- 6 hours ago
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Short filmTranscript
00:02your chest is too conspicuous you look like you're inviting attention if you continue like this we
00:08should cancel this betrothal fine what i said fine cancel it i agree my name is aphrodite my body was
00:17shaped by the cosmos itself full hips a waist like a crescent moon a face that has made immortals
00:24drop their goblets mid-zip god of fire master of the forge the most celebrated craftsman on olympus
00:32pathologically convinced that my beauty was a problem to be solved third meeting he didn't even
00:39look up from his blueprint your chest is too conspicuous your laughter is too bright the way
00:44you move it's indecent i was literally just walking he sourced the strictest handmaidens of the forge
00:51iron-spined women whose entire purpose was chaining divine goddesses into something called
00:58decorum he called them my teachers i called them my wardens three years they drilled me i learned to
01:06dim my smile to walk without the sway of my hips to keep my eyes downcast three years of trying
01:13to
01:13become the wife the bestest wanted today he stood in my chambers with that familiar look you still
01:20look like yourself perhaps we should reconsider this betrothal he expected what he always got
01:30please give me one more chance instead i looked him dead in the eyes fine
01:39what i said fine cancel it i agree do you have any idea what you're saying after everything i've
01:46invested three years of handmaids the finest tutors the forge could provide i've learned that nothing i do
01:50will ever satisfy you so let's stop wasting each other's time no formal marriage contract never
01:56exchange proper betrothal gifts walking away is clean and easy you will copy the tablets of divine
02:01decorm 10 times before dawn if you won't eat or sleep until it's done that's your problem
02:10i'd spent years flinching at that voice years believing that if i tried harder i'd finally see a
02:17softness in him meant for me but there is a specific quiet liberation that arrives the moment you stop
02:25caring about someone's approval i wasted no time the moment hefestus stormed out i sent my fastest
02:34dove to find leto the titaness whose son apollo had been seeking a match for years she'd approached
02:41me twice before both times i'd deflected i was thinking clearly now leto's response arrived the next
02:47morning her son's celestial birth chart almost embarrassingly fast i suspected they were
02:54afraid i'd change my mind the paperwork was signed sealed and witnessed by three olympian magistrates
03:01before hefestus even heard the news i celebrated by burning every gray robe in my wardrobe i watched
03:09them curl and blacken without a single regret hefestus had controlled every stitch on my body for years
03:17once i'd gifted him an embroidered sash spent a week on it he handed it back like i'd offered him
03:24weak old fish that was the last gift i ever made him today i chose a dress the color of
03:31blooming peonies
03:32i pinned back my hair with the small shells on fine chain my mother had given me a gift from
03:39the aegean
03:39her son lady you look radiant i smiled at my reflection really smiled the full force kind
03:47i'd been suppressing for three years then i walked out of the olympian palace
04:01my shoulders tense by reflex three years of pavlovian conditioning will do that old instinct if hefestus
04:09catches you outside without permission there's a month of written apologies ahead hefestus was crossing
04:15the square toward me the look on his face was incandescent literally forge heat visible in his
04:22eyes from 30 feet away you are an unmarried goddess walking through a public space dressed like his
04:28gaze dropped over my dress with this is unacceptable go back inside and change immediately over his
04:34shoulder athena the goddess of wisdom also hefestus's cousin also the one who'd originally suggested he
04:42hire the handmaiden but don't you up your dan me you're lecturing me a pridy while walking through
04:48a public square with another woman that is completely different because she dresses how you want me to and
04:55i don't before he could answer athena stepped forward with her diplomatic smile the one that never
05:01never reached her eyes aphrodite heppethys is only concerned for your reputation you misunderstand
05:07his intentions while she talked hefestus grabbed my arm he reached up and tore the shell pins from
05:13my hair smeared his hand across my cheek smudging my cosmetic can you not attempt once to look like
05:20a goddess of dignity rather than a tavern spectacle my hair fell loose my face stung my eyes burned
05:27i let the tears come not because i was defeated
05:33the next morning hefestus arrived with athena at his side i hadn't slept well my lip was still tender
05:40i was standing in my atrium in yesterday's second best robe when they walked in like they owned the floor
05:47starting today athena will serve as your instructor she will teach you what the handmaidens could not
05:54i stared at him hephasectus we are not betrothed anymore that hasn't been formalized with my
06:04do your ears work i've said this three times now to his face and somehow it keeps not reaching his
06:13brain
06:14is there a structural issue athena's expression flickered then with no warning whatsoever she
06:20picked up the ceremonial ivory ruler from my writing table wives defer to their lords that is cosmic law
06:28you will not speak to him this way i stood completely still for three seconds my lip split hot blood
06:34on
06:35my tongue the pain bloomed white bright i reached out and grabbed the ruler the festus caught my wrist
06:41before i could finish the swing let her go a firm male voice echoed through the door she is correcting
06:48you and you deserve it you do not raise your hand against your teacher this man who had spent three
06:55years convincing me that my beauty was shameful get out aphrodite get out
07:10my lip took three days to heal hephaestus sent six more handmaidens i sent them all back on the third
07:17day ledev's dove arrived with a note apollo is home come to the feast of return tonight the feast of
07:26return gleamed across every hall of her celestial estate my mother had commissioned a dress threaded
07:31with actual starlight so that every step sent shimmers cascading down my legs hephaestus found me
07:38within 10 minutes his face did that thing the flash of raw unwilling want instantly crushed under a scowl
07:47what are you doing here being invited you're drawing attention stay next to me don't wander don't talk to
