#he was just like 'what if a character was an olympian and it wasn't even a major plot point'

[highkey-lowkey-as-hell]

sometimes it just hits me that like. chess qualified for the olympics. chess was supposed to go to the olympics. chess may not have competed but she was this close to being an OLYMPIAN.

[tootsmcscoots]

Fuck you, have another Hades II character design thing I noticed and really like.

For those who know about Heracles, which is all of you lets be honest, you know he has a bit of a rage problem, Hera induced or not. I think SGG shows this off in a very fascinating way.

OK, so, Heracles' first and most well-known Labor is his slaying of the Nemean Lion after which he takes removes its impervious pelt with its own claw, taking it as a trophy and his first of many enchanted items.

Another thing I think we can all agree on about Heracles is that he's a fucking asshole, even by the standard of the Golden Age of Greek heros. This write-up will not be going into all the things he's done but just know he's not the most humane person while he was alive, and I can only imagine he only got worse after he ascended to full godhood after his death.

And I think Hades II shows that loss of what little humanity he had in a very interesting way.

It can be hard to notice when first looking at his portrait but look at his beard, how it's the same colour as the lions pelt, how they seamlessly flow into one another, making it nearly impossible to differentiate the two. And this is clearly a much much older Heracles, he died around the time as the other Golden Age heros like Jason, Theseus, and Perseus, who themselves were far before heros like Odysseus who as of Hades II has already gone through his odyssey, assuredly died of either old age or something incredibly stupid, and helped raise Melionë to adulthood, so all in all, Heracles is OLD old.

All those years have seemingly gotten to Heracles. Any drop of humanity that may have not been burned away in his pyre is, if not completely eradicated, very, very buried. He has fully become The Lion, a weapon of Olympian design, told to seek out and destroy the enemies of the Gods with no remorse. How he speaks with Mel shows this as well, how he thinks he is the only one who can stamp out the Undead inside of Ephyra, confused and annoyed in their first encounter on why she'd even bother.

It's... very hard to feel bad for Heracles. His life wasn't great to start out with, but he did many things in his adult life that were just outright cruel with no reason. But seeing him lose himself to The Lion, it does make you a bit melancholic, right? One of the most well-known figures of Greek mythology finally falling into what many of the Gods children become, a weapon.

[thebaronsilver]

First of the bat, let me say this as a disclaimer. I love the og Percy Jackson series. Secondly, my fav character is Nico and then the Percy from the og series.

Do you know why I make this distinction? Because, Heroes of Olympus ruined Percy's basic characteristics.

Just think, this is the percy who was bullied in almost every school he attended (except, maybe, Goode). Even, camp half blood,till he came back from the first quest. This is the guy with so strong a sense of loyalty that he was willing to get into trouble with the teachers for Grover when they studied together, was willingly an outcast because he would rather be friends with the one guy everyone picked on and thus be bullied himself. He was pretty excited to have a brother once he got over the whole Cyclops thing, too. This is the same guy who spent all his free time looking for a runaway kid who said he hated him. Maybe it was out of misplaced guilt. Maybe it was due to the fact this guy big brothered everyone he could get away with. (Atleast, I felt like that.)

While we're on that issue. Was Nico right to blame Percy for Bianca's death? Absolutely, not. But he was also a grieving ten year old who just lost his only family (even though she had, in a way, already left him behind. But that's an entirely different rant on the Hunters as an institutions. Bianca was also a child, remember.). And considering that Nico changed his tune once he found the truth out and even helped Percy and the camp willingly afterwards, I like to think he more than made up for that mistake.

There's even a part where Percy refuses to burden Nico with the prophesy and claims it for himself. Considering that till then he was trying not to even think about it, I believe we can easily claim that Nico was in some ways important to Percy. Maybe not in the same way his Mom, Annabeth Or Grover was to him, but still an important person.

Then we have in the last Olympian, Percy using Nico as an example why Children of Hades shouldn't be treated as Pariahs. Because if not for him and the reinforcements his powers brought (not even counting the three whole deities he brought along) the casualties would have been higher. (It was Hades who locked Percy up. He even confirms that Nico hadn't had a clue. Nico in turn broke him out and got himself in trouble. Then in a turn of events, Percy starts to blame Nico for something that wasn't in his control. A reversal of roles so to speak. I had thought that it had been momentary anger on Percy's part, but apparently considering all the references to how Nico betrayed him in the HoO, it wasn't. He'd pushed it aside momentarily, it seems.)

