Judge: How Do You Plead?

Mythology, am I right?

But a PJO Royalty/Olden-Days AU 

Where Zeus is King of Olympus

But everyone knows that Princess Thalia and Prince Jason were not born of his queen, Hera 

Duke Poseidon is Captain of the Navy, and tries to stay away from his brother’s dramas 

But his son, Percy, is well-known for his strength and bravery and keeps getting called on 

And Duke Hades is just done 

He lives as far away from the castle as possible 

But his children, Nico and Hazel, live in the castle 

He had another daughter, Bianca, but she died of illness a couple of years back 

Zeus’ advisor, Athena, is well known for her intelligence, but also her coldness and detachedness 

Her daughter, Annabeth, tries to copy her, but is too full of energy 

Bellona and Ares are co-incharge of the army 

But while they have a rivalry, Reyna and Frank, their respective children, get along very well 

Ares’ daughter, Clarisse, stays clear of them both 

Hermes is the messenger 

He has twins, Conner and Travis, who are full of life and are loved by the court 

But his eldest son, Luke, is known for being bitter and hating the monarchy system 

Aphrodite is a wealthy lady, and cousin to the king- so she lives in the castle 

She’s followed around everywhere by her handmaidens: Silena, Drew, Piper and Lacy

Apollo is both the healer and the court entertainer 

And has so many children, all by different woman 

The most notable is Will, who has noticeable talent as a healer

Pan is that traveling nature-man who Grover adores 

Artemis runs a gang of girls who are done with the patriarchal system

They are rivalled only by the army set up by Bellona’s eldest daughter, Hylla 

Demeter is a prominent farmer and is in charge of the country’s produce 

But her daughter, Meg, runs havoc throughout the castle 

Hephaestus runs the forges and armoury 

His son, Leo, will take over someday and, though he is a trouble-maker, is amazing 

Posiedon’s son, Tyson, also has a passion for the forges 

Dionysius is that one drunk guy that no one likes 

Chiron is the tutor Zeus’ children, but tutors the other children in the castle, too 

And over the sea there is that warring-country of Valhalla 

And no one is ever quite sure what goes over in the pyramid-land. They don’t even know its name. 

My band on a daily basis lol

our bd hasnt been giving us any time to tune during rehearsals so we up in the high woodwinds like

clarinets: have completely given up

flutes: still frantically trying to match pitches between songs

AS ALWAYS MY LOVELIES, THIS:/ MEANS PARAGRAPH BREAK! TADA

Eyeing the prefect nervously, Libby walked down the stairs into the rather dim dungeons./ “Why are we down here?” Libby whispered to Maggie, who smiled brightly./ “Our common room is down here, I read all about it!”/ the prefect waved at a green robed boy who eyes the Hufflepuffs with a raised eyebrow and a smirk./ “Why does he look at us like that?” Libby asked, skidding away from the boy./ The prefect turned the corner and they passed a portrait with a pear, a banana, and a apple. The chattering behind them made Libby turn around and stare nervously at the group of green robed teenagers watching them walk./ “He’s Slytherin, how should I know?” Maggie winked at the Slytherin boy and he mock bowed, his lip curling in a even more ridiculing smirk./ The common room was warm with fire and yellow and black walls, comfy beanbags and large sofas crowded around the rather large fire place./ Libby loved it immediately. She inched her way up to the front of the line when the prefect called that first years should follow her. There was a brightly lit hallway leading away from all the rest of the chattering Hufflepuffs that lounged in the common room./ “My name is Hecate, your wonderful and lovely prefect!” Announced the girl as she flipped her hair and beckoned the shivering first years closer. “The head boy and girl will be in shortly, and meanwhile I will hand out your robes and journaling notebook.”/ Hecate spoke in a brisk tone, like Mcgonagall. And like Mcgonagall, it had an underlying warmth that made Libby comfortable in her presence./ As the robes and journals went around Libby was jostled away from Maggie and was shoved a robe, tie, and sparkly notebook. It had a color changin wand holster, a wand warmer, and a black and yellow pen./ Just then the head boy walked in, followed by the head girl. The head girl had black hair that shone in the light and dark skin that blazed in the fire. The head boy had narrowed ice blue eyes and the most tousled blonde hair Libby had ever seen./ “Why do you guys look so scared? We won’t bite?” The head boy exclaimed as he raked his eyes over them all./ “I’m Merci Billons and that’s Joseph Jameson. We are your head boy and head girl, not necessarily in that order, and, we are here to explain the rules.” Merci clapped and everyone silenced./ Libby shifted her weight and caught her wand holster from slipping./ Joseph began to speak but Merci stopped him by putting an arm across his chest./ “These are the rules, take notes, and fast. Rule number one! Do not listen to the Gryffindor we are not all weak pushovers!,” Her arms extended and hate flashed in her eyes as they narrowed into smoking cauldrons of burning destruction./ Libby blinked and opened her notebook, sweaty hands shaking and trying to get the pen to right./ “Rule number two! Do not listen to the Ravenclaws, we are not all dumb!”/ The boy interceded, hands clenched into fists by his side as he stiffened, the obvious memory of being called just that being recalled./ Libby placed her things on the ground and kneeled, not minding the awkward position she could be in, she wrote fast and furious, cursing in her mind as the ink blurred. Curse her left handed sweatiness./ “And rule number 3!” Hecate stood and tilted her head, gesturing to the way we had come, where we had seen the green robed teens, “Get very close to the Slytherins because they love us and will do whatever we want!”/ Libby stood and gathered her stuff, smiling nervously at the three older kids and shuffling backwards. At the sight of them all the other Hufflepuffs cheered and applauded them./ “Tomorrow we go visit the Slytherins, ey?” Yelled a boy from the back of the class./ His response was from Merci, “Shut up, you Canadian!”

