her eyes were similar to Axel’s, glistening lamplights with slits down the center. A leopard-print leotard clung tightly to her gymnast body. Her gaze was both amused and concerned as she examined Axel.

           “Will the real Mr. Stoic please stand up?” Merry whispered playfully.

           “Don’t move too much,” Bast warned. She leaned closer to Axel, nudging his head and shoulders around to investigate his wounds. Calex remembered Axel trying to decapitate Aphrodite for less, but their leader moved obediently. He looked confused, disoriented, and a little sickly. His eyes flashed around the room, taking in everyone’s position. His chest fluttered.

           “I partially stayed to assure you had strength to recover. You’ll have more scars as honoraries for being such a seasoned warrior. But please, do take care of yourself. Our kind isn’t designed to process the burden of guilt for so long.” Bast ended her investigation by curling a finger behind his tufted ears.

           Axel shook his head, his eyes focusing on her. With a grimace, he sat up, squared his shoulders, and raised his chin. “Thank you.” His mouth tried to form a word, but didn’t seem to know what to say. “That was a massive gamble, but without your help—”

           Bast’s smile turned exclusively to amusement. She leaned forward and licked along Axel’s jaw line, ending at his ear. Sadie gasped and Axel went silent.

“Let me know if things don’t work out with that praetor,” Bast said, “And, regardless, don’t be a stranger.” She took his hand and used her finger to write several glowing hieroglyphs on his palm. “You can use this to contact me if you want to make some more intra-cosmic magic, my handsome Tomcat.” She ended by booping his nose with her finger.

           Axel’s face flared to bright red.

           Leo let out a low whistle. Merry, Calex, Pax, and Lapis all choked on laughs.

           When Bast rose to saunter to Sadie’s side, Sadie swatted her arm. “Bast!” she said gleefully. “You ruined the poor boy! How have I never known you to be so devious?! How have you not told me stories!”[1]

           “I try to keep my kittens out of that part of my life, but you should know all cats are mischievous,” she said with a massive grin.

           Sadie rubbed the remnants of tears from her eyes. She managed to stop smiling when she returned her gaze to Calex. “You better keep that promise. If you haven’t given Gretchen a ring by the time we get back, I’ll add you to Leo’s new lizard collection.”

           She pointed to a paperclip cage at Leo’s waist containing a tiny gecko.

           Calex nodded his head. “Right.”

           Bast, Leo, and Sadie left with that parting salutation. Considering they were in a room with Lapis Pax and the Triple A Chimera, he couldn’t believe they would leave them unguarded.

           “You’re up,” Leo said to someone in the hall. “And let me know if you need me to make some special restraints for our friends. I’ll make sure it smells bad and plays annoying music.”

           Two praetors and a centurion walked into their room. [2]

           Calex tensed. He could feel Merry do the same. He could see Axel pale. All he could think about was everything they’d been unjustly blamed for over the last few months. But, was all of it really unjust? Axel had confessed he and Pax had tricked Leo into recrafting Kronos’ scythe. Euna had killed a dozen mortals. The Triple A Chimera had worked for Kronos. Alabaster, Euna, and Axel didn’t do much to hide their disdain for the gods, and Calex, Kally, Merry, and Pax had actively been protecting them.

           “Time to finally decide what we’re going to do with you,” Reyna said, unsheathing a knife to twirl it between her fingers.

 ***

Okay, last time I have Reyna twirl a knife for dramatic-end-of-chapter-effect, I promise XD Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! :D Stay tuned for Kally’s chapter, Satyr Butts and Catching Up.

 ***

  Footnotes:

[1] So, Bastet wasn’t just the goddess of protection in Egypt. She was also a goddess of fertility and physical pleasure, something Riordan—in his middle grade series—understandably skirted around. During Bast’s festival, women were freed from all social restraints to sing, dance, drink, and—yes—lift their skirts to show off their genitalia with pride. One of my former housemates worshipped Bast and loved doing just that no matter how often it sent one of our more reserved housemates into a panic.  

[2] How many Romans jokes start like this?

#Traitors of Olympus #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #Heroes of Olympus #PJO #HOO #fanfiction #Calex #oh gods--there are so many names to tag in this section #lapis #leo #sadie #Merry #Bast #Reyna #Frank #Hazel #Dr. Claymore #a lot of unconscious people #and Pax #Can't forget Pax #No really--he'll stalk you at night and poke you in the face until you acknowledge him

[inappropriatefangirlneeds]

Gotham s4ep1 “Pax Penguina” Personal Review

“Outlaws have a code.“  

Warning spoilers below

/// Gotham has two new things “crime license” and  because of that after the ruby red TetchVirus a return of the muddy green “Fear Serum” ///

 “You know you can't commit a crime in Gotham now without a license from Penguin, right?” RA'S AL GHUL ominously lurks while BRUCE WAYNE safes some people from getting robbed, they have a license. This license is ridiculous. /// I know, I know that´s basically how mobs work, but still. But at least he´s got “organ donor” checked, which is great, but I´m afraid the way things are his organs will be sold to the highest bidder?  The umbrella stamp though.  /// Omg VICTOR ZSASZ at the wedding.  I love him. I love him so much.  He´s charming, he´s a great shot , he´s still very much evil.  He spreads the word about the new license system, scares MERTON'S gang away, accepts the thanks from the bride but also introduces the new robbers with licenses. Also you all just leave the poor groom alone, there is more important stuff than expensive rings.

 “But now you want to, uh, literally, unionize crime.” So we get to know since the Tetch Virus Chaos OSWALD COBBLEPOT got violent crime to drop down to 57%. He wants more and has a little chat with the new MAYOR and police COMMISSIONER. Oswald hints having hunted down aka killed the criminals. “But this is Gotham City; there will always be crime. What I am offering is crime in the hands of professionals. And held to agreed-upon terms.” “From which you'll profit.” “God bless America.” The press does not concern Oswald but the GCPD has to be in with it, everyone with a license goes free. 

