Ardy
Versed in the lewd.
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2017
- Messages
- 1,028
- Likes received
- 4,680
All three, but the only relevant one would be mister atom
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
I was listening to a podcast on The Odyssey going over the scene where Odysseus visits the Underworld. It made me think the Paul has been slightly overselling the Greek afterlife. Yeah you aren't tortured (unless in the punishment fields) but it's not like being alive. You end up as a formless wraith who can't even talk without a sacrifice juicing you up. Achilles is all, "Being dead sucks! I'd rather be a living nobody than a dead legend."
Thank you, corrected.
And so, it has come up. Bit ominous.
Ah, OL's getting better at seeing the relationship minefield. It's not one of those things a Power Ring can scan for, after all. Tread carefully, Illustres, or you might be sleeping in the couch for a while.
Useful if worship of the Hellenic pantheon becomes more popular on Earth too.Looking down at Hades' palace, I can see how they've remodelled it to take the huge queues into account. There are functionaries moving up and down the lines to take basic biographical information and -in some cases- confessions. There are lesser courts for priests taking initial hearings and debate plea-bargains. But more than that, there are entertainers. I can see an actual stage with some sort of play being performed, jugglers and acrobats… There's even a open air kitchen offering the puzzled but not unhappy aliens food.
Somehow, I suspect she wants the full explanation, OL."Why was it a question?"
"Ah… Because a full explanation would be complicated and a bit weird so I summarised-? And that was why I summarised it."
Honestly, some of the weirdness can be appealing. It's when he goes into orange-morality mode that things get strained.She slows, looking back at me. "Do you think I'd still be with you if you being weird was a red line?"
"No, but I know it's not exactly a pull factor, so I try to tone it… Down a bit."
Best to not be in motion for this, don't want to fly into a wall while contemplating."I think at this point I'd rather be fully informed."
"Alright."
She comes to a full stop, and I do the same.
Presumably he can see any surface desires in that direction."Alright. I'm prepared."
"So… I know that you're not particularly attracted-" Her left eyebrow rises. "-to her. I also know that seduction was part of your training."
Unless it gave her a chance to hit them when they weren't expecting it? Though I suspect she's conflating basic enticement with more sexual aspects."Learning how to be appealing was part of my training."
"…yes?"
"I didn't seduce targets."
I'd be impressed if he had forgotten it. Their first meeting, yes, during the Doctor Rocquette thing?I think that through for a moment. "I do remember the 'not the League of Ninja Escorts' line. I didn't mean to imply that you had."
She looks away for a moment. "Right."
And that's fair. Not everyone would be comfortable with that sort of thing."Is.. there.. something.. about the.. idea that you want to-?"
"That was part of the training. Becoming someone's mistress could get you all sorts of blackmail material, or opportunities to influence them. It wasn't a part of it that I did."
I'm picturing the 'seduction' angle as a 'lure them somewhere private' for imminent stabbings."So… 'Ninja Escorts'-?"
She shakes her head. "They were just another type of target."
Presumably the ones who enjoyed it, yes? Wonder if any went for the kill during the act, like Black Widows."Should I take it that some of your colleagues-?"
"Yes." She exhales. "Which is exactly why I turned you down. The ones who did it were either the cultists, or just…"
"Whores?"
...that's one way to defuse tension. And make fun of the bad league at the same time."I prefer 'manipulative bitches'." She takes a breath. "One… Useful thing that Dad taught me was to not take things personally. They enjoyed messing with people. And not just their targets-. What?"
"I'm sorry, I realise that this is completely inappropriate, but I just had a vision of the League of Shadows as a cliquey American high school."
Of course they aren't, naturally.She thinks for a moment, and then face-shrugs. "Kind of."
"At least they're all in prison… They're not."
It may even give her rough feelings that remind her of her time in the league. A time she's genuinely regretful of these days, if I remember correctly."At least one made the transition from fake mistress to actual mistress. A few others weren't guilty of anything serious… Nothing that the people they were blackmailing wanted getting out in public, anyway." She regards me levelly. "But we weren't talking about me."
"Rats, spotted. Ah. Right. So, your training included how to instinctively respond positively to signs of interest, but that doesn't mean that you actually feel positive about it. And I know that."
Yes, very astute, Jade. Just because you weren't trying to lead her on doesn't mean you didn't just due to cultural differences."But… What, you're concerned because she doesn't?" She smiles faintly. "You think I'm seducing the poor innocent priestess-?" She stops smiling. "Who was socially isolated due to being the priestess of the God of the Dead."
