literallyjusttoa

[literallyjusttoa]

Drew my little guy Apollo kid OC dressed like his dad ☀️

[literallyjusttoa]

Finally got back to being able to draw! I decided to redraw my muse designs, so here’s the gals!

(Also just noticed the typo, Thalia’s the muse of comedy guys mb 😭)

[literallyjusttoa]

Would you believe me if I said life has still been absolutely kicking my ass 😭. I have a plan! To post more this month but I can’t guarantee it, either way I will def have something by June.

In the meantime! I have a special announcement, the final installment of BSS is being released! Two chapters will come out every week. Thank you to anyone who was stuck with the series all the way to the end, Starry and I are so grateful that you followed the journey, and we hope you enjoy the finale!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65238208/chapters/167821441

[literallyjusttoa]

Still on a bit of a hiatus 😥 life has been crazy the last month. But! I wanted to let y’all know that the next installment in Binary Star System has dropped! Ofc, all kudos go to @cows-and-crows, who continues to write absolute bangers.

Check it out here! Any and all support is very much appreciated, and thank you guys for all of the support we’ve gotten so far!

[literallyjusttoa]

Life got busy and I can't post much rn :(, but here's a sketch I forgot to post of Fen and his spirit friend! Ofc this is from Binary Star System, so check it out if you want more of these dudes.

[literallyjusttoa]

Some concept sketches and drawings I've done for a character that just showed up in @cows-and-crows and I's fic series, Binary Star System! If you'd like to know who they are, check out the newest fic here! Or start the series off at the beginning here! Very excited for you all to see what is in store :D

[literallyjusttoa]

Realizing I also want to keep track of the songs Apollo mentions, so I'm gonna go back real quick and mention "You Send Me" by Sam Cooke, released in 1957, which he mentioned in chapter 2, and "Rise to the Sun" by Alabama Shakes, released in 2012, which he mentions in the opening of chapter 10. Listened to them both, and honestly, they're both great songs! And Rise to the Sun actually fits Apollo really well, I was genuinely surprised.

Going back also makes me realize that Apollo was going to sing an honest to god love song to stop Cade and Mikey. That image will stay with me for years, I think.

Rhea is described as dressing like a "Libyan queen of old" which is interesting, bc I couldn't find any reference to Rhea being an important figure during the period where Ancient Greece had footholds in the region. What's interesting though, is that Apollo definitely was. One of the two cities Greeks established in Libya was Cyrene, and some myths even call the native Libyans the founders of both Delos and Delphi. So like, I have no idea where Rick got the idea of Rhea being connected to Libya, but it helped me learn new things, so that's cool!

Another anecdote: When Apollo drives the sun chariot as a bus, Hermes always sits in the back, because that's where troublemakers sit.

The way Apollo describes his physical state, I'm convinced he's just constantly in excruciating pain. Like, all he does is get off the cot in the Apollo cabin, and he says that his "eyes felt as if they were being microwaved in their sockets." Bestie, what? Are you dying, wtf lmao?

Anecdote: Apollo once attempted target practice in Zeus' throne room. That feels like it might have been a more pointed thing.

Apollo sees Nero in his dreams for the first time in chapter 10, but he doesn't recognize him yet. He spends the rest of the chapter simply referring to him as "The man in the purple suit", "The ugly mauve-suited man", and simply "the ugly man" King behavior, honestly.

I know I made a post about it a while ago, but I still can't get over Apollo's outrageous claim of 33 mortal girlfriends and 11 mortal boyfriends. He has past that in Ancient Greek lovers alone lmao.

Rick does a really good job of writing these long flowing internal monologues for Apollo, only to cut them off with a short sentence that both allows for an easy transition out of Apollo's head and back to the action of the scene, but also simulates Apollo getting distracted in his own ramblings and then abruptly coming back to reality. Like, he goes on for three paragraphs about Nico and will, and then his past loves, and then his embarrassment over sharing his love for Hyacinthus and Daphne, only to end it all off with the short line "I am so confused." and then we're right back into the scene. It's a really great comedic bit, and it does wonders for Lester's characterization. (Also my god does Lester read so much like he has ADHD. Almost more than Percy to me, but then I think Lester's flavor of ADHD is much more similar to my own than Percy's is)

Anecdote: Apollo cosplayed Rocky at midnight showings of Rocky Horror Picture Show. Queen.