“I'm a cop. I see a crime, I stop it.” JIM GORDON certainly isn´t in with the program. He arrests a robber with license. The GCDP looks at him unamused, like by now Jim should be used to that but he seems to get the notion that his actions are not approved. HARVEY BULLOCK gets lectured about the Penguin & Mayor & Commissioner deal.  He already is on board.  “Cobblepot worries about Detective Gordon. He has a history.” /// Look buddy, honey, pal, Harvey .. Oswald knows Jim better than you do. Also I can´t believe that Harvey and Jim didn´t already have talks and fights over this. Harvey just agreed to it?! Also how does everyone know about that just Jim doesn’t, is that the kind of thing that spreads through friendly gossip and talk with your coworkers?!  /// Harvey & Jim have a late and short talk about the Situation: “And before you get on your high horse, three months ago, this city was in a tailspin. We survived because Penguin took control of the underworld.” “I am not giving the city over to Penguin.” .. “Jim, we will bust Penguin one day, I promise you. But this city has to get back on her feet. Please?” “Harvey, I get that. But every day the citizens of Gotham look to Penguin and not the GCPD to keep them safe, the harder it's gonna be to win them back.” 

“You have to trust me.” BRUCE WAYNE´s reaction to the licenses is not good either. “There must be some way we can turn this against him.” Yet ALFRED PENNYWORTH reminds him that their mission is to prepare for RA'S AL GHUL  “Oh, just-just stop. Stop right there. How does this fit in to what we're doing? What was the initial reason that you popped on that mask and you went out there?”   Bruce feels responsible for the Virus situation despite not pressing the button. Alfred warns him that´s “mission creep” “You're trying to achieve not one but two objectives.” He needs a priority! But Bruce claims he can both prepare and make a difference for Gotham. Just trust me!

 “We just want to give someone a little scare.” GRADY takes MERTON to Arkham. He used to be an orderly there and got to know JONATHAN CRANE. They want the “scare juice”. Warden Reed hands him over for some money and tells him that he is haunted by some boogeyman figure, which he finds useful to control him.   They bring Jonathan back to his old place, he really shouldn´t be there after what´s happened he says. /// Indeed  ///  He states that he wasn´t present with all his father´s experiments. /// Yet it seems five minutes later he got everything figured out .. yay “science” ///   They rob a bank with the Fear Serum. JIM GORDON & HARVEY BULLOCK have an odd conversation about if the police should investigate the crime, but hey they don´t have a licence. “And you're gonna find them before Zsasz just to prove that GCPD still matters? That's not thumbing your nose at Penguin?” Jim recognizes the symptoms and they start the investigation at Arkham. Warden Reed claims Jonathan is fragile, he can´t see anyone especially not the guys who killed his farther.  He covers Merton and Grady but Jim and Harvey aren´t fooled. However police work isn´t quite sufficient so they threaten the Warden with Penguin and Zsasz. Which makes him listen. He didn´t know the fear toxin would be used against Penguin. Now he is scared. Harvey and Jim find Grady and Merton in their lair but get overpowered. And a little insight into Merton & Grady and how they see themselves  “Outlaws have a code”  They are better than criminals like the Penguin. They get away and we see Jonathan working for the gang, more serum is ready.  He begs them to  “please just get rid of it” , it being the scarecrow. But “We all have our fears to face.” they say and even lock him in the same room. /// Wow  I´ve had a moment of sympathy for Merton and Grady, despite them just fighting for their profit, they got a point about Penguin and spared Jim and Harvey but there it´s gone again. How they treat Jonathan is just vile. /// Thanks to that vileness all sympathy is gone when they watch the news and get to know Penguin is after them. Much later the remains of the gang turn to JONATHAN CRANE again but he´s been crafty in the meantime. “Jonathan Crane isn't here anymore. Just the Scarecrow.” /// If you can´t fight what you fear, turn sides. ///

 “Since Penguin´s been cracking down, life´s been good.” BRUCE WAYNE shows up at the GCDP to talk with  JIM GORDON “Apparently, crime is legal now.” “And you're going along with that?” “Not really.” /// I´m not sure if that not really is enough for Bruce .. /// Bruce reasons that the number on the licenses must mean that there is a list. Not only listing criminals but also crime that hasn´t happened yet. Jim points out that the judges are on board and it would not help.  “I see”  /// A moment of grave importance ///  “But you haven´t given up .. “  Bruce says but Jim has to admit the crime he is going after is one without license. Bruce suggests using the Penguin to get the gang. Jim says he would do it if he knew how, apparently a couple seconds later he knows. There is a whole operation going. Not every cop is happy about it a couple cops circling Jim in the locker room.  /// Boy if this were fanfiction .. ///  “What happens when he starts giving out licenses for murders? Huh? What then?”   /// (**) Look, buddy, honey, pal, Jim, Jimmy, JIM GORDON listen he already basically does that. I´m sure hunting the criminals down did not mean putting them in cages, pet their heads and feed them. That is murder too! I know this is hard to stomach and understand for you Jim but the lives of criminals do matter too. I know you got this viewpoint that committing crime just makes you deserve everything bad that comes your way but .. it´s still murder.  Makes me thing, maybe Jim is just pissy because he can´t just do things like that. Penguin basically is living his dream currently. . isn´t he?   Which kind of puts the “Fire me.”  “Hey, don't tempt me.”  line in a spot light, with Harvey as his boss Jim already has a lot of liberties he wouldn´t have otherwise./// The cops don´t care.  Penguin made life “good”.