Writing Sibling Relationships

A sibling relationship is perhaps one of the most complicated things to realistically write about. Your character dynamics and personalities will help determine their relationships but here are some things to consider:

Building their past:

Think about how they were raised. Upbringing plays a large role in impacting a person’s character, and it also helps shape relationships with siblings.

Consider their favourite memories. Good memories are important to a person, and people often seek to create new memories similar to the old good ones.  On the other side, also think about their worst memories.

Who was the oldest? Who was the baby? Birth order does have some impact on personality. It also is especially important for the earliest memories.

Think about the roles that they ended up in. Siblings do, to some extent, define themselves by how they are different from each other. They pursue different interests, take on different roles, and explore different identities. These roles can be a source of self-realisation and sometimes frustration. 

Giving siblings personalities:

Choose personality traits for each sibling. Even if the sibling is only a minor character, it’s important to know their basic personality.

Think about each character’s dreams, hopes, and struggles. What do they want in life? What are their goals? Every character needs something to strive for.

Figure out their insecurities. Everyone feels insecure about different things: skills, personality traits, perceived physical flaws etc.

The siblings in your story might have similar looks, qualities and characteristics. However it’s important to make them their own person too. 

Keep in mind that siblings might have the same habits, sometimes without even realising it. (Personal example- My eldest brother and I do not look the same. He has green eyes, mine are brown. I have dark hair, he’s blonde. Our faces are shaped different. He takes after our mum, I take after our dad. However, we have a lot of the same habits and mannerisms. We both carry ourselves in the same way, we both quirk our eyebrows in the same manner when confused. Little things like that, that when growing up I’ve picked up from him and vice versa.)

Things siblings do: (This is a generalisation)

Siblings know how to push each others buttons.

Usually they spend so much time with each other, they know exactly how to annoy their sibling and the best way to do it.

Whatever annoys your character, his (or her) siblings already know about it. If your character’s siblings decide to get on his nerves, it shouldn’t take them very long.

Most (if not all) siblings make fun of each other to some degree. Usually they are just messing with each other. Depending on the circumstances, the insult may be forgotten almost immediately.

But it’s important to consider how siblings react when someone else is picking on their brother or sister. A lot of siblings will get defensive in this situation.  Unless you have set up a reason otherwise, make sure your siblings know how to tease each other but also how to protect each other.

They rarely call each other “sis” or “bro” unless they’re trying to be annoying. This is seen a lot in films and TV but it’s not common. The occasional greeting like that is fine, but overusing it just sounds strange and unnatural.

Sibling conflict:

Siblings will argue other pretty much anything. Most of the time it’s just to get a reaction. Sometimes one will start an argument just because they’re bored.

The silent treatment! A lot of siblings, particularly children teenagers and young adults will give each other the silent treatment over the pettiest things. But it’s incredibly hard to ignore someone living in the same house as you for a long period of time.

The sibling on the receiving end of the silent treatment will usually do absurd and annoying things to get their brother or sister to speak. 

Common things siblings argue about:

The tv remote

Who is going to use the bathroom first

Someone is taking too long in the bathroom

Who gets to sit in the front seat of the car

Who the favourite is

Estranged siblings:

“Sibling relationships are our longest, but it’s also an accident by birth. There are no guarantees that the siblings will grow up with similar personalities, interests or like each other,”

You should be able to find plenty of conflict amongst brothers and sisters. But most of the time there is a resolution.

If you were to fall out with a friend, you can unfriend them, you can’t un-sister a sister, whether you like it or not you’re stuck with that person in some sense.