Apollo mentions that he filmed the orientation film on "a tight budget in the 1950's" which like, why? Maybe it's mentioned in the supplemental books somewhere, but why would a god ever be put on a budget for something lmao?

"Had I been a god, I would have turned her into a blue-belly lizard and released her into the wilderness never to be seen again. The thought soothed me." One, Apollo she is twelve dear god. Two, I love this as a character moment for Apollo (Stay with me here). Apollo comes from a culture that is so focused on strength and power and violence. The moment he loses control of a situation, he grasps for any way to get power back into his hands. And in these moments, his way of giving himself power is by reassuring himself that he could totally murder everyone here if he wanted to. Killing people is a way to assert control, it's a way that Zeus and the other gods assert control all the time. And there's an implication with Apollo using these lines too. By asserting that he can kill people, it's also an assertion that the people he is threatening cannot kill him. Idk it's just a very interesting way of coping.

Real quick fun fact! Lester describes the Oracle of Delphi in Greece as a "cavern filled with volcanic fumes" but that's not actually 100% correct. The oracle of Delphi in Ancient Greece was actually in the Temple of Apollo, with descriptions from ancient scholars putting her either in the cella or in an adyton that was below the main temple. There was a opening in the ground in this chamber, but it certainly wasn't a cave. Furthermore, the whole idea of Apollo fighting Python in a cave? From what I can tell, this is also not based in myth! Most descriptions of the fight between Apollo and Python that I can find in myth describe Python being coiled around the mountains of the Parnassus range, which is a terrifying image honestly. Just find it interesting that none of the cave stuff is actually a part of the Delphic Oracle. I mean, from what I can tell, the nearest mythologically important cave is the Corycian cave, which has nothing to do with the oracle and is also like a 45 minute drive away from Delphi.

I usually try to read three chapters before rb'ing, but I had so many notes on these two that I'm gonna cut it off here. Also, this has kind of just become pointing out shit I find interesting instead of focusing specifically on Lester-isms, but I'm def still gonna point those out, so the tag will stay. I just have so much to say about my little blorbo, sorry guys.

I think I'm gonna make a reblog chian of all the little phrases and Apollo uses throughout ToA, now that I'm rereading it. Bc like, he has such a unique way of speaking, and I really wanna dig into it, you know? Ok let's start.

He says "heavens help me" instead of "heaven help me" using the plural the same way demigods do with "oh my gods". I'm guessing this is an acknowledgment of other pantheons? Or I'm looking too far into it, I've just never heard this phrase with a plural "heavens" before.

He calls Cade and Mikey "Ruffians" . And he makes fun of the arrow for being Shakespearean.

He also refers to people as "Mortals" a lot here, which I remembered him doing, but now I want to keep track and see if he keeps that up throughout all the books, or if it peters out near the end.

"I thought how amusing it would be if I could make the snake tattoos around his neck come alive and strangle him to death" I honestly love how violent Apollo's thoughts can be sometimes. Like, you can tell he's someone who has done shit like this before.

I also want to keep track of all the little anecdotes Apollo brings up, so we'll start with the guitar contest against Chuck Berry in 1957, which apparently ended with him getting repeatedly stomped on.

"But something told me this was not she" II love how it's the little things that really get across how old Apollo is. Rick could've easily just said "It wasn't her" or something, but instead he had Apollo phrase this in a way that is far more formal, and more reminiscent of the grammatical patterns of old english. Idk it's just really cool.

(Side note that's not connected to Apollo: Meg's glasses are black? I feel like I've been living a lie, I've been coloring them red for years lol)

God his metaphors are just so striking. Like, I can imagine the phrase "Whatever was left of my pride turned into ice water and trickled into my socks" but I don't want to, because that's such a visceral feeling. I like that Apollo inadvertently proving how poetic he is by making the reader as uncomfortable as possible.