07:57anyone when i give the signal you leave through the east passage i didn't answer i sat down i smiled
08:05at
08:05the people across from me for 20 minutes hephaestus deflected every god and minor deity who tried to
08:11speak with me i watched athena watching him watch me the whole tableau was so depressing it almost made me
08:18laugh then hephaestus grabbed my wrist again now east passage
08:27no you are still my intended are you sure about that hephaestus are you sure about that hephaestus
08:35the laugh in it was unmistakable easy warm we both turned he was still in his gold and white campaign
08:44armor dust from the sky road still on his boots his eyes gods they were like looking directly at noon
08:53apollo better looking than i'd expected and i had expected quite a lot he looked at me first then at
09:01hephaestus's grip on my wrist you might not have but her betrothed is no longer you
09:08you're talking nonsense our families run apollo reached into his breastplate and produced a
09:15document the olympian betrothal contract my seal his seal three magistrate signatures hephaestus's
09:24whole face went the color of cold ash what is this it's exactly what it looks like
09:33that was a threat aphrodite i never actually intended to cancel you knew that you said the
09:39words i took them seriously he switched targets faced apollo fully whatever you've agreed to i will
09:45buy it back name your terms the forge will compensate you generously apollo glanced at the contract glanced
09:53at me do you want to dissolve this this entirely addressed to me not rhetorical an actual question
10:01i shook my head apollo said folding the contract back into his breastplate then i think we're done
10:09here now if you'll excuse us i'd like to take my fiancee back festus grabbed me you've lost your mind
10:20you don't even know him you're willing to throw away everything apollo's hand came down on hephaestus's
10:27forearm light deliberate absolutely immovable take your hand off her before hephaestus could respond
10:37leto materialized from the crowd aphrodite all my friends have been desperate to meet you
10:45come come i won't hear any arguments she swept me into the heart of the feast like a river carrying
10:51a
10:51leaf hephaestus was left standing there holding empty air i watched the looks he received shift
10:58from polite to complicated to something closer to pity he sat alone at the far end of a table with
11:05wine he wasn't drinking staring at the place i was no longer standing he found me near the east colonnade
11:12when i was preparing to leave tell me what he offered you a title resources did someone pressure
11:21you into this no one pressured me then why you loved me i know you did how could you just
11:28i'm tired
11:29you never once asked what i wanted you only ever looked at me and saw a problem to be managed
11:36i was afraid if every god on olympius can see what i see when i look at you i thought
11:42if i could just
11:43contain it if i could keep you from being noticed you weren't protecting me you were ashamed of me no
11:50you hit my mouth through athena's hand you called me disgusting in a public square
11:56you tried to make me invisible for three years and called it love i'm going home don't follow me
12:05he tried anyway showed up at my parents three hours after apollo had already arrived with formal
12:11betrothal gifts i want to record for posterity what freedom feels like it feels like choosing
12:18a citrine and gold hairpin at a market stall paulo standing next to you in a crowded divine market this
12:25one definitely this one he slid it into my hair with both hands studying the effect with the focused
12:31attention of someone who considered this genuinely important work perfect you should always wear that
12:39color near your face i was still deciding how to respond when the air behind us turned cold
12:47afridia nephestus was 10 feet away face a thunderhead a public market with him like this have you you
12:57know he's my fiance we're shopping
13:03it's a normal thing people in love do the word love landed on him like a blow he lunged i
13:10ducked behind
13:11apollo so fast apollo stepped forward simply was in the way the way a wall is in the way hephasis
13:19what exactly do you want here what i want is for you to step aside and let me speak to
13:24my you're what
13:27she is going to be my wife whether or not you have some piece of parchment you're confused that's not
13:35how any of this works aphrodite is my betrothed she has made her choice i'm not a generous man when
13:41it
13:42comes to people who don't understand the word no leave her alone you took advantage of her you caught
13:51her at a vulnerable moment so according to you she's confused because she rejected you and you
14:00loved her by hitting her mouth and calling her disgusting hephaestus went very still i would
14:07actually like to thank you if you treated her well she wouldn't have been available so genuinely thank
14:14you hephaestus looked like he'd been struck by lightning i bit back a smile withdraw the betrothal
14:22tell him you made a mistake i will change i can change i thought about the gray robes the ivory
14:31ruler
14:32the shell pins torn from my hair why me though if athena is everything you wanted patient composed
14:39follows every rule of decorn why are you here because you don't actually want a proper olympian wife
14:47you want my face and her compliance that's not love that's a commission the morning of the wedding
14:58preparations chiton threaded with tiny stars my mother had woven from actual sky cloth he looked
15:06at me in the wedding chiton something in his face broke aphrodite i've spent three weeks thinking
15:14thinking about everything about what i did i kept you covered because i was afraid afraid of what
15:24other gods would do when they saw you afraid you'd leave i thought if i could just make you smaller
15:31you'd be safe and you'd stay i know it was wrong i know i hurt you but i swear if
15:40you give me one more
15:41chance i will prove to you that i can be everything he is to you i'd waited a long time
15:47to hear hefestus
15:48say he was wrong
15:53it's too late it's too late no it's not i'll go to apollo myself i'll explain hephidus i gave you
16:01chances not one not two years of chances i bent myself to shapes i didn't recognize to make you see
16:07me as worthy and not once did you look at me and said you're enough i'm not punishing you i'm
16:13just
16:13done i don't think he'd cried in front of anyone in his entire immortal life
16:21i left him there the wedding procession was forming
16:25you
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