However, some siblings do fall out and never speak to each other again. It happens, but if this happens in your story there are a few things to consider: 

When asked about their family will your character acknowledge that they have siblings? Or will they claim to be an only child?

Why did they stop speaking?

Would they reconcile in times of crisis? For example, if a family member died would the siblings put aside their differences to deal with the situation?

Do they tell stories about their childhood that include the sibling? 

It’s important to remember that if someone has a sibling, a lot of their childhood memories and stories from growing up will have some reference or include that sibling. It’s hard to complete cut them out, they will be mentioned at some point. 

Given the entangled, long-lasting bond, what’s the price paid for suspending or ending it? 

Does the sibling have other brothers or sisters whose relationships are satisfying? “

“If they have no contact with a sibling, it’s losing a shared history and there can be a sense of guilt,” 

Or are your character’s relieved? Do they express a sense of relief. 

“Like the end of a marriage, sibling estrangement is always sad, even when it brings relief. It’s not what anyone hoped for, but sometimes it’s the wise and necessary choice.”

Ways of bringing together estranged siblings:

Write compassion between your characters. Show them trying to see things from the sibling’s viewpoint alongside their own.

Have them say what they want from their sibling moving forward. Don’t just have your characters vent all the time. Your reader might grow tired of that.

Confirmation of love and affection:

Are the siblings in your story the type to talk about feelings? Maybe they don’t talk about it but the feeling is still there. Consider showing the depth of their relationship through actions.  

(Personal example - When I was born my brothers were 4 and 6 years older than me. From what my mum has said they were both excited to have another sibling and would fight about who got to hold me first. When we were younger we used to cuddle on the sofa and play together, and frequently said I love you etc,  however as we got older that stopped. I can’t remember the last time I said I love you to either of them, which sounds terrible. But it doesn’t change the fact that I know they love me and that they know I love them, we just show it and say it in different ways.)

Relationships with parents:

How did parents or caregivers react to fights between siblings?

Was there parental favouritism, real or perceived? How did the non-favourite sibling(s) react?

Do your siblings stick together when arguing with their parents?

Would your characters lie in order to prevent their brother or sister being told off by their parents?

Some siblings will join forces to tease their parents. 

What if the siblings don’t have a good relationship with their parents:

If this is the case in your story, research it, google is your friend.

Try and read up on real life experiences.

Consider how the siblings view their parents. Do they stand together with the same opinion or do they have conflicting recollection of events?

Do the parents have a healthy relationship with each other? How has this impacted their children?

Writing siblings who have abusive parents:

If the siblings come from an abusive home, how has this affect their behaviour? 

Do the siblings ever talk about what happened? 

Do they have the share the same experience? Do they ever argue about the situation?

Are they over protective?

Has their own relationship become strained? Have they drifted apart?

Do the siblings ever acknowledge the past? If not, does this cause friction?

Common assumptions about sibling age order:

Oldest child: people pleasing, bossy, organised, punctual, natural leader, controlling, ambitious, expected to uphold family values, caretakers, financially intelligent, responsible

Middle child: flexible, easy going, independent, sometimes feels like life is unfair, sometimes will engage in attention-seeking behaviour, competitive.

Youngest child: silly or funny, risk-taking, creative, sometimes feels inferior, easily bores, friendly, outgoing, idealistic, the baby of the family.

Only child: close to parents, demanding, leaders, spoiled, self-absorbed, private in nature, may relate better to adults to kids their own age, independent, responsible

While these are common assumptions, they are not strictly true and it’s important to consider your characters personality before you apply any of these stereotypes because it may clash with how your character truly is.

Half siblings:

Half-siblings can run along several lines:

They might act like full siblings, depending on how long they’ve known each other.

They may view each other as space takers.

Your characters may feel “eh” about their half- sibling, they could just be someone who is there but they don’t have a relationship with. The half-sibling may even be a complete stranger.

Consider that they might be rivals. Are they friendly rivals or bitter rivals?

Don’t get caught up in trying to build their relationship based on what “should be” in accordance with society. As you establish these characters, let your own imagination lead you to what their relationship is. But remember that their relationship will be impacted on how the parents treat them too.

(@its-the-tear-in-my-heart ​ thanks for asking about sibling relationships. This post is more generalised than your question but I hope it helped in some way.)

my school’s flute section:

first chair:

first flutes:

piccolo:

second flutes:

Older Rayllum ✨

darwin may have been quite correct in his theory that man descended from the apes of the forest, but surely woman rose from the frothy sea, as resplendent as aphrodite on her scalloped chariot. margot datz.

When you have an international friend so you stay up late so you can talk to them

IVE BEEN WAITINF FOREVER

When I find out that someone else is into the same fandom as I am but I don’t want to freak them out by fangirling too much so I’m like…