I think I'm gonna start crying out "Horrors!" when I'm upset to. I think I deserve that level of drama.

ahh the classic "My blessings upon you!" Again, I love how every little line characterizes him. Either it's overly formal, like before, or subtly arrogant, like here, or both. It's so fun.

I need to write him saying "Sacred Sibyl!" more. Because that is such a fun little term. Rolls right off the tongue, honestly.

I think I'm gonna leave it there for now, but trust that I will definitely be adding more to this later. Bc Lester-speak is so fun to really look into.

[literallyjusttoa]

"Better a god, regulated by the Council of Olympus and with the proper health permits," Who made the health permits, do you think? Was it Athena, or did Apollo just make his own health permits just to give them to himself.

"FYI, the Black Plague was not my fault, I took one century off to lie around on the beach in Cabo-" I love the this line bc like. Nowadays Cabo is known for being such a beautiful tourist spot, but this was the 1300's. So Apollo went to a very much unknown beach by Europe's standards, and just fucked around for a century. It reads so much more like he was just trying to get as far away from his family as possible once you think about it for a second, even tho he's phrasing it like he was at some beach resort.

Another anecdote, apparently Apollo split up the Beatles, and it's one of his four greatest regrets. Damn.

And yet another anecdote: Artemis and Apollo go camping, and Artemis wakes up first (?) and douses Apollo with ice-cold water to wake him up. V funny image.

He keeps mentioning that he's lived for four thousand years. He's done it like three times in the last 8 chapters. We get it Apollo you're old lol.

"Perhaps even jubilant worshipers who would bring me peeled grapes, Oreos, and other holy offerings." I like this line bc I like to think the addition of oreos in this list is only bc so many campers have burned oreos for him over the years, so he now considers it a genuine offering.

One of the most obvious examples of Apollo defaulting to more ancinet-speak, but I love that when Apollo is genuinely spooked by the voice of Dodona in the woods in chp 9, he says "attend me, mortal." Just, the idea of him falling back in to old traditions the moment he's on the wrong foot is so cool to me.

Reading through this and realizing that Meg has to help guide a manic and giggling Apollo who's completely out of it twice in this book series. Cuz he's out of his mind here in chp 9, and then this happens again in TDP at Trophonius. She seems so terrified while doing it too. Ahhh Meg I'm so sorry.

I think I'm gonna make a reblog chian of all the little phrases and Apollo uses throughout ToA, now that I'm rereading it. Bc like, he has such a unique way of speaking, and I really wanna dig into it, you know? Ok let's start.

He says "heavens help me" instead of "heaven help me" using the plural the same way demigods do with "oh my gods". I'm guessing this is an acknowledgment of other pantheons? Or I'm looking too far into it, I've just never heard this phrase with a plural "heavens" before.

He calls Cade and Mikey "Ruffians" . And he makes fun of the arrow for being Shakespearean.

He also refers to people as "Mortals" a lot here, which I remembered him doing, but now I want to keep track and see if he keeps that up throughout all the books, or if it peters out near the end.

"I thought how amusing it would be if I could make the snake tattoos around his neck come alive and strangle him to death" I honestly love how violent Apollo's thoughts can be sometimes. Like, you can tell he's someone who has done shit like this before.

I also want to keep track of all the little anecdotes Apollo brings up, so we'll start with the guitar contest against Chuck Berry in 1957, which apparently ended with him getting repeatedly stomped on.

"But something told me this was not she" II love how it's the little things that really get across how old Apollo is. Rick could've easily just said "It wasn't her" or something, but instead he had Apollo phrase this in a way that is far more formal, and more reminiscent of the grammatical patterns of old english. Idk it's just really cool.

(Side note that's not connected to Apollo: Meg's glasses are black? I feel like I've been living a lie, I've been coloring them red for years lol)

God his metaphors are just so striking. Like, I can imagine the phrase "Whatever was left of my pride turned into ice water and trickled into my socks" but I don't want to, because that's such a visceral feeling. I like that Apollo inadvertently proving how poetic he is by making the reader as uncomfortable as possible.

I think I'm gonna start crying out "Horrors!" when I'm upset to. I think I deserve that level of drama.

ahh the classic "My blessings upon you!" Again, I love how every little line characterizes him. Either it's overly formal, like before, or subtly arrogant, like here, or both. It's so fun.