 “It was called the Pax Romana” There is press at the ICEBERG LOUNGE. No one talks about the club opening though. Poor Penguin. They ask about Barbara Kean, no one has seen her but OSWALD COBBELPOT says her whereabouts aren´t his business. They also want to know more about the licenses. Which makes Oswald point out the low crime rates.   “You know, Augustus Caesar once presided over the longest period of peace and prosperity the world has ever known.  It was called the Pax Romana. Perhaps one day, this will be known as the Pax Penguina.” He further claims EDWARD NYGMA had a very rare brain disease. They froze him to wait for the cure. /// Did they mean to latch a story for a loving but misguides man and his wife who deserved better onto those two ///  Edward  begged him to not hide him away. Alone Oswald is talking to Ice!Edward claiming he banished all his feelings. He isn´t slave to his emotions anymore and has risen! Ivy interrupts and Oswald is not happy about that. /// Os, how about you be nice to actual people not the iceblock .. //// 

Before that JIM GORDON showed up challenging him infront of the press. He´s a fraud, the gang with the fear toxin doesn´t respect him. Oswald acts like he buys into it. It´s the Penguin that keeps Gotham safe.

All boils down to the opening party. Even BRUCE WAYNE and ALFRES PENNYWORTH show up. “We were just admiring your frozen mate. Is he still alive in there?” “I fear we may never know.” “Well, you'll know when you finally thaw him out. When they discover a cure for his disease.”  Bruce also asks OSWALD about the license. “Everybody's talking about it, Alfred. I just want to know how it works.”   /// Saaaaaame.. /// “Anything you say stays between us.” “First, let me ask you would be agreeable to the idea of licensed crime?” “If crime had been licensed and controlled three years ago, my parents would still be alive.” Oswald reveals he only gives the guidelines and Mr. PENN cares for the details. Now they know who has THE LIST!   

The MERTON/GRADY Gang shows up. First Zsasz and Penguin should get the fear serum, then go crazy. Before they can do anything said targets show up behind them “Jim Gordon and his ham fisted manipulation.”  Oswald pulls them up on stage and gives a speech. “For the past three months, I have given this city a tranquility it has never known. Now I would like to ensure that peace for the future. In the weeks to come, you will hear whispers about what's happening in the streets of Gotham. All you need to know is without me this is what you get. Men who want to bring fear back to our city, who promise a return to the old days. So tell your families, tell your friends, it is Oswald Cobblepot who keeps them safe, not the GCPD.” BRUCE WAYNE wants to stop Penguin from killing the men. Alfred won´t have it. “You can make a difference. There is a time for masks, and there is a time for Bruce Wayne.” So Bruce interrupts with words not violence. “I do the dirty work no one else will” Penguin say but Bruce keeps insisting to have him turn them over to the police.

IVY PEPPER pulls the leaver, lights go out. She resents Oswald.   /// He isn´t nice enough, doesn´t give her spotlight ?! pls show tell me something about her motivations ///  Chaos. Penguin gets the fear serum, sees scary Edward /// Is this meant to resemble an underwater aesthetic ? Suggesting that those two almost being dead and drowning moments were traumatic enough to latch onto this fear scenario ?? /// 

Jim Gordon manages to handcuff Merton and makes a point in declaring:  “You're under arrest, by order of the Gotham City Police Department.” “Penguin or chicken” say the papers because scared Oswald hugs and clings to Jim. Jim doesn´t care about that he  just wants to find Jonathan  “I wouldn't expect too much help from these parts, though.”  “There's good cops out there. They just need reminding.”  /// That´s the nicest thing Jim ever said about them .. “ 

HoodieBRUCE shows up for the list and just takes it from PENN, then proceeds to prevent crime. At least he tries.

 “Don't turn your back on a guy unless you're sure he's down. Otherwise, not bad.” SELINA KYLE gets attacked, she wins. TABITHA trains her, they will get pizza. ZSASZ shows up and throws shade on their living conditions. Wasn´t she rich? Only until his boss stole her club. Zsasz points out a couple other things “call it even” he suggests. “Now, he could just kill you, but he figures it's time to let bygones be bygones.” /// look, really, I´m just not even gonna try to think about why, assuming Penguin indeed  just could kill Tabitha, he wouldn´t do it, okay I´m lying, I´m still very much thinking about it, I understand why Theo Galavan would be his prime goal but I don´t understand why he isn´t resenting Tabitha more, like the only explanation I can think of it that he buys into “I was just following orders” rhetoric .. but .. ///   Zsasz offers them an invitation to the Iceberg Lounge opening. “Kiss the ring, get the licence”  /// One would think that´s better than kissing Barbara Kean´s shoes /// Tabitha  wants to run but Selina came to here to move up, they are barely making it so far. Working for Penguin could change that. Tabitha says  “I´m not working for him, now pack” /// I was really worried for a moment that this is just gonna be one of Tabitha´s defining character traits, she could make it on her own she could be boss, like she has the skills but she keep latching herself to other people Theo, Butch (arg) Babs, now Selina and Penguin .. but no she doesn´t phew.. for now./// Later Selina shows up at the Iceberg Lounge alone. Zsasz is not amused but Tabitha is just right there. /// I hope with a hidden agenda. It´s sweet how relieves Selina is though, they really must have bonded off screen /// She was worried about her she states. Zsasz want´s to search them for weapons “Sure, if you want to lose a hand” /// NO! You don´t make that joke without an extension, like anything maybe a .. and I certainly can´t recommend that ///  SELINA KYLE is on top of the roof, with heels. /// WHY? Is the camera acting like we should slightly be worried she would fall ?!! /// BRUCE WAYNE shows up, like she knew he would, like he knew she would and stuff and things. Bruce wants to apologize, and appreciates her kind gesture. He´s sorry but not happy about her choice of a mentor. She doesn’t care. Alfred interrupts.