Percy was not to blame for what happened to Nico in the original series. Life isn't fair and it just happened to be extra unfair to Nico. Even then Percy went out of his way to look after the kid, to make sure he had a safe space.

This is the Percy who I liked. The Son of Neptune only emphasised this. Even without his memories, he took Hazel and to a lesser extent Frank under his wings. He actually recognised Nico in a vague way. Not just Annabeth (which is something else I have beef with. What about his mother? Why didn't he remember Sally till a lot later and even then he didn't let her know he was safe till a lot later?)

Then comes the Mark of Athena. He apparently told so many horror stories to the 7 that there was a debate on whether or not they should save a 13 year old demigod, the brother to one of them, from a preventable death. This wasn't like the Titan war were demigods could be the enemy. Then why was there even a debate? It's like all that loyalty disappeared. This is the guy that was once bullied at every school he's attended. Doesn't he know the impact of telling tales when people aren't there to defend themselves? To tell the whole story? Then House of Hades. Every single person in that ship thought that Nico was spooky, creepy whatever and all that poor kid was doing was exist. He made himself scarce, barely spoke unless necessary and even then they were like ew, creepy. It's like Percy's personal loyalty became loyalty to just Annabeth. Fuck whatever happens to anyone else. It upsets me.

The later books ruined Percy as a character. And I will stand by this.

[cynthiav06]

Question. do you think Percy should have stayed Single? Or ended up with somebody other than Annabeth? I Really think he should have stayed Single. Because I personally don't Like Percabeth, I don't Ship Percabeth and I don't Like Annabeth at all because of the way the Shippers act, or The way the characters themselves in Canon Act, like how Percy just does whatever Annabeth says, or how Percy is scared of Annabeth, Or how fans make it seem like Percy would become an Emo Edge Lord if something happened to Annabeth, Or How much she Belittles and Degrades him (I hate the nickname Seaweed brain), Especially since she acts like Percy cant do anything without her That moment when She and Reyna were talking about how ("Percy Couldn't find his way out of a Paper Bag without you")Made me SO mad it made me Dislike Annabeth even more and Dislike the Percabeth Ship as a Whole, I even hated when she Pretty much Restricted percy of using his powers You Know? "The sea doesn't like to be Restrained" well here it is.. being restrained...Exactly what it hates, and I hate how the Fandom makes Percabeth a Godly Ship saying they are the "It Couple" which they aren't and how They treat anyone who doesn't like Percabeth or Ships Percy with someone else other then Annabeth, but the one thing I HATE the most is how they make EVERYTHING percy Does Romantic for Annabeth like she's the only person who matters to him (Percy Only Remembering Annabeth (a Girl he's Known for only a couple years) Instead of The woman Who RAISED him by a goddess who isn't even the goddess of Love Made me SO MAD and Even when Annabeth made Percy remember when he was in the River Styx when it should have been his Mom made me mad) which is why I mostly believe that Percy Should have just stayed Single (I'm all for an Aromantic Percy) or At least Give him a Love interest who he can be Comfortable around and doesn't have to Constantly walk on Eggshells around her (I wished he Dated Rachel) or Hell Even make him Gay i've saw characters who have Better chemistry with Percy then Annabeth IMO but this all just my opinion.

You honestly don't know how long I could rant on this exact subject.

It's partly Annabeth's fault, and it's partly Rick's fault.

Anyone and everyone who has read the Pjo and HoO series should have noticed how illogical Percy's personality change was.

Percy Jackson, the hero of Olympus and the strongest demigod to ever live, sassy as can be, laid back but scary beyond measure if you cross him and an absolute menace to his enemies and loyal to death.

That's who he is, and Rick remembered that initially, and even till Son of Neptune then he just forgot how Percy someone he himself wrote to be this way is.

It's like Percy has no identity of his own, and he is only significant if he is with Annabeth. Like hello, he's the main character people, is the Fandom seriously going to degrade the main character, especially when the said mc is Percy Jackson???

Percy, despite his own issues, is and will always be foremost in helping people. He would be the first person to help keep the seven together. He would be the first to try and make a bond. He wouldn't have some stupid and illogical and totally ooc beef with Jason. Instead, he would help Jason be more sure of himself to stand up to Jupiter and for himself.

He would help Leo personally to bring back Calypso and they would both shit talk Olympians and how fickle their oaths are.