I need to write him saying "Sacred Sibyl!" more. Because that is such a fun little term. Rolls right off the tongue, honestly.

I think I'm gonna leave it there for now, but trust that I will definitely be adding more to this later. Bc Lester-speak is so fun to really look into.

[literallyjusttoa]

Forgot to mention in the last one, but he also calls Sally "Madam" which like, again, so formal but it fits him so well.

He also calls Sally "The Mother of Jackson", which sound like an epithet and I love it.

"I no longer felt as if someone were knitting a sweater inside my chest with hot needles" Hotdamn is this a metaphor. This is awful, but I immediately know exactly what feeling Lester is talking about. He is so good at this and it sucks lmao.

Love that Apollo points out that Percy has "long and nimble" fingers and that "he would have made an excellent musician" Just a cool thing for him to notice. He makes a lot of observations about other people's appearances, and they're surprisingly very non-judgemental. Unless he hates them, then he is extremely brutal.

Apollo recognizes the moonlace on Percy's windowsill, which is interesting bc I need to check but I think that only grows on Ogygia? Idk I gotta fact check that one, its v interesting he remembers what those specific flowers are called tho.

"This will probably involve many harrowing trials with a high chance of death" Apollo I think you jinxed yourself here buddy.

Kind of a follow up to the musician thing, but Apollo is so tuned in to people's body language. Like the whole paragraph where Apollo compares Meg to the mimosa plant is so interesting, bc he has known this girl for like, an hour at most, and he's already paying attention to the way she reacts in a conversation. Also he got hit by his own dodgeball of prophecy, making plant metaphors with Meg this early on.

Side note, I really wanna know what ambrosia nachos look like. Like, which part of that is made of ambrosia? All of it?

"He can dispatch some of you talented fodder- I mean heroes-" I'm not gonna lie, I think this is the worst thing Apollo says in all the books. Yikes man.

"Like billowing plumes from smoke grenades touched by King Midas." How do you come up with this stuff? What a wild description.

Another side note: Meg's earnest enthusiasm about Percy showing off his powers is so cute. Like, she's so excited by the thought of him being like Aquaman. She is the best written child in this whole franchise, honestly.

"My Adam's apple dropped into my chest like a billiard ball." I don't mean to keep focusing on these metaphors, but each one is more cursed than the last lmao.

I think I'm gonna make a reblog chian of all the little phrases and Apollo uses throughout ToA, now that I'm rereading it. Bc like, he has such a unique way of speaking, and I really wanna dig into it, you know? Ok let's start.

He says "heavens help me" instead of "heaven help me" using the plural the same way demigods do with "oh my gods". I'm guessing this is an acknowledgment of other pantheons? Or I'm looking too far into it, I've just never heard this phrase with a plural "heavens" before.

He calls Cade and Mikey "Ruffians" . And he makes fun of the arrow for being Shakespearean.

He also refers to people as "Mortals" a lot here, which I remembered him doing, but now I want to keep track and see if he keeps that up throughout all the books, or if it peters out near the end.

"I thought how amusing it would be if I could make the snake tattoos around his neck come alive and strangle him to death" I honestly love how violent Apollo's thoughts can be sometimes. Like, you can tell he's someone who has done shit like this before.

I also want to keep track of all the little anecdotes Apollo brings up, so we'll start with the guitar contest against Chuck Berry in 1957, which apparently ended with him getting repeatedly stomped on.

"But something told me this was not she" II love how it's the little things that really get across how old Apollo is. Rick could've easily just said "It wasn't her" or something, but instead he had Apollo phrase this in a way that is far more formal, and more reminiscent of the grammatical patterns of old english. Idk it's just really cool.

(Side note that's not connected to Apollo: Meg's glasses are black? I feel like I've been living a lie, I've been coloring them red for years lol)

God his metaphors are just so striking. Like, I can imagine the phrase "Whatever was left of my pride turned into ice water and trickled into my socks" but I don't want to, because that's such a visceral feeling. I like that Apollo inadvertently proving how poetic he is by making the reader as uncomfortable as possible.