                               ...............................................

 AVE PENGUIN * “We ain't kicking half our take to that little creep.” Wedding robber guy says about OSWALD. Good to see he still does have that reputation. So I ask you Gotham, why, why for the love of god do you keep skipping over the parts showing how he rose up high despite of that resistance. It´s the whole story all over again, Odgen Barker/Morton being a tiny hint of issues he had and has to face yet they just keep ditching the interesting part and just *plop* put the Penguin on the Throne.   * Also, look I like that they established Penguin as the competent one, and the mayor as well as the commissioner to be aware that they aren´t (but to be fair Oswald can operate outside of the law so that´s a huge advantage) but could they just for once show how he actually managed to do that? Just let Freeze, Firefly and F(V)ictor run through the streets just murdering everyone doing crime, or recruit them for the licence program? That´s just all a lot of effort that still needs to be organized well and could just go wrong. I wanna see that. * “I have affidavits from his doctor,  if you would like to see them.” I wonder if he really has them or if it´s part of the lie. It reminds me a bit of when he was claiming Aubrey James was illiterate, which was well documented. I kind of keep admiring his talent and audacity to just keep uttering such obvious lies.

ARKHAM ASYLUM * Hearing the Arkham Warden Reed utter a dutiful mechanic “We mustn't call them "loonies.” while he exploits his patients and worse while this show gives us another oh look at those mad, crazy, funny, dangerous, pathetic  people collage, like we are stuck in Victorian times and is just one inch short of selling us a stick to poke them with feels surreal. * Also that there is a Venn diagram that has an overlap between the “orderlies working with patients” circle and the “criminals” circle is further troubling. If just it were only fiction. 

RANDOM NICE THINGS * Zsasz & Food: No one shares food with Zsasz, he didn´t get the muffins, even after complimenting the cook and saying they smell good, Selina closes the box when he asks about the pizza. He keeps raiding the fridges of victims .. and Jim. Please never change him. * Zsasz and Alfred keeping each other at gunpoint. And exchanging a smile afterwards * “He's dead, remember? Not that that matters much in this town anymore.” * “Exclusive, but welcoming. Urbane and edgy.” * “Probably not a bad thing.” “How's that?” “Guys get to let off steam, resentments don't fester.” “Next time, you can get punched in the face.” “This beautiful mug? No one would dare.” * “What about the alarm?” “Forget it. We got a license, remember?”

 CODES and MISSIONS There are a lot of parallels again this week and self image / identity stuff. With  BRUCE WAYNE it is directly addressed that one needs to be aware of his mission and priorities. There even is talk with Alfred about the best method to reach them. Currently Bruce wants to have it all. They put him in contrast to SELINA who has extent her “Number1” credo to wanting more. She thinks she´ll reach that with siding with Tabitha and Penguin. Bruce only pretends to take that side to gather information to topple Penguin. Not once does Bruce think about if Penguins approach might be helpful. Neither does JIM GORDON who again stands both mirroring and opposing BRUCE this week. Both share the knowledge that Penguin is not the saviour he claims but while Jim pushes against him when confronted with the GCPD/Harvey/Politics his rhetoric changes when he talks to Bruce. He tells him everything that speaks against going after Penguin at this stage. He talks about the judges who are in with the licences. Something a Season1 Jim probably would not just have said without adding something amongst the lines of we  ( I ) have to change that. Despite discrepancies Bruce and Jim´s mission is still the same one. On the other side there is most cops and politics. Who see that crime rates are a historic low, and they as well got a point. That they are completely undermining law and law enforcement, of course is not less true. Surprisingly we got another group who is opposing Oswald´s ambitions. Criminals, pardon I mean Outlaws. MERTON/GRADY claim they are not like Oswald. “I'm an outlaw! Outlaws have a code. Criminals, they'll take everything. They'll take a man's livelihood.” Of course one could claim they only oppose him that they can keep in crime business but apparently it´s also partly personal for them. And they show a vastly different self image. It kind of reminds of JIM GORDON´s knack of splitting people into criminalsTM and not criminals, no matter their actions. It´s hard for Jim to recognize the good a criminal like Oswald does or face his own criminal(ish) actions.  Merton and Grady can´t pretend that they don´t commit crime, or claim they do it “to safe Gotham” but they can separate themselves from another “brand” of criminal. I really wonder if Jim listened to them talking, and if what his thoughts were about that. Another telling detail connected to that in the ongoing JIM&BRUCE parallel is how Jim Gordon does not even bat an eye at the frozen Edward. (Of course Edward tried to kill him so that kind of is a bad example.) Both Bruce and Jim entered the club with a different mission but only one was taken aback that there is a frozen person in the room, probably a murdered frozen person.  It´s as Oswald said “You have a good heart.” It´s a beautiful little nod to the much mentioned  Bruce even cares about the criminals lives thing, which stands in contrast to how Jim Gordon acts (**)

Link FearSerum Edward is not only in water but might be methaper for Oswald fearing himself for being ready to throw his self preservation over board

Link on the danger of the LicenceSystem   Link MoreLicenseSystem and about Jim

#gotham meta #mine Gotham full episode reviews #jim gordon #gotham #king of gotham #Gaius Julius Caesar #gotham s4ep1 Pax Penguina #license

[fathersonholygore]

Fox’s Gotham Season 4, Episode 1: “Pax Penguina” Directed by Danny Cannon Written by John Stephens

