people that say Arthur and John hated each other were not playing the same Red Dead i did. i don't think they even disliked each other.
like there’s concern on Arthur’s face when he hands John off to Javier once they find him. sure he's being a smart ass the whole time, but the second John's back is to him, he's got these damn puppy eyes.
at the start of Who the Hell is Leviticus Cornwall? Arthur's checking on John. the only people in the cabin are Swanson, John, and Arthur. they have a few lines of dialog before Dutch comes barging in, A: "You're still here, then?" J: "I owe you." A: "And you'll pay me...but for the moment, just rest." there was literally no venom in Arthur's greeting to John. like at all. was it sarcastic? sure. but that's all it was. and the way Arthur says just rest is so damn soft. i would have loved more than three lines of dialog between them, but alas. Dutch. just found it of note that Arthur will check up on John, but only when there's no one else around. can't let the others know he still cares about that dumbass.
some of their exchanges can be read as "mean-spirited", but i think Arthur is just...kind of mean. every time Arthur takes a jab, John ignores it and continues their conversation like it's normal. i think that's just how John and Arthur interact. which honestly makes sense for two guys that have known each other for ~15 years.
Arthur is a grouchy bastard for the whole duration of Paying a Social Call, and John even comments to Kieran that if Arthur treats his friends like this, imagine how he treats his enemies. i think Arthur was acting like a banty and puffing out his chest to intimidate Kieran more than anything.
BUT (ok this may be a reach here) Arthur didn't deny him and John being friends, which is something Arthur has absolutely no issue correcting if he feels differently. and here would have been an opportune moment to get one last jab in on John, but he didn't. it was almost like John and Arthur were playing off of each other in the moment: Arthur throws the initial punch, John brushes it off, instead of changing the subject/tone to more joking—Arthur keeps going, John does get a little heated but then makes the remark about friends and enemies. it felt like a show, ooh look how big and bad our enforcer is.
i think the best display of their relationship is the mission The Sheep and the Goats.
John could have gotten Javier, Bill, hell maybe even Hosea to rustle some sheep, but he chose Arthur.
there's a bit of a power play between them the whole time, John is being cagey and evasive about what exactly the plan is, and at the first opportunity Arthur is taking control over the job.
they argue, but it's short lived and neither seem to put much heart into it. Arthur even voices something that could be seen as doubt in Dutch's abilities to John. J: "Dutch says that we—" A: "Dutch says a lot. Now, that's his gift...saying things." J: "Oh yeah? What do you mean by that?" A: "I was the prize pony once, now I'm the workhorse. Listen. Dutch is...but...but, well...you was at that thing in Blackwater."
overall the job goes smoothly. they work well together. even when dealing with the man at the stockyards they work well together. Arthur tries to throw his weight around, and John shuts him down before Arthur can push a little too hard.
i've said it before, but the scene where Cornwall's men have Strauss and John, the way John looks to Arthur—gets me every time. there's irritation on John's face, but not panic. he trusts that Arthur won't let him die.
idk i think a lot of it is that Arthur is the ultimate grudge holder. and i think that John turning tail and running made Arthur face the fact that he isn't any better than John. Arthur was a garbage father, that did pretty much the same thing. only Eliza and Isaac didn't have an entire gang to fall back on, it was probably just her providing and the few bucks Arthur would give her every couple of months.
with how comfortable Abigail is with asking Arthur for things with Jack, i would assume Arthur took on a role that could loosely be labeled "father" in John's absence (and i doubt any of the other men [except Hosea] would be willing to do that).
ok i got off track.
i never felt like their relationship or interactions were anything other than sarcastic banter between old friends. old friends that aren't as close as they used to be, but still they trust each other with their lives.
there might be a little rivalry between them, but i think it's mostly because they're both stubborn, arrogant bastards. and i'm sure Dutch helped fan the flame with their rivalry when it suited him, shifting his favor from Arthur to John.
there's a rift there, and Arthur doesn't let John forget it. John can hardly get a thank you out when Arthur helps him get Jack back, so something like an apology/heart to heart with Arthur is out of the realm of possibility. so they're stuck in this awkward in-between.
friends, but not really. close, but not too close. rivals, but only on the surface.
Concept:
The Battle of Mount Othrys must’ve seriously messed Jason up.
Not only is it a fight for our lives kind of deal it’s not like anyone in Camp Jupiter would’ve known what was happening.
They wouldn’t have been prepared for any of this and whether he was Praetor at the time or not, Jason was their only hope.
The battle of Manhattan was brutal yes but the Olympians still ended up helping the demigods. And there were 3 big 3 kids in attendance, Percy, Thalia and later Nico.
As far as we know there was no additional aid to Camp Jupiter. And well if there was it definitely didn’t come from the Olympians.
Not to mention most of Camp Jupiter is made up of legacies who are mortals and can’t heal from ambrosia or nectar.
And this battle took place before Hazel ever showed to so all Camp Jupiter had was Jason. Everything was riding on his shoulders.
Jason was literally all they had and I can’t imagine what that kind of pressure must’ve felt like.
And you just know that even with him beibg the son of Jupiter and their only damn chance at victory that people wanted him nowhere near the fight.
Soley because he was part of the 5th cohort and we can’t be saved by some low ranked solder. Lives are on the line but go off I guess.
So Jason is not only wrestling with everyone’s expectations, he’s had no time to prepare. And I frankly refuse to believe anyone thought Jason would survive Krios.
Including Jason himself.
Which is a whole other layer of fucked up because oh so you literally sent him to his maybe death just to save yourselves.
Hell knowing Jason he probably volunteered knowing all of that.
Whenever I picture Jason beating Krios it’s this impossible feat that he somehow accomplished. It takes everything he has in him.