I think I'm gonna start crying out "Horrors!" when I'm upset to. I think I deserve that level of drama.

ahh the classic "My blessings upon you!" Again, I love how every little line characterizes him. Either it's overly formal, like before, or subtly arrogant, like here, or both. It's so fun.

I need to write him saying "Sacred Sibyl!" more. Because that is such a fun little term. Rolls right off the tongue, honestly.

I think I'm gonna leave it there for now, but trust that I will definitely be adding more to this later. Bc Lester-speak is so fun to really look into.

[literallyjusttoa]

I think I'm gonna make a reblog chian of all the little phrases and Apollo uses throughout ToA, now that I'm rereading it. Bc like, he has such a unique way of speaking, and I really wanna dig into it, you know? Ok let's start.

He says "heavens help me" instead of "heaven help me" using the plural the same way demigods do with "oh my gods". I'm guessing this is an acknowledgment of other pantheons? Or I'm looking too far into it, I've just never heard this phrase with a plural "heavens" before.

He calls Cade and Mikey "Ruffians" . And he makes fun of the arrow for being Shakespearean.

He also refers to people as "Mortals" a lot here, which I remembered him doing, but now I want to keep track and see if he keeps that up throughout all the books, or if it peters out near the end.

"I thought how amusing it would be if I could make the snake tattoos around his neck come alive and strangle him to death" I honestly love how violent Apollo's thoughts can be sometimes. Like, you can tell he's someone who has done shit like this before.

I also want to keep track of all the little anecdotes Apollo brings up, so we'll start with the guitar contest against Chuck Berry in 1957, which apparently ended with him getting repeatedly stomped on.

"But something told me this was not she" II love how it's the little things that really get across how old Apollo is. Rick could've easily just said "It wasn't her" or something, but instead he had Apollo phrase this in a way that is far more formal, and more reminiscent of the grammatical patterns of old english. Idk it's just really cool.

(Side note that's not connected to Apollo: Meg's glasses are black? I feel like I've been living a lie, I've been coloring them red for years lol)

God his metaphors are just so striking. Like, I can imagine the phrase "Whatever was left of my pride turned into ice water and trickled into my socks" but I don't want to, because that's such a visceral feeling. I like that Apollo inadvertently proving how poetic he is by making the reader as uncomfortable as possible.

I think I'm gonna start crying out "Horrors!" when I'm upset to. I think I deserve that level of drama.

ahh the classic "My blessings upon you!" Again, I love how every little line characterizes him. Either it's overly formal, like before, or subtly arrogant, like here, or both. It's so fun.

I need to write him saying "Sacred Sibyl!" more. Because that is such a fun little term. Rolls right off the tongue, honestly.

I think I'm gonna leave it there for now, but trust that I will definitely be adding more to this later. Bc Lester-speak is so fun to really look into.

[literallyjusttoa]

Starting my reread of ToA this year, and I thought I'd revisit an old series and do a doodle for each chapter. Do not hold me to continuing this tho lol, I only got 19 chapters in the last time I did this. Still, here are chapters 1-3!

Love revisiting the very, very rough beginnings of Meg and Lester tho. They are so them and I love it.

[literallyjusttoa]

Himb

[literallyjusttoa]

Ok, SO. Cycnus was a son of Hyria (or Thyria, depending on how the name is spelled) and Apollo. He was a hunter who was described as conceited, a very Narcissus-type character. He had a ton of admirers because he was so dang pretty, and many young men would attempt to follow him in his hunting expeditions. However, he really just wanted to hunt alone and didn't really care about any of these people, so they eventually all left, except for one man. This man's name was Phylius, and most sources I've found say he was infatuated with Cycnus, if they were not just already in a relationship.

Now, Phylius refused to abandon Cycnus, no matter how much Cycnus shunned him, so Cycnus eventually gave him three tasks to prove himself. The first was to kill a lion that was terrorizing a nearby village without any weapons. Obviously, Cycnus did not want Phylius to succeed, and probably just wanted him to go away already. Phylius, however, took up the task, and killed the lion by: Eating a whole bunch of food and wine, throwing it back up, waiting for the lion to lick up that mess, and, once the lion was intoxicated, strangling it to death with his own shirt.