* For a recap & review of the Season 3 Heroes Rise finale, “Heavydirtysoul” – click here * For a recap & review of the next episode, “The Fear Reaper” – click here Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) is gradually getting closer to his true self, Batman. He watches over Gotham’s streets, looking for victims of thieves and murderers. He confronts two men with guns, beating them down using all his training. One of them claims to have a “license,” which the young billionaire finds on him. It’s stamped with a little umbrella giving permissions for specific crimes. In the dark, Ra’s al Ghul (Alexander Siddig) is also keeping a watchful eye on Bruce. A band covers Rick Astley at a wedding when a bunch of criminals hold the place up. They loot the guests. However, waiting nearby is Victor Zsasz (Anthony Carrigan), who doesn’t like what he’s seeing. We hear more of the licenses, issued by Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor). Zsasz is there to make robbers are kicking up to the boss. “No license, no crime.” Speaking of Oswald, he’s ruling Gotham with an iron fist. He’s dropped violent crime, but he’s technically unionising it now, as well. Such is the irony of this seedy little city. There’s a new Mayor, a new police commissioner. Yet nothing’s changed much. Detective Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) is adjusting to the new “Penguin–approved” system of licensing crime. As in, he isn’t dealing with that shit except to arrest motherfuckers like always. Most of the GCPD aren’t happy with him, either. Certainly Captain Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) is going to have to do a bit of work to keep Jim in line, because they’re all forced to do what the new comish wants. The criminals turned away by Zsasz are looking into Arkham Asylum for answers to their problems. They go to the warden, searching out Jonathan Crane (Charlie Tahan). They’ve got a plan to “give someone a little scare.” Oh, this is looking dark already. The men take Jonathan to find his father’s things, to cook up some “scare juice,” and they’ve got an ugly scarecrow to keep the lad focused. Thus, no need for any crime licenses when they can gas people, make away with money, whatever they wish. This puts Dt. Gordon hotter on the case, works for him there’s no license to stop his investigation. He’s already thinking of the Crane family. Jim and Harvey go see Warden Reed (Damian Young), who bullshits them about Jonathan, of course. They want to see the young man. Eventually the warden gives up what he knows, leading the cops to one of the criminals. But Jim and Harvey get ambushed, the rest of the criminal gang escapes. We’re privy to more ass kicking by Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova), after a bunch of men try assaulting her in an alleyway. Helps that she’s got that new whip, she uses it incredibly well. No men are going to get a jump on her. Not to mention she’s being mentored a bit by Tabitha Galavan (Jessica Lucas). They beat dudes up, they eat pizza. When they get home, Zsasz is waiting. He’s delivering the message about the licenses, as well as inviting them to “kiss the ring” at the opening of the Iceberg Lounge. The Cat wouldn’t mind working for Penguin, whereas Tabitha says fuck that.

Alfred (Sean Pertwee) isn’t so sure about Master Bruce’s methods. Bruce is concerned about the city, though, he doesn’t like the licenses Penguin is issuing. He stops by the GCPD to see Jim, they speak for a little. In addition, we get the first of many quick exits by Mr. Wayne as he vanishes behind Jim’s back when they’re conversation is at an end. Classic! With the Iceberg Lounge about to open, Penguin speaks to the press of the “Pax Romana” and his own “Pax Penguina” relating himself to Caesar. He also shows them the centrepiece of his new club, the frozen Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) whom he claims had a disease of the brain. Perfect timing – Dt. Gordon pops by to call Oswald out in front of everybody, telling them about Crane’s fear toxin loose on the street. “We all have our fears to face” The GCPD are prepared, watching the Iceberg Lounge. Jim is sure the gang will be baited into going for Cobblepot there. Bullock’s not sold on the plan, even if his old partner is sure things will go as he anticipates. The detective gets a visit later in the locker room by his colleagues, they’re not pleased with him. Thus begins a new fist fight for ole Jim. Meanwhile, worse things are happening. Poor young Crane is locked away by the criminals in a closet with the terrifying scarecrow, and his fragile little mind isn’t going to bend much further before snapping. Everyone is present for the opening at the lounge. Bruce gets closer to Oswald, figuring out more about the license. Selina and Tabitha are there to take up the crime boss on his deal. In the back, the gang of criminals with their fear toxin wait to spring their plot. Only to be surprised by Penguin and Zsasz. What’ll be the punishment? Something gruesome, one hopes. He drags them out in front of everyone present, showing people what other criminals would have the city turned into if it weren’t for Penguin keeping Gotham safe from fear. When Bruce wants to get suited up Alfred urges: “There is time for masks, and there is a time for Bruce Wayne.” This prompts the young man to interrupt, confronting Oswald about what will happen to the criminals. None of that matters because Ivy Pepper (Maggie Geha) is fed up with her friend Penguin. She kills the lights in the lounge and the whole place goes insane. Ole Oz gets a blast of the fear toxin, seeing the Riddler emerge as a monstrous entity. Lucky for everybody, Jim and Harvey get there to arrest the gang of criminals. That night, Bruce does get his suit on. He tracks down the man with the list of licenses, then he vanishes into the night again. He starts looking for criminals, when he winds up falling through a window right into their path. Likewise stumbling into the path of GCPD officers doing a bust. Elsewhere, Jonathan has relinquished his identity. He is now just the Scarecrow, about to terrorise Gotham in his own horrific way. Just a knockout of an opening episode for Season 4! So much good stuff going on. I’m a huge fan of the Scarecrow character, so it’s nice to see a return of that storyline, including Jonathan himself. Lots to look forward to in this season. “The Fear Reaper” – a fitting title – comes next.