That by the end he’s barely able to stand from this fight and the many he fought getting here.
Jason raises his sword, stained in a titans golden ichor and his own red blood, as a symbol of strength for Rome.
That he doesn’t go down until it’s over and when he falls no one’s even around to catch him.
And you just know that among the celebrations and praises that someone will be out there critiquing his form.
And how he fought in a less then Roman way because nothing Jason does is ever enough for these people.
Fiyero (about Boq): I call my boyfriend “Bambi”.
Fiyero: he thinks it’s because he’s cute with his brown eyes.
Fiyero: little does he know, I want someone to shoot his father with a rifle.
Concept: Hera doesn’t show up for the Battle of Manhattan but Juno shows up for the Battle of Mount Othrys.
Jason in the midst of battle about to face Krios and praying not to his father.
But to his patron.
In seconds Juno appearing before her champion. And despite despite the dire circumstances, she smiles at him.
To see Jason on the battle field looking every bit the hero she knew he was destined to become.
It fills her with pride.
“You came? I mean of course you’d come.” Says Jason, trying and failing to hide his shock. “Of course, where else would I be when my champion needs me.”
Jason smiles “of course, thank you Lady Juno” he says bowing his head in gratitude. Juno shook her head in amusement “honestly Jason how many times have I told you to forgo these formalities?”
Her champion grinned “oh somewhere between 2 and 200 times.” Cheeky boy, she adored him so. It had been far too long since they’d spoken, a fault on her part of course.
Alas it was then their lovely conversation was interrupted by Krios, the titan staring at them in shock.
“You..but how? How are you so far from your husband?”
Jason glared “how dare you speak to my champion in such a way?!” He rose his sword to defend himself and her honour. Juno softened at the sight before preparing herself for the fight.
“I trust you have a plan.”
“Sure do, but you’re gonna have to follow my lead.”
“Lead the way my boy.”
As a joke you had always said "I dedicate this to Hades" as you threw away food scraps from your cooking and cleaning your plates. When you die you find yourself in front of Charon's boat with Hades sitting in it, seemingly very excited to see his most devoted follower in recent times.
Okay, so:
I’ve seen a few posts that are pitching, like, Fiyerboq equivalents of Gelphie moments (What Is This Feeling, the Popular makeover scene, etc) and it made me realize something:
In this hypothetical Fiyerboq-centric AU, Fiyero and Boq would have the Glinda and Elphaba dynamic up until Defying Gravity, at which point, they would switch roles.
If Fiyero and Boq were the ones to discover the truth about the Wizard, Boq would absolutely not be willing to give up the popularity and acceptance that he’d yearned for his whole life like Elphaba did.
In contrast, Fiyero would have learned to do the right thing, no matter the personal cost. He would make the same decision as Elphaba, leaving Boq behind.
I’m never going to write this but I am so very intrigued by the concept of platonic!Jeyna in Tartarus and thought you guys might appreciate so:
-No idea what exactly the context here is but Reyna ends up following the Seven across the ocean a bit sooner than she does in canon and helps out during the end of MoA and she’s the one who ends up dangling over Tartarus
-And yes it absolutely has to be Jason coming to Reyna’s aid for the fall. Because it’s already established she’d do anything for him. She crossed an ocean for him in canon. But Jason’s whole thing since this all started has been that he chose Leo and Piper over Reyna/CHB over Camp Jupiter (or at least it felt that way to her). Their shared home isn’t his priority anymore. She isn’t his priority. She hasn’t been since he disappeared. She’s not expecting him to come to her aid.
-When she orders him to drop her, she expects him to listen like the proper Roman soldier that he should be. And then he doesn’t.
-There’s something very intriguing to me about the concept of “your only way to survive this situation is to trust a person with your life who you’re aware you’ve loved forever but who you don’t really know anymore”
-All his trust in her is muscle memory and all her trust in him is linked to a version of him that no longer exists. Least convenient place to get to know each other again!
Not super many thoughts on scenes but I do have two in mind:
1) at one point Reyna moves during a fight to cover Jason in a way that would have worked with CJ Jason but doesn’t with this one because his fighting style is more a mix of Greek and Roman now and one of them ends up hurt because of it
2) Jason is the one dealing with Akhlys and it startles Reyna really badly because she knows Jason goes off when necessary but seeing him so fiercely protective of her specifically in a way where he’s lost control entirely is both terrifying and pulling her right back to the moment when she killed her dad to protect Hylla. Potentially the thing that stops him is Reyna also losing control of her powers and having her terror bleed over into him.
Toddler’s cries that grow louder and louder Relishing in untestable power Glowing red in a black and white scene, The one and only: Candle Queen
I’ve always wanted to make a Draw This in Your Style type thing? So if you want to try your hand at it, that would be awesome! Either way I had one hell of a good time making this and listening to the song over and over. X3
Gliyeraba in my head is just elphie happily studying alone at a desk in the library but through the window in the background you can see glinda and fiyero on a self-imposed quest to get/make/do something to make elphie happy and it's just pure chaos. glindas legs flying over her head and fiyero running after her to save her. fiyero climbing on some cliff to get a specific flower and glinda with her arms open on the ground to catch him if he falls (she'd just get squished though). all scenarios work equally well the other way around. they're just pure chaos. in the end, it's always elphie who has to come save both.
who up thinking about how arthur john and Javier were all nothing but scared hungry strays when dutch picked them up. idk. all three of them, all they had was fear until dutch held out his hand to them. theyre all the same in the end. they were all scared. they bear the same wounds, caused by the same hands. ate out of those same hands and leaned into the hot slick blood that coats those palms. each looking at each other with pity, pity for the clueless kid that gets strung along, pity for the bitter previous cradled one now thrown aside for the new younger follower. kicks a rock.