throwback to that one time i got bored and just decided to make a timeline of all of the emails and voicemails of valorant. i got to like patch 8 before i stopped.
red cards are when new characters are released. gray cards are trailers/cinematics. yellow cards are emails. orange cards are voicemails. blue cards are dossiers. the colored blocked are different arcs. i wish there was a better way to show it off.
will forever remember the memory of my friends and i playing gartic phone and someone drew kpop demon hunters. i got the privilege of guessing but made the biggest fumble of my life by misspelling kpop (Korean Pop, music genre) as kop (King of Prussia, town in pennsylvania, usa).
this created the greatest running bit of “king of prussia demon hunters” where the only difference was that the girls had guns and their hunting ground was the roof of the king of prussia mall.
He stands before a grand hotel, tall and imposing. With a red carpet and an awning and a doorman. The physical manifestation of a Hollywood luxury hotel. Above the awning, in big, glowing, golden letters reads: HERMAEUM.
Description
I wanted each of the gods' temples to exist as a manifestation of their domains. Hermes' temple, as the god of merchants and travelers, came to me most easily: a grand, luxurious hotel that hosts travelers of all kinds, mortal and divine (though these two groups rarely mix).
As such, many amenities are provided to ensure that every guest has a quality experience at Hermaeum. This includes: two fine-dining restaurants (one for mortals, and one for the divine), gyms, a pool, a spa, a theater room, a bar, room service, and more!
Hermaeum is located in Manhattan, between the Empire State Building and Central Park. It has at least 40 stories, and the higher the floor, the more divine the guests who are staying. Hermaeum acts as a place where America's wealthiest mortals make business deals and Olympus' gods exchange favors. I've been mapping out some important locations, so here's a tentative frame of reference (subject to change!):
In the series, the Hermes Cabin served as Percy's first home before he was claimed. I wanted that to translate to this AU as well. Percy takes refuge in Hermaeum after either defeating or fleeing from the Minotaur. Demigods are protected inside of temples because they act as sacred grounds that ward off evil (monsters). Think of it as an alternate version of Camp Half-Blood's magical borders. It is at Hermaeum that Percy learns more about his godly parentage, the upcoming Summer Solstice, and the rising tensions between the gods.
Percy learns from hotelier Luke Castellan, his tour guide and mentor, that the demigod children of Hermes (along with a few satyrs (Grover!) and other divine spirits) are responsible for keeping the hotel running. The doorman, the person operating the front desk, the wait staff, and the room servicemen are the children of Hermes, running everything behind the scenes in exchange for safety and housing.
As Percy adjusts to the Hermaeum, the Summer Solstice approaches. Another thing worth noting: above all else, Hermaeum is a place of neutrality. Hermes is the god of traverlers and theives; he is the god of boundaries. He does not take sides. Hermaeum has a reputation of being a safe place to make negotiations and meet with people who aren't quite your friends. Every Winter and Summer Solstice, the demigod children of the Olympians come to Hermaeum to discuss and negotiate and exchange information just as their parents are doing on Olympus.
As the Olympian temples of NYC start to gather in Hermaeum, this is where and when Percy meets Annabeth Chase and a number of other characters that will play a critical role in the future.
Etymology
Herm (n.)
In ancient Athens, "square pillar of stone topped by a carved human head" (conventionally that of Hermes), used as a milestone, boundary marker, etc., 1570s, from Latin herma, from Hermes (q.v.).
Hermaeum
(or, alternatively: Hermaion or Hermoton)
A boundary or town that divided the city-states of Lampsacus and Parium (Strategemata by Polyaenus).
From the prefix herm- and suffix -eum.
In a world where Camp Half-Blood does not exist, 11-year old Percy Jackson stumbles into a temple of Hermes and immediately becomes a new, powerful player in a war that has been brewing for thousands of years.
Extended Description
An interesting topic that the Heroes of Olympus briefly touched on were the cultural differences between the Greek and Roman camps. The Romans value unity and collectivism, which is apparent in how they organized their legion:
"So the divisions," [Percy] asked, "the cohorts, whatever---you're divided according to who your godly parent is?
Hazel stared at him. "What a horrible idea! No, the officers decide where to assign recruits. If we were divided according to god, the cohorts would be all uneven. I'd be all alone." (The Son of Neptune, Chapter IV)
Percy, though amnesic at this point in SoN, is building his idea of Camp Jupiter off of his memories of Camp Half-Blood, where they divide demigods based on their godly parentage. Ancient Greece itself was not an imperialistic entity like Rome, but rather a collection of independent city-states that waged their own wars and forged their own alliances. It is not a culture of unity, but division.
How interesting would it be to explore a world where this division is emphasized? A world where Camp Half-Blood does not exist as a uniting force for the children of Olympus. A world that reflects the individualistic culture of Ancient Greece.
As the gods found a place for themselves in budding America, they erected temples across NYC and the east coast. These temples have multiple purposes: a place for rituals or offerings, but also as a place for the gods' children to rest and find safety from the monsters that hunt them endlessly. Of course, the gods' motives in this are not entirely selfless. Demigods themselves provide a source of power to their godly parent, but they also serve as a way to spread influence and manipulate the mortal realm in a way that is personally outlawed to them.