Gotham – A Dark Knight, Episode 1: “Pax Penguina” Fox's Gotham Season 4, Episode 1: "Pax Penguina" Directed by Danny Cannon Written by John Stephens…

#Arkham Asylum #Caesar #Gotham City #Jonathan Crane #Pax Penguina #Pax Romana #Ra&039;s al Ghul #Robin Lord Taylor #Scarecrow #The Iceberg Lounge #Victor Zsasz

[lets-try-some-writing]

For the "Not So Normal Teacher" thingy. (Not the original asker, just got an idea for it.)

Imagen some of the Decepticons destroying a part of the school, nearly endangering the students, and Optimus going completely feral over it. Like, Primus have mercy on those who thought it was a good idea to attack the school. Doesn't even matter if it was an accident.

Only good thing is, that the school grounds and students are off-limit now. None of the Decepticons want to deal woth a feral Optimus again, not even Megatron.

It has been a moment since I touched this AU, but I love it so here we go. Time to flex my writer muscles again and mess with this.

Previous part here.

══════════════════

It was a fairly average day with Optimus teaching as he normally would when the alarm sounded. The children were rushed outside where armed soldiers were already waiting to usher the children away just in time for a squad of Vehicons to drop down and attempt to bomb the school upon sensing Optimus's signal within.

They missed the school itself due to Optimus projecting his signal more powerfully to draw them away, however their attacks managed to damage a good fourth of the building. Rock and stone were sent flying, very nearly hitting a few students and scaring the younger children into a state of hysteria. At that moment Optimus saw RED. His holoform was absorbed the moment it was out of sight and Optimus's true form came barreling into action. By the time his real body arrived, the children and all other civilians had been evacuated by the military, leaving Optimus one mission.

He transformed without a second thought and threw himself into blasting the Vehicons out of the skies. Unfortunately for them, Optimus's aim rang true and they fell like buckets of bolts. The Vehicons attempted to fight back, they really did, however they were no match for a Prime fed up with their slag and downright wrathful over their attempt to harm his little archivists. The group of three escaped alive, however one came back missing a wing, another lost an arm, and the third had to be carried since his legs were lost in the bargain for life.

As a general rule, Optimus didn't touch Vehicons beyond punting them into a wall if they got too uppity. Thus seeing three Vehicons return shaken beyond words and missing limbs left and right was concerning at best and terrifying at worst. Having Soundwave review footage from where it could be gathered was enough to drive one point home.

The human school was not to be touched. Ever.

Thus is quickly fell in the very very short "off limits" list and life went on as usual. But of course the rumors around Mr. Pax only grew. The students noted his absence and the few observant ones were very aware of the fact that the bombers vanished but a few minutes after Mr. Pax did. Those who believed him to be an old god added yet another reason to their claims when they pointed out the total lack of destroyed jets or gore. It was as if nothing even existed to attack the school in the first place.

All the while Jack, Miko, and Rafael watched on knowing full and well just who was behind the whole situation and its conclusion. They said nothing of course, but watching the rumors expand and grow greater was fun in its own way. Miko had a blast making everything FAR more serious than it actually was, even going so far as to claim that the attackers had been erased from reality. Mr. Pax for his part did nothing to disprove the claims or confirm them. He went on as usual and paid the rumors no mind. He had classes to teach after all.

#transformers #transformers prime #maccadam #optimus prime #teacher au #orion pax #tfp kids #Mr Pax out here leaving everyone baffled yet again #the vehicons fear him and Pax just chilling with his students

[jflashandclash]

Attrition of Peace

Eighteen: Kalypso

The Return of the Paxmobile

(or: Dananananana Dnananana Paxmobile!)

 Everyone was laughing as they ran out of the club. Pax scrambled to pull his shirt back on. Axel surprised her and Euna with a quick front flip as they ran. He laughed like a maniac and Kally realized Merry’s power had affected more than the Heroes of Olympus.

The outside cold snapped Kally more into reality. The gleeful tears that streaked down her cheeks now turned to trails of ice. She’d been in a sound booth tucked into one of the walls with protective Plexiglas. Apparently, it wasn’t uncommon for the merfolk to splash the electronics whenever they disliked a song so everything had been waterproofed. Also effective for, In Case of Percy Jackson. Despite that, Merry had taken over the music halfway through with her jacket, allowing Kally to dance in the isolation of her box without any responsibilities.

“Okay, Merry, I owe you an apology,” Axel admitted. “I didn’t think whatever idea you had was going to work. I mean… the Diet Cokes?”

“The sacrifice to Dad,” Merry giggled. “I ain’t that powerful.” Calex carried her bridal style as they ran down the alleyway. She kept throwing her head back and forth, like she was still dancing to the music, making it as difficult for Calex to carry her as possible.[1]

Merry had collapsed in the club. That party had completely drained her. Kally had seen Merry talk her way out of tons of exercising in gym class and wasn’t used to Merry looking so exhausted. Now, she kept giggling nonsensically, waving her fingers haphazardly to a beat no one could hear, nuzzling up against Calex’s chest, and mumbling the words to Bollywood songs. The grin on her face was absolutely silly and contagious.

“You two—” Merry flicked her hand at Pax and Axel, making Kally duck to avoid being struck. “—are great at the whole war thing, but you’re not very god at peace, are you two?”

Pax laughed and stated, “No, all we’ve ever known is violence,” in the least comforting manner he could.

The image of Pax’s bedroom fluttered to the surface of Kally’s memory—the corner with the chains, clubs, and whips. All the mirth flushed out of her. Instead, she thought about laying beside Pax on his bed, and about what Pax must have done to make Frank flustered the other day. Did other demigods have this problem? Worrying about their traumatized not-boyfriends making out with unwary praetors?

“Merry, that was brilliant, though you’re a mad woman,” Calex said, interrupting Kally’s thoughts on her muddled emotions.

