#Trial of the Oracle

[krchar]

Maybe I am reading too much into this one (issue 38, 4th arc), but don't you people think it looks very much like that old foreshadowing trick of one name being said instead of the other, one person appearing instead of the other etc.?

I mean Himerish's name is obviously hidden from the reader for the sake of growing tension, but

it is quite curious that it is Yan Lin who actually later becomes the Oracle

This happens only after 7th arc dramas and we know how much the original narrative line appears to be distorted there, so I am not sure about the connection

but! at the very least, just at the beginning of the 5th arc she becomes a sort of semi-oracle in the triumvirate

and to be honest, at the end of 4th arc, Himerish does not really look just purely happy to become an Oracle once again - i can't help, that is my impression

i believe some yan linized change in oracleship may have been planned already by now

i know it is just a detail, but witch takes over 80 % of my brain activity by now

[starrrrr-dreeeeam]

he really said

[wickedweasly]

DID RICK JUST CALL JASON THE SON OF JUNO?!?!

Oh my poor heart-

They way this ties perfectly with the fact that it was Hera/Juno who mourned him and not his own father….

He really was her boy🥹

[imafuckinstar]

i could never be a demigod because quests are literally only for morning people. like why do i have to wake up at the ass crack of dawn just to head to my imminent death with a side of eternal damnation. waking up that early is already punishment enough for paying the debt of my half-godly existence.

[leelight]

Small ToA animatic(??)

I used some clips from the auidobooks in this also it didn't let me post this on tiktok ahhhh😭😭

[sevsalio]

Silly 'The Hidden Oracle' sketchs

Day 1

[lady-menrva]

(Lester is my platonic darling...)

[arisketchart]

No words needed…

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

one of the reasons why i love ToA so much is the little bits and pieces of the gods we get to see.

so i guess this is really more of a 'this is why i love the gods so much' rather than my usual 'this is why i love ToA' post lmao

but fr, the gods are just sooooo much more fleshed out in ToA. they're more complex, and have these layers to them that pjo and hoo just Did Not convey (and really, only conveyed those things post publication of ToA, which came with the tools on how to decode the gods and read between the lines).

and i'm not even talking about Apollo here. he is by far the most fleshed out god we have because he's the pov character, but i also mean all 12 of the other olympians - they're just so juicy!!

like okay, sure, in pjo and hoo we get glimpses that Dionysus may care more than he lets on, but ToA CONFIRMS this, but not in an 'in your face' way - but in the 'Dionysus picks at Apollo like a little brother would' way, and in that FIRST interaction between Apollo and Dionysus, we can SEE what their relationship was like!!

Hermes is another VERY layered god, ESPECIALLY with pjo's context. but that context ONLY gains its own importance BECAUSE of the story ToA gives us - we would NOT have 'resigned to fate' Hermes without it. or embittered at his favorite brother Hermes. we love this Hermes eheheheheheheh

Artemis also gains more character, and is no longer just the stoic cool badass #Girlboss she's largely presented as - she's scared, she fears for Apollo, so much so she SPLITS. she comes RUNNING to help him in TTT as soon as she could, giving her a softer side, while simultaneously expands on her previous appearances and allowing us to see how she is unconsciously enabling the abuse Apollo's experienced. LAYERS !! !! !!

DEMETER. OOOHHH DEMETER ILY, IN MYTHOLOGY AND THE RRVERSE. BUT FOR COMPLETELY DIFFERENT REASONS LMAO

we can infer Demeter has basically shot herself in the foot by obsessing so much over Persephone, where she NEGLETS her other kids (ex: Lityerses, Meg). myth Demeter would NEVER but rrverse Demeter is still a fav BECAUSE of how flawed she is.

ARESSSSS do i even need to say anything. we KNOW Ares and Apollo are bros because of how often Apollo takes pot-shots at him in his dialogue LMAO true brother behavior

Hades is a chill uncle with Apollo in particular. i mean. *gestures* he used to purposefully mess up Apollo's aim when shooting for no reason. need i say more?

looking back i'm also a little intrigued by how little Poseidon was mentioned - perhaps lending credence to the idea that he and Apollo grew apart over the centuries?

also Hestia's position as the goddess of the hearth and home calls into question how passive she is on olympus BECAUSE of the shitshow it's become!! she defends it!! what has caused the hearth and home, the FIRSTBORN OF KRONOS, of the ENTIRE PANTHEON to be so stagnant in the face of this toxic cycle? the people want to know and so do i.

Hephaestus is trickier to pin down for me because he has little mention, but there's one SPECIFIC one that has stuck in my brain and its the "apollo missed an entire decade watching Hephaestus's newton's cradle INSIDE HIS OFFICE"

what was apollo doing in his office. and why did hephaestus - notorious introvert - let him stay in there. these are the questions we are all dying to know.

ATHENAAAAAAA !! !! !! !! !! that nod she gives apollo at the end. her bet on his SUCCESS. need i say more? she's bros with him trust <3 add in the mythology and it gets SPICY

Aphrodite is arguably a tricky one to pin down too, and honestly we as a fandom have probably taken more from the mythos to pin down her character than with the others, but she's sooooo interesting too!! the eldest olympian. powerful goddess. extremely cunning and ruthless. and yet she's seen as airheaded and vain by practically everyone.

makes you wonder who else is like that. *quick glance at our favorite god* i dunno who that could be. *whistles innocently*

and do i need to say anything about Zeus? about the tragedy of him falling into the cycle he was meant to break? ABOUT THE TRAGEDY OF HOW HE DEF WANTED TO BE A FATHER BUT HIS PARANOIA GOT THE BETTER OF HIM UNTIL HE NO LONGER WAS ONE??