Eventually, though, the hatred of being used as a pawn outweighs the loyalty a demigod may feel to their godly parent. And when the Titan King begins to whispers the promise of change in your ear, it's inevitable that some stop to listen.
you should be GRATEFUL. my favorite character commits atrocities so your favorite character doesnt have to. someone has to be slightly villainous and monstrous in order to keep the plot interesting. where is her thank you
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/2
Fandom: VALORANT (Video Game)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Killjoy/Raze (VALORANT)
Characters: Klara Böhringer | Killjoy (VALORANT), Tayane Alves | Raze (VALORANT), Liam Byrne | Brimstone (VALORANT), Original Characters
Additional Tags: Alpha Earth and Omega | Mirror Earth Conflict (VALORANT), Established Relationship, Post-Canon, as of patch 9.11, Worldbuilding, Complicated Relationships, Dubious Science, Killjoy-centric (VALORANT), Raze-centric (VALORANT), Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, the inherent intimacy of talking to your alternate self's girlfriend
Summary:
“We won’t stop until we’re saved, and you won’t stop until you’re safe." Raze says. "At this rate, if we keep attacking and you keep defending, this war will never end and our worlds will both die. You see that, don’t you? I’m offering you a chance at an armistice. Are you really going to refuse it? Without even hearing what I have to say?”
Would Raze lie about something like this? Would Tayane?
“How?” she finally asks, and even though it is dark, the relief she sees in Raze’s eyes is bright.
or,
Seven years after it first began, the Mirror Earth Conflict comes to an end.
the most tragic part about agatha all along isn’t the characters’ deaths themselves, but rather the timing of their deaths.
alice, right after breaking her family’s generational curse and creating the possibility of a future she doesn’t have to run from, dies doing her job as a protection witch.
lilia, after finally coming to terms with being a witch and all that it stands for, after finally finding her coven and her people… dies saving them and embracing her identity.
agatha, after spending centuries of her life killing on her quest for power, finally comes to terms with her son’s death and forgives rio. but in doing so, she sacrifices not only quest for power, but her life so that she can save a boy that reminds her of her son.
if these characters were just given more time, they could have overcome their traumas and fears and lived to embrace their lives to the fullest. that thought, what if they lived? is what makes the story a tragedy.
the fact that lilia, time and time again, condemns every stereotype regarding witches (broomsticks, covens, etc.) because she herself could never accept what it meant to be a witch. and how this plays so wonderfully into the allegory of queerness and internalized homophobia— rejecting yourself because you fear your true identity.
and, the most tragic part of it all is that just when she’s ready to accept herself and her status as a witch, when she’s ready to accept the support of her coven rather than run from it… she dies. she barely even got to experience it before she gave it up. and it’s tragic, sure, but there’s a beauty to it, too. she died accepting herself— a mercy, if anything.
honestly, i don’t know what’s more gut-wrenching to believe.
1.) wanda’s hex started weakening immediately after wanda died and distorted enough so that rio could find agatha. the rio we meet in agatha’s detective plot is the real rio, and therefore she helped agatha break the hex and waited until agatha was back in her right mind to break down her door and have a angsty fight and queer reunion
2.) wanda’s hex protected agatha from anybody (including witches, including rio) trying to find her (“no one will bother you here”) until the very end and therefore the rio in agatha’s detective plot wasn’t real and was only imagined because agatha’s mind needed a way to explain the weakening hex and a way to break free. and thus, the first time we meet the real rio is when she breaks down agatha’s front door and they fight (less than 5 minutes after the hex is finally broken— i timed it)
when i first started watching AAA, i was like “omg this is great! ive never seen this troupe with reversed roles!” because what i always hated most about this troupe was that the grizzled old male character would be loved and mischaracterized by everyone and his young adopted daughter would be hated and loathed for every choice she made that didn’t resolve anything in a satisfactory way. and i was like, “wow, you’re hatred for women holds no bounds. you dont even try to see the reason they do the things they do. you are blinded by false love and all-encompassing loathing.”
and then i watched AAA and i was so excited because i thought things would be different. i thought that because the show was targeted for queer people, specifically lesbians, that we could not only see ourselves in this mentor state, but also further our understanding of the importance of the mentor and protégé’s relationship. but no! its exactly the same! you babygirl-ify agatha as if she’s not someone who took pleasure in killing and is lustful for power! and you hate billy because he dares to challenge agatha! don’t you get it?? the relationship between the protégée and the mentor is vital to the storyline, you cannot understand the mentor’s characterization without accepting the protégée’s existence and influence! you’re hatred is the same, just in a different form!!! you are doomed to the same fate as everyone who has ever hated gwen from ATSV but or mabel from gravity falls or any other female character who dare had complex motives and emotions! do you even hear yourself!!!!
the thing about hunters and butchers is that they can’t live without each other. who would the hunter sell her game to, if there were no butcher? and how would the butcher get her meat, if there were no hunter?
fadeshock authors really be out here releasing fics with the YA fantasy novel title theme ([noun] and [noun]) and i eat it up every time. looking at you coffee and cardio. sparks and shadows. sparrows and hawks.
id just like to mention that because valorant on alpha earth is a secret organization and the entire world thinks jett and phoenix are criminals it’s entirely plausible for any new agent to meet the two of them and go, “holy shit aren’t you the guys who blew up venice.”
annaxmalina
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2087
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