They turned out of the alley onto the main street. Axel slowed them to normal walking pace to draw less attention. The sky was dark now—as dark, Kally figured, as the sky could get in Brooklyn. It gleamed with an ominous orange haze that washed out most of the stars, like Hephaestus was hammering away new New York Part II to impress Athena somewhere nearby.

The streets were busy with the night crowd. Some people made Kally happy that Euna had Backbiter and that someone as intimidating as Axel was leading them.

Now that they’d left the energy of the club and were walking, Kally could feel herself shake in the cold. Merry was the only one with a real jacket in the group. Calex’s beanie and scarf couldn’t have kept him that much warmer.

“Why did you need me to shoot Percy?” Calex asked.

Merry giggled. “Oh, that wasn’t for the plan. I just thought Pax would get a kick out of seeing Percy fall in love with Jason.”

Calex’s jaw dropped. Axel choked on a laugh. Pax burst into one. Even Euna cracked a half-smile, though Kally thought Euna’s grin might have been in reaction to her own musings due to the distant glint in her eyes.

“You had me shoot at the SON OF POSEIDON because this idiotic block might get ‘a kick out of it?!?’” he demanded.

“Yes.”

“M-Merry, you’re am-mazing,” Pax said, wiping happy tears from his eyes. “I g-give you 10 out of 10 on app-preciating your efforts—HUNNIE! BALLER!”

Before Calex could drop Merry on the sidewalk or toss her into Pax to knock both of them over, a shriek erupted from a passing group of girls in high heels and boys in button downs. “Ew! Rats!”

Two furry creatures darted through their prancing feet and, upon reaching Pax’s legs, scampered up his pants. Once they reached his belt, they burrowed under his shirt, incurring several shouts of glee and pain.

“Ow—ow! Ha ha! Ow! Guys—I missed you—aye! Who fixed you up, Hunnie?!” he asked.

Axel smiled. Then his eyes widened. “Wait—Ajax, if they’re here—”

“We can have weasel death battles again!” Pax exclaimed, and hugged a squirming bulge along his waist.

“That… too, but it means—”

“That means the Paxmobile is nearby!” Pax scrambled to withdraw the two weasels from his shirt. As he pulled them out, they wriggled and bit as his arms. “Ow—ow—go forth my—ow—pretties! F-find us our mobile home!”  

 Kally wasn’t sure how much time passed before Sam Datta’s taxi-van stopped. They’d tried walking after Hunnie and Baller for ten minutes before calling Sam, all of them shaking from the cold and exhausted.

Sam was a little skeptical about letting a pair of weasels direct their movement, but the skepticism turned to wonder when Pax handed him a pocket full of denari and drachma.

“Is this… pirate edition Monopoly money?” he asked. He glanced in concern to where Merry, Calex, and Euna had immediately collapsed in the back seats. Merry was out after a delirious greeting, “vanakkam.[2]”

“It’s what Frank and Jason had in their pockets,” Pax said, hopping in the passenger seat. “So, they’re probably made out of gold. Can you imagine if New Rome was using monopoly money though?” Pax shook his head. “We could use inflation to destroy their economy. Mu ha ha.”

Sam shrugged. “That credit card from earlier didn’t bounce yet. Did you guys beat up her stalker and their cavalry reinforcements?” He pointed a thumb at Kally.

Kally frowned. She wished that wasn’t the story they’d gone with. She sat in the middle with Axel.

“We showed them how to party,” Merry sleepily murmured from the back.

Sam shook his head. Despite the late hour, his eyes were still lit up with excitement. “Hey man, I want details. I’m not driving you places for monopoly money and Mr. Stoic’s angry glare. Now, before I hear how you kicked mythological ass, I’m not going to get dive bombed by like, a dragon, this time, am I?”

Kally thought about Festus, the bronze dragon that Leo had.

“No,” Axel said with firm confidence.

At the same time, Pax said, “Possibly.”

Sam’s eyes sparkled more. “Ah, awesome. Well, I hope you can make sense of my biostat notes, because you’re going to help me study between story time.”

 Pax sat in the front to watch the weasels dash across the dashboard and verbalize their movement to Sam. Axel sat up, alert, and vigilantly scanned the horizon.

Kally wanted to stay awake, to make sure they didn’t derail too far from Camp Half-Blood to find the Paxmobile, though it would be nice to have their own transportation. Honestly though, Kally didn’t know if they were going away from Camp Half-Blood, considering her lack of knowledge about the geography of New York.

Apparently, something about the weasels’ dance across the dashboard was mesmerizing enough for Kally to nod off. When she felt the car roll to a stop, she could smell the cloy mix of spicy chocolate and sweat in her nostrils. Her face and right arm felt toasty despite the cold of the van. Kally glanced up, looking past a torn and bloody Camp Jupiter shirt to where Axel was staring out the window.

Her face was pressed against Axel’s chest and his arm was loosely around her shoulder. When he noticed her wake up, he gave her a soft smile, ruffled her hair, and removed his arm.

Kally’s face felt even toastier.

For a disorienting moment, Kally had a weird flashback to her brother, John. Before he’d became a total jerk, when Kally was really little, he used to help carry her inside the house whenever she fell asleep on long car rides. Sometimes, she’d pretend to have fallen asleep, just so John would complain about how heavy she was while tossing her over one shoulder.

The memory faded when Axel startled and shouted, “STOP!”

Sleepy grumbles erupted from the back.

They squeaked to a sharp halt. From the ease of the break, they couldn’t have been going that fast. From what Kally could see in the scattered street lamps, they were in a suburban neighborhood, with concrete sidewalk forming a horseshoe in a cul-de-sac. They’d braked at the entrance of the cul-de-sac.

The houses were nice, middle-income family homes, bigger than Kally’s house, but she was used to her friends’ houses being bigger. Each had about an acre of land, with minor landscaping and a few scattered trees.