"And though she's a very nice woman, is culturally disinclined to see heterosexual relationships as being significant."
...I mean, I'm sure more than a few amazons would be interested.The smiles creeps back. "She thinks I'm keeping you around for breeding purposes."
"Have I told you about Amazon family struc-?"
The smile vanishes. "She thinks I'm keeping you around for breeding purposes and wants to share?"
Look at it this way, maybe they think of you having won the jackpot in terms of good men."I thought it was best to head it off."
She takes a moment to absorb that.
Could have worded it better, OL, but I think she gets the sentiment."Also, I do feel a bit possessive, but most of the time I see someone checking you out it's more 'Yeah!'" I throw my arms up, fists clenched. "'I won, didn't I?!' and I don't bother bringing it up."
She bows her head slightly.
And the word doesn't mean 'group of women I keep/know who want to fuck me'. Harem is simply the 'women's quarters' of a large home."Am I..? Could you actually have had an Amazon harem?"
"No, of course not. The harem comes from a completely different cultural context. I could.. probably have had an expanded Amazon… Breeding circle..? If that interested me. Which it doesn't."
Okay, that definitely scored maximum points with her."You're not interested in having sex with a group of Amazons?"
I blink. "Not when you're the alternative."
She floats closer and kisses me on the lips. "Thank you."
While him being romantic is nice, there's such a thing as too much."You're welcome. Also, they'd expect me to have no input in the upbringing of my daughters, which I feel would be irresponsible of me. And I value emotional intimacy, and while I'm aware-."
She smile affectionately and pats me on the cuirass. "You can stop now."
At least OL has 'immediate audience' privileges, after all he's done for Hades."Rightoh."
I-.
I offer her my hand, and after a momentary hesitation she takes it. And then we continue flying towards Hades' audience chamber. A.. functionary I don't recognise looks up as we come in to land, and the pulls the door open as he gestures for us to go right in.
So around eight or nine feet? That sounds like he feels the need to be impressive for his new guests (the extra-terrestrials, not OL and Jade.)The chamber looks much the same as it did when I first visited, aside from the spaces usually occupied by the judges being vacant due to the fact that they're all busy. In their place, there are a few functionaries lurking around racks of scrolls. Lord Hades is… Actually maintaining his physical form at a slightly larger size than he used to.
At least he remembers OL. It can't have been easy for them to edit his memories to get the right ones without impairing his ability to perform his duties."Pavlos."
I bow. "Lord Hades. Thank you for granting us this audience."
...Oh. Oh dear. That's a bit of an oversight."You are friends with Melinoë, are you not?"
"Yes, that's correct. Unless I've done something to alienate her since last time we spoke."
"No, you have not. And she has embraced the modernisation process we have both espoused well. I wanted to reward her for her good work. Imagine my surprise when I found that no record exists of her parentage."
Time to make with some fast talking, OL, or the whole process will be ruined.Ah.
"And that despite her having been here for millennia, I found that I could not recall anything on the subject either. Would you happen to know why that is, Eris-worshipper?"
She'd have had to basically abandon her entire culture and family; by the standards of the ancient Greek culture she was 'born into' so to speak, Hades did everything he needed to do. The ancient Greeks were patriarchal as shit and if you wanted to marry a woman you didn't need the woman's consent, you needed her father's, because marriage was a transfer of ownership from father to husband.To recap,
If only Persephone had cultivated power and allies over the centuries, she'd have been able to bargain or scheme meaningfully. Or she could have left Earth, probably.Hades' wife, Persephone, wants to divorce him. The core of her problem, is that the beginning of their relationship appeared to present itself as
"You are now my wife by my personal power and our family's chaotic mess meaning you have no protectors. With my looming height and lack of hesitation, I will imply miseries will befall your person and your mother if you try to resist. This marriage will be shaped as I deign, and you will contort yourself to fit it. I have no fear of your mother's wrath, either."
And she "accepted" bedding him, at some point. Once it became clear he would not force himself on her, she left, to the extent she possesses freedom. Hades has tried many methods to woo her. Enter Paul! A memory scheme was devised. One final attempt to mend things, before formally getting King Hephestean's (presumed) permission to divorce Hades. Because Hephestean wants Hades to be happy and useful rather than angry, upset, and unstable.
Hades and Aphrodite's kids are aware of the amnesia thing (it disturbs them), but they haven't caused problems. The parents have part of been courting each other? But details have been few and far between, beyond general positive noises.
This was absolutely lovely (and lowkey hilarious).
... oh dear.