Now. I don't know about you. But if a man did that in front of me, I would run for the hills, because, and I cannot stress this enough, what the fuck. Cycnus was obviously not impressed, and gave Phylius a second task: Three man eating vultures were terrorizing the smae village (honestly, that poor village) so now Phylius had to catch them without weapons too. Phylius, master of fucked up solutions to these sorts of things, decided to cover himself in blood from a dead hare, wait for the vultures to come for him, grab them by their legs, and bodily drag them directly to Cycnus.

Let's recap. Cycnus has had to deal with this man following him despite him pretty clearly not wanting him there, had to watch him do whatever the fuck he did to the lion, and now he's standing in front of him covered in blood with three violent birds held by the ankle, all smiles and "these are for you!"

Restraining order. Immediately.

But those don't exist yet, so Cycnus gives him a third task. Go seperate a bull from it's herd and drag it all the way to the nearest temple of Zeus for sacrifice. And, side note, have you noticed that everything Cycnus has been asking Phylius to do has been acts of community service? Like, these aren't just fuck you fetch quests, That poor city has been saved from a near endless siege, and now Cycnus is giving his proper respects to Zeus. All of this bullshit, and Cycnus still manages to give back to the people. What a king.

Anyway, Phylius basically gives up at this point, but then, through what was probably divine intervention, a bull basically just collapses in front of him. He drags the thing to Zeus' temple, but then Heracles himself shows up. He tells Phylius that he doesn't have to listen to Cycnus anymore and he can like, leave. Maybe live his own life? Phylius agrees to this, and abandons the final task and Cycnus. Cycnus feels disgraced by this, probably because an actual god told Phylius to abandon him, with the implication that Phylius was too good for Cycnus, which like, no. Either way, he ended up throwing himself off of a cliff, which Apollo immediately disagreed with, turning him (and his mother, who had also thrown herself off the cliff, which like, goddamn) into the first swans.

The moral of the story seems to be not to take those who love you for granted. And like, fine, whatever, maybe I can see where that's coming from. But Cycnus never forced Phylius to stay by his side or do any of those tasks. Phylius was the one throwing himself at Cycnus while he literally just wanted to hunt alone. So I am 100% on Cycnus side and he did nothing wrong your honor.

If you read all the way through this, take this drawing I made of Cycnus a while ago, plus his half-brother Linos, who was also completely innocent but like, nobody disagrees with me on that so I don't have to defend him as much /j

I want you all to know that the only figure in Greek Mythology that I am a 100% apologist for is Cycnus. Cycnus is my baby boy he did not deserve what happened to him. His ass was right all along. I hate Phylius, all my homies hate Phylius, I'm cursing Phylius' bloodline. If I was Cycnus and some guy was obsessed with hunting with me and I kept telling him to go away and he didn't, so I gave him three impossible tasks, and then he completed them increasingly disturbing ways, I would also be a bit pissy about the whole situation. Cycnus is a lesson in why restraining orders are good and we should be allowed to make them.

[literallyjusttoa]

I was playing through some story quests in Honkai: Star Rail's newest ancient greece based land, and there was a story quest character named Paris! And his outfit was super cool so I drew my design of Paris in it bc it's a #slay fit.

[literallyjusttoa]

I want you all to know that the only figure in Greek Mythology that I am a 100% apologist for is Cycnus. Cycnus is my baby boy he did not deserve what happened to him. His ass was right all along. I hate Phylius, all my homies hate Phylius, I'm cursing Phylius' bloodline. If I was Cycnus and some guy was obsessed with hunting with me and I kept telling him to go away and he didn't, so I gave him three impossible tasks, and then he completed them increasingly disturbing ways, I would also be a bit pissy about the whole situation. Cycnus is a lesson in why restraining orders are good and we should be allowed to make them.

[literallyjusttoa]

Lester everytime he rolls a Nat 1 on conversation throughout the books.

[literallyjusttoa]

Working on a project with a few other artists rn and it reminded me of the Oh Hellos song Dear Wormwood, which is one of the first songs I ever connected to ToA and Lester all the way back in 2019. The lyrics fit him so well, and I would recommend giving the song a listen if you haven't already!