to: all, with apologies to nico di angelo

[areou]

( the message is deliberately written in ancient greek. for most summoned, the network will auto-translate, but she's hoping there might be others who recognize the original text. )

WILL SOLACE COME RETRIEVE YOUR EMOTIONAL SUPPORT GOTH I'M NOT HIS BABYSITTER

( helpfully, she adds an illustration that no one asked for: )



( then, because nico seriously needs more friends and it's her duty as former head counselor of the ares cabin to embarrass any and all younger campers: )

↖  BTW THIS IS NICO
HE LOVES LONG WALKS THROUGH THE UNDERWORLD AND BROODING IN GRAVEYARDS
HE'S SPOKEN FOR BUT I'M SURE HE'LL BE THE AFTERLIFE OF YOUR NEXT PARTY
CHALLENGE HIM TO A GAME OF MYTHOMAGIC TODAY!!!

ALSO IF ANYONE OUT THERE HAS SEEN THESE DEMIGODS CONTACT ME ASAP
LOOKS LIKE ZEUS IS SUPER FUCKING PISSED AGAIN AND WE NEED A GAMEPLAN

( more shitty doodles follow, this time vaguely resembling percy and annabeth, although this time she labels them: )



— CLARISSE LA RUE, DRAKON-SLAYER, DAUGHTER OF ARES

( she figures she may as well cover all her bases here since all of this feels like a ren faire on steroids anyway.

ooc | threadjacking is more than welcome and, frankly, encouraged. let's all go hog boar wild. 🫡 )

Comments

[areou]

*a smartass
I fixed it for you

[sophos]

Pretty sure the word smart is still in there.

[areou]

Sorry **pain in the ass

[sophos]

Once again, you're slacking.

[areou]

You asked for it
***κυσολάκων

[sophos]

[ she laughs. not that clarisse can hear it, but it's still nice to laugh. she needed that, thank u. ]

Bonus points for creativity, especially up against your lack of thesis.

[areou]

( this time she almost mistakes thesis for thetis. she's beginning to hate this word. )

You just want me to ask you what the fuck a thesis is, don't you

( she's 99% sure it has nothing to do with the greek hero or achilles' mother. )

[sophos]

Wait.
Do you genuinely not know?

[areou]

If you're gonna use it against me, I'm pleading the fifth

[sophos]

My running joke doesn't work if that's the case.
Do you want to know?

[areou]

( listen, annabeth is supposed to be the smart one and clarisse accepted that a long time ago. but there's still a unique flush of infuriating shame when she's faced with the realization that she doesn't know something that she probably should. she's not stupid, she just doesn't pay attention. )

Not if it's going to make me feel like a dumbass

private

[sophos]

[ if this were a few years ago, annabeth might have been an asshole. that's just how she and clarisse were with each other. they still are, with the teasing and jabs, but it's different now. ]

[ so she can explain, without sounding snooty about it. this time. at least she hopes it won't come across that way. she'll even make it private! ]

There are a few ways you could use the word properly, but mostly it refers to the main point of an argument - usually in the context of an essay or a research paper but not limited to that. The thesis is the point you want to prove, with facts and information to back it up.

In higher education - especially graduate school and beyond - you usually need to write a giant thesis to get the degree.

It's... not really something we use at Camp. It's not like we usually think about college. The word's Greek in origin though.

private(ly falling to the floor in my feelings)

[areou]

( abruptly, she realizes in her relay of recent events, she'd left out the part about why she left camp. "since winter break" could mean anything. annabeth probably assumed clarisse meant a quest or another assignment from chiron. but now — it seems silly, embarrassing even, to have to admit that she did think about college. that she'd been doing it for a whole semester until they were summoned here. that, truthfully, clarisse had only considered it with annabeth's encouragement. college is the last thing clarisse ever thought she'd try, or be any good at. she's still figuring out if she is any good at it.

