Song: Netflix Trip by AJR.
(With some slight adjustments to the lyrics to make it more accurate to characters in certain places)
Characters:
Hesiodos/Ariodante and Damasos. Carmina (mentioned), Jacopo/Lapo (mentioned), older sister (mentioned), Reign Cobalt (mentioned), Mr. Smith (mentioned), Michele/father (mentioned), and mother (mentioned).
Context:
Basically, have some of his life, up to him becoming a higher up in the arena. It’s him recounting his life thus far, haha. For now, let me say this– Hesiodos is from a somewhat large family (two younger siblings and one older sibling), a very close knit family too (both sets of grandparents lived with them).
It shifts around a lot too, so I’ll give approximate ages.
*~*~*~*
*Before Hesiodos was, well, Hesiodos Mousokles. He was Ariodante Atanasio, and Ariodante learned about death very early on in his life when his little brother, Jacopo, died in his sleep. There’s a lot more to it than that, but, well, let’s just say ‘Siren’. This happened when he was ~7.*
Hesiodos, recounting things about his younger brother; “I had my first loss to end season two… He’d pass me notes and fill our hands with glue and in our corduroy's we'd walk to school..”
Hesiodos, recounting the funeral for him; “I sat and crossed my legs like Lapo would do… He passed away, and I went to season three… It hit my heart so hard I'd hardly speak, but I could find some peace and privacy.. My younger sister came to sit with me.”
*Skipping ahead to when he’s in the arena, Hesiodos is quite popular with everyone. He’s surprisingly good at making friends. Or, well, he’s very good at reinventing himself. As such, he does tend to deflect whenever something doesn’t line up correctly.*
Hesiodos (16), deflecting some of the questionings of things that don’t line up; “Who are we to wonder where we're going? Who am I to tell you who I am? Let's take it back and take in every moment.”
Hesiodos (16), later that day, by himself, almost upset at his reinvention; “Who am I to tell me who I am?”
*Skipping back a bit through recounting again. Hesiodos is surprisingly similar to Simon in tactics of surviving the arena. As I said, he’s very good at making friends. Some small background about the arena– They’d dealt in trafficking before the Theophrons took over. That’s what sales mean here, though that line is just for anyone else in the arena to understand the timeline. After first meeting Mr. Cobalt, he started going to school again due to, more or less, being taken in by them.*
Hesiodos, recounting when he’d first met Reign Cobalt and the positive aftermath; “I turned down Jameson when I was twelve. I’d spent that Friday night with Reign Cobalt, the one where Smith became the head of sales. My eighth grade graduation wished me well.”
*Going back even more in the recounting. Within the year of him being 9, both sets of grandparents ended up passing. This caused a spiral of his mom falling into depression, his dad becoming heavily abusive towards his mom, and also the death of both his older sibling and his dad too. Those last two deaths are also incredibly complicated. For now, how I explain it is ‘Siren’.*
Hesiodos, recounting his grandparents’ deaths and the aftermath; “I lost my grandparents in season six… I watched my mom, she cried and held her kids.”
*Now we’re switching forward in the recounting a bit. He’s about 11 and the older sibling plus dad are both dead now. Leaving just him, his mom, and his younger sister Carmina. By now, they actually know what his ability is. They’d figured it out by the time his father died, actually. Anyways though… His mom, who’d still been in a depressive spiral, dies from ‘Siren’ too here. The ‘hugging’ reference is actually her hanging herself while under the control of ‘Siren’. His father, Michele, after he became abusive, had once tried to strangle her in front of their kids, so… Yeah. That’s the meaning there.*
Hesiodos, recounting his mother practically begging him to use ‘Siren’, which he did; “My mind was broken up, I couldn't think… So I just hugged her the way Michele did…”
*Again, Hesiodos in the arena is very good at deflecting everything that could destroy the image of Hesiodos that he’s created. Which is good for him, because he has to do so rather often.*
Hesiodos (17), deflecting the questionings again; “But who are we to wonder where we're going? Who am I to tell you who I am? Let's take it back and take in every moment! Who am I to tell you who I am?”
*Hesiodos was not present for the catalyst that causes Damasos to challenge the Cobalts. But he does hear about it due to his many connections within the arena.*
Hesiodos (18), hearing about what happened and trying to decide how he feels about it, where he fits into it all; “Is this where we're going? Tell me who I am…”
Hesiodos (18), thinking about what led up to all of it, still trying to figure out his place in everyone’s plans; “Take in every moment… Hold it close again…”
*Going forwards to the Theophrons winning against (and killing) the Cobalts!*
Hesiodos (18), watching the twins win, thinking about what it means for him, going through his photo album to delete every picture of the Cobalts that he has; “Now the finale's done and I'm alone… I'm on a memory trip here on my phone.”
*Going forward a bit more to Damasos offering him a place as a higher up, since the two are basically besties. This is also the moment that he truly stops viewing Hesiodos as a way to run from his life as Ariodante, as an image he has with questions that could destroy said image. It’s the moment he truly throws away Ariodante Atanasio and truly becomes Hesiodos Mousokles.*
Hesiodos (18), in the moments shortly before the above happens; “But who I am is in these episodes… So they can’t tell me that it's just a show.”
Hesiodos (18), in the moments shortly after the above italics happen, no longer using what had been deflection as, well, deflection; “Who are we to wonder where we're going? Who am I to tell you who I am?”
Hesiodos (18), throwing an arm around Damasos, the two already planning future ambitions; “Let's take it back and take in every moment!”
Hesiodos (18), grinning wildly; “Who am I to tell them who I am?”
*Skipping forwards slightly. Hesiodos and Damasos are such besties, hahaha.*
Hesiodos (18), thinking back on everything that’s happened in his life; “But who are we to wonder where we're going? Who am I to tell them who I am?”
Hesiodos (18) and Damasos (16), the two being total besties with their plotting; “Let's take it back and take in every moment!”
Hesiodos (18), grinning towards Damasos (16); “Who am I to tell us who I am?”
Damasos (16), agreeing with the sentiment; “Who am I to tell me who I am?”
Hesiodos (18) and Damasos (16), repeating/affirming the sentiment; “Who am I to tell me who I am?”
Spring 
Night Weather: 
Clear Moon: 