There wasn’t anything that should have made Axel shout for them to stop. Except maybe Hunnie and Baller. They were going nuts and doing flips. One scratched at the front windshield while the other sprinted in circles around the dashboard.

“Unicorn or something?” Sam asked, ducking his head back and forth like he might see something.

Axel pointed to the last house in the cul-de-sac.

Amidst the overgrown grass of that last house, there was indeed a unicorn grazing in the grass. Kally was relieved to see the sputtering rainbow sparkles erupt out of the red and black stallion ahead. Vinyl was okay and happily munching on the lawn.

A white, dented pharmaceutical van was parked in the house’s narrow parking lot.

Kally hoped that was their Paxmobile, and not Lapis and Hiro’s. But she could see the faintest hint of paint on the side, from where the Pax brothers had scribbled Pax Extraction Team. A weird nostalgia hit her as she thought about playing card games with Pax’s holographic deck in the back.

A golden donkey poked its head out from the other side of the Paxmobile: Lucius the Golden Ass.

“That’s just a deer du—oh.” Sam’s eyes went wide. “Oh, man, are most deer secretly unicorns? Have I hit a unicorn with my car before without even knowing it?”

He edged the taxi forward at a slow roll.

Axel shot forward and grabbed Sam’s shoulder. “I said stop.”

The taxi halted again. “Are unicorns deadly?” Sam asked, wide-eyed.

“Very,” Pax said absently. “I heard they eat human livers.” He sat rigidly in the passenger seat, leaning forward slightly. He bounced slightly back and forth in a motion recognized as his I want to hop but I’m sitting.

“Krios and Luke only told you that so you’d stop asking for one,” Axel said. His normal sigh didn’t follow. Instead, his gaze was steady. The Mist fluttered for a moment, and Kally could see his pupils had widened, leaving a thin rim of his iris, like a cat ready to pounce.

“There’s a rune barrier around that house,” he said. Kally didn’t see anything, but she assumed this was a true sight thing.

“Like..?” Pax asked.

“A child of Hecate rune barrier,” Axel clarified.

Pax went silent. Kally thought he might break his seat if he bounced anymore. She could imagine the internal, chibi version of Pax clawing at his seatbelt, squealing, “Release me!”

Something small and ghostly darted from under the Paxmobile, gliding bouncily towards their taxi, like the most menacing of specter bunnies.  

One of the weasels on the dashboard made a loud squeak and phased through the windshield. Kally blinked, watching as the remaining one bit and attacked the glass in attempt to follow after.

“Wow! Your ferret can—”

The weasel left in the car shrieked at Sam before continuing to attack the glass.

“Weasel,” Pax corrected absently. He looked stunned as he watched their weasel scamper up and intercept the approaching white figure.

“Baller does that sometimes,” Axel said. His posture was rigid. He absently grabbed at his belt, where a weapon should have been. This was the tensest Kally had seen him since he interacted with Aphrodite. “Kally, wake up the others. Everybody needs to get out.”

As soon as the doors opened, Hunnie darted off to join Baller in attacking that floating spectral thing. Once Pax remembered to remove his seatbelt, he bolted after them. Merry wouldn’t budge. Calex, sleepily, had to carry her out. None of them wanted to wake up Euna. They took Joey’s old piece of advice about throwing things at her, mostly crumbled up pieces of Sam’s notebook. Fortunately, she didn’t assault any of them on waking. She just glared.

Sam said he’d wait at the bottom of the cul-de-sac until he heard everything was okay. He hefted up his biostats book and cracked it open for some studying. “Unicorns and golden donkeys make the perfect backdrop for studying. Besides, knowing my luck, you’ll make the house explode or something.” He made it sound like that really would be lucky. Kally was starting to wonder what this guy did on weekends, other than pick up random kids with stolen credit cards and take them to strange houses by weasel direction.

As they walked up the small incline of the sidewalk, towards the house, Axel seemed deaf to Calex’s questions about where they were and what they were doing and why they weren’t at Camp Half-Blood yet. Though his questions quieted to glee at seeing Vinyl in the yard.

Ahead of them, Pax reached the three battling creatures and dropped onto the pavement, crying, “Nietz! Nietz!” Kally thought neats was a weird thing to call when being overrun by—

“Oh gods,” Calex groaned, “Are there really three of those damned things?”

When she got close enough, Kally recognize the small specter to be another weasel, this one albino. The three weasels decided Pax’s body was a battle ground, bounding over his limbs, hiding, and ambushing one another.

Tears streamed down Pax’s cheeks as he scrambled to snatch up the albino weasel. “Axel—Axel, it’s Nietz! Do—do you think—”

           They were at the house’s property line when Axel knelt down. He touched a part of the concrete, and a green rune appeared on the ground, glowing dimly. “It’s an alarm ward,” he said absently. He clenched his jaw.

           The three weasels bound away from Pax to scamper around Axel’s legs. He reached down to pet the white weasel, who dropped onto its back and curled to bite and scratch his fingers. “Hey Nietzsche,” he greeted with a soft smile. He stood up, inhaled shakily, and said, “Whoever lives in that house will already know we’re here. Let’s check to see if everything is in the van. I want to be armed. Just in case.”  

 Thanks for reading :D Are you ready to meet the new Seventh Traitor of Olympus?

[1] My niece does this when you carry her and it is terrifying since you never know when she’ll drive to dive out of your arms.

[2] Greeting in Tamil.

#Traitors of Olympus #PJO #Hoo #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #fanfiction #writing #Axel #Pax #Calex #Kally #Merry #Euna #Nietzsche #Baller #Hunnie #Now you have the Triple W team back together!