*seizes you by the shoulders* HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE NORMAL ABOUT THIS. HOW.

and ofc. one of my FAVORITE gods...Hera. oh, ho ho Hera. you do NOT deserve the hate you get <3 okay maybe a bit of irritation is warranted because you do pull off risky things in hoo but we stan a goddess who takes charge in this house.

YOU CAN'T CONVINCE ME SHE'S GONNA BE - well, nicer? is that the right word? - BETTER WITH APOLLO POST-TOA. AFTER SEEING EVERYTHING HE SUFFERED? AFTER SEEING HIM SHED THE MASK? AFTER JASON GRACE?

*pounds mercilessly on the table* I WILL NEVER NOT BE ANNOYING ABOUT THEM I LOVE THEM ALL INCLUDING THE BITS OF CHARACTER FROM THE MINOR GODS WE GET TOO!!

[princessofghosts-posts]

I think we as individuals moved on too fast from this.

Pag 67,Chapter 10,of the Hidden Oracle. Basically when Apollo went to talk to Chiron,with Will and Meg,and met Nico before entering the Big House.

Apollo got scared of Nico. We are talking about a god –the Sun God that brought him and his sister to CHB– that turned mortal not even 24h ago. Also,I love how the first thing Nico tells him,after years of not seeing him,is literally "You are probably going to die",but without making it oblivious.

And "Nico di Angelo's father" ? Apollo personally knows Hades and knows what he is capable of,he had knew so for centuries,but here he address him with his son's connection to him. Apollo ain't scared of Hades because he is Hades,he is scared of Hades because he is Nico's dad and in that moment he was scared of Nico.

Nico had one line with his introduction (before his attention shifted on Will for the rest of the book-) and was still able to put fear in a newly-turned-human-God that he personally met years ago. We need to talk more about this.

[krchar]

long time no see...

like what explanation do you have for this monologue

H is a bit too chill here tho

and a parallel one, for the brave, under the break (but it is not mature dont worry)

sorry not sorry

[lavenderfairiez]

I just finished ToA last night and here are some things I don't see nearly enough people talking about, specifically about the end of ToA so if you haven't read it this is your spoiler warning!!!

• Apollo not feeling right in his godly form and uncomfortable around the other olympians (not including Artemis)

• LEO CALLING JO "MOM" 🥺 (and Emmie and Jo in general) BUT HE HAS TWO MOMS NOW I LITERALLY STARTED CRYING ABOUT THIS LAST NIGHT

• Apollo visiting Percy and Annabeth in New Rome!!!

• AND they talk about Jason!!!!!! Annabeth cried herself to sleep

• honestly Apollo's whole battle with Python that shit was so cool

• obligatory fuck Calypso

• REYNA CALLING LEO "HERMANO" 🥹

• Meg standing up to Nero in his throne room!!! I LOVE HER SO MUCH

• Rick's infallible ability to put EVERY. SINGLE. FUCKING. CHARACTER. in a relationship 💀 PEACHES HAS A LOVE INTEREST NOW???????? LET CHARACTERS BE SINGLEEEEE

• HAZEL'S CURSE IS GONE AND SHE CAN JUST LIKE USE HER JEWELS NOW!!! and Frank wants an engraved diamond necklace that says "H+F Forever" I love him so much...

• while we're on the topic of Frank!! WHY DOES NO ONE EVER TALK ABOUT HIS SACRIFICE AT THE END OF THE TYRANTS TOMB??? Like I knew that he would be fine but I still started like tearing up

• THE ARROW OF DODONA!!!

• how completely unaffected Zeus is by Jason's death??? Fuck you Zeus.

• Apollo's new kids at camp!!!

[siingomuse]

some of the book names in pjo/hoo/toa are actually FIRE mate like. "the lightning thief" that's actually so fire???? "the titans curse"??? that's so epic bro like. that's so cool "the battle of the labyrinth"?? that would be the COOLEST band name mate "mark of athena" like. greek mythology song named that WHEN?? and ALL of the book names in Trials of Apollo? FIRE "the hidden oracle" thats so awesome like WHAT??? "the dark prophecy" fire song name "the burning maze" aidoneus song drop named that when?? "the tyrant's tomb" call your band that drop the songs and I would be your NUMBER 1 listener like thats so cool "tower of nero" fire shit mate rick you were COOKING with these names

[moist1firecracker]

“don’t get on the wrong side of my lightning bolts, boy.” -ToA, The Hidden Oracle (page 289)

aka i’ve been reading trials of apollo and lester/apollo is now one of my top favorite characters

[imafuckinstar]

i love reading apollo/lester’s narration because it gets me into his head space. like i’m reading toa and i am a scorned former god who is facing multiple concussions, at least 5 stab wounds, and infinite bullshit from all my opps who i knew in like 158 BC

[inkyrainstorms]

Lester's first moments alive

step 1: fall into trash

Step 2: get the snot beaten out of you

Step 3: acquire gremlin child (sister)

Wooooo Lester is so good at following lists