acclimating to the mortal world on top of taking classes that make her head spin has been a lot more difficult than she ever could have imagined. some days, she wants to quit and drop out, but camp didn't raise her to be a quitter. not many demigods even make it to college (she thinks about beckendorf, his plans to attend nyu, and her chest aches). so regardless of how hard it is, and how she hates it more often than not, she's doing it as much for herself as she is for all the kids who never got the opportunity. at least, she will if they ever make it back home. )

I guess I should pay more attention in lectures, then

( a few minutes pass, as if she's typing and deleting the same thing over and over, only she's trying very hard not to think about the message too hard. eventually, she renlents to her own thoughts: )

Thanks, for explaining

private(ly falling into my own feelings too)

[sophos]

Wait.
You went to college?

[ she realizes, belatedly, that clarisse might take her tone via the writing as mocking, and it's not that. not entirely. it's true she hadn't exactly thought of clarisse as college bound so there's some surprise, but it was hard to think of any demigod that way. it's been hard for her to think of any of that, given the trajectory of her life over the last year. she even dropped out of school in the fall. that's bound to fuck her up there. annabeth loves learning more than anything, but it's not like her records are great. she's just as much of a troublemaker as the rest of them. ]

[ she and percy used the potential of it, the potential of a longer future and the ideas from new rome, to get through tartarus, but even now there is a part of annabeth that worries she isn't going to get there. she's heard through the chattering grapevine of flashing messages that the giant war will end, but she still feels so disconnected from anything remotely resembling a mortal world. she's not even there right now. ]

[ if clarisse can do it, it's not impossible though. ]

That's great, Clarisse! Explains winter break.
Definitely don't forget what a thesis is.

[ ok a little bit of teasing before it gets too mushy. ]

[areou]

University of Arizona
Shocking, I know
But New York has the shittiest football teams I've ever seen and I was obviously never getting into fucking USC or Notre Dame

( see, it's fine if she's sarcastic about it. this revelation doesn't have to be a big deal. it's fine!! )

Professors ain't gonna know what hit 'em when I get back and tell them I know what a thesis is

[sophos]

You WOULD go to college for the football.

[ annabeth is not opposed to sports in concept, but it hadn't been on her mind when it came to colleges. ]

Next step is figuring out how to write one. That'll really blow their minds.

[areou]

Well, it's not like they have collegiate Capture the Flag

( intramural, maybe, but it's not the same. )

I dunno, not sure I can top the look on my Classics professor's face when I filled in my entire final in perfect Ancient Greek
What they teach in those classes is bullshit, by the way

( she thought it would be an easy A! more like an easy way to get gaslighted for a semester smh. )

[sophos]

Maybe they should.
Don't they do, like, ultimate frisbee?

Maybe you just got stuck with a shitty professor. Seems like cheating to try and take Classics though.

[areou]

I dunno, probably?
They've got flag football, but what's the point of football if you can't tackle?

It's not cheating to have a natural proficiency ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[sophos]

Maybe you can just start your own league.

How did you explain already knowing it?

[areou]

I don't think mortals are ready for the way we play Capture the Flag

I just said I "grew up with it" and let them fill in the blanks
It's funny but also fucking annoying how much shit they get wrong
Apparently "trust me bro" isn't good enough for some people

[sophos]

Start them small. It's a great outlet for frustration, I bet college kids would get into it.

Maybe you can make up book translations. Or anagram real relatives into fake ones who happen to be classics book authors.

[areou]

Or I could just keep playing football

( she's not just handing out state secrets willy-nilly. capture the flag is sacred. )

Now who's cheating?
As much as I'd love to commit academic fraud, I have a fucking life

[sophos]

Then start a tackling football league.

Chiron probably has a phd. Just make him the author of it all.

[ it's a good thing annabeth wants to do college for real because her ability to commit academic fraud is definitely there, somewhere. ]

[areou]

Source: my totally real and not made up professor Dr. Charles Brunner, PhD