He would literally do anything to save Nico. Like hello, are you telling me that the boy who at 14 took it upon himself to bear the Great Prophecy, which he thought who end up killing him just to save Nico from that fate????? He would go absolutely madly feral to save Nico from the Giants.

If Piper and Reyna had their screws all properly fit they would see that Annabeth and literally everyone else would be all left to die if it wasn't for Percy. Percy gets himself out of everything by his own efforts and his own strategies. (Annabeth's rarely work). It's time the Fandom acknowledges that the best strategist in the verse is Percy, no questions asked and finally give him due credit for all HIS efforts.

Percy would never ever leave Sally unless it was for a quest, especially not when she was pregnant and absolutely not to go to college, something he hates especially when it concerns New Rome.

Here's a thing about Percabeth shippers they care about Annabeth's plans and her dreams, not Percy's. It is literally so out of character for Percy to want to live in New Rome a place that invests in a child army, a place that despises his father and wouldn't even build him a decent temple, a place so extremely cut off from the sea.

If Percy wanted to live in peace and grow old, he would do it in a place of his choosing close to his mother, Paul and Estelle, and close to the sea. But here's the thing about Percy.

I don't think people get this, but Percy can't just up and leave, nor would he want to. His damned fatal flaw is LOYALTY. He would never ever leave demigods or anyone helpless by leaving Camp Half Blood. Sure he would take less quests on but he would ALWAYS stick around and Rick did him so dirty by making all his thoughts revolve around Annabeth and insinuating he would let others suffer just fine to be with Annabeth.

Percy gave up immortality because he took Sally's teaching to heart as she did so too when she denied Poseidon's offer. He did it for himself for demigods it didn't have shit to do with Annabeth, but of course, he would look at her because she represents his life as a demigod.

Rick making Percy see Annabeth near the Styx and making him remember Annabeth instead of Sally is just him bullshitting. We all know Percy is a mama's boy, and he would do right by Sally always, so him giving a girl who he has known for barely long enough has no basis to it.

And Percabeth stans literally can't take a mention of a single alternate Percy pairing that alone is the biggest red flag. Because they know their ship is toxic and that Annabeth is the root of it.

For the PEOPLE IN THE BACK aka toxic stans:

Annabeth's fatal flaw is HUBRIS, and she is by nature controlling and condescending, and her character had the chance to GROW and CHANGE, and it would have been the most epic character growth sequel but she did not and she is CONTROLLING, DISMISSIVE , DEMEANING.

The newest Read Riordan entry literally has Annabeth saying that she needs to catch up to Percy cause he scores a better grade than her in school (even there Percy is smarter folks there you have it) and she literally says if she doesn't catch up Percy might start calling her SEAWEED BRAIN. So it is a demeaning nickname she gives Percy and continues calling him that even after knowing how Gabe similarly verbally abused Percy.

This is the fandom's IT couple? Wow. Percy literally is going against his own nature of being free and unrestrained like the sea because of Annabeth's controlling nature.

The worst of her behavior is when she blames Percy for his disappearance when she dismissed him when he was talking about his trauma induced by Gabe, her beyond toxic treatment of Rachel, especially when she unreasonably asked Percy to supress the use of the very power that got them out alive (she is scared naturally but she cannot force her own fear on Percy when he did nothing wrong).

So yeah, Percy Jackson with anyone but Annabeth. I am all for aromantic Percy, but personally, I find Perachel to be more appealing.

Trust me, I could rant about this for hours, especially how Rick butchered Percy's personality and made it full of Annabeth, especially how he threw Percy's insecurities and trauma and PTSD out of the gutter post tartarus.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Ultimately the reason Percabeth is such horrifically bad ship yet gets praised so much is that while Percy and Annabeth canonically love eachother,they also canonically don't like eachother LMAO.Percy's constantly wishing Annabeth was extremely different than who she actually is because he finds her unbearable and hard to be around and finds escapism in being around people who're unlike her with the biggest example being him having been in love with Rachel before they settled into still close exes

There's also his friendships with the Grace Sibs,Thalia had infinitely better progress with him in TTC than Annabeth has in the entire saga and he admires her a lot more too and it's a running theme that Jason is Annabeth's opposite and Percy became instant best friends with him upon first meeting and all three of their first meetings are more charming and unique than Percy saying his type is princess-y girls in his narration but Annabeth hating being seen as one because she's gnc and 'You drool when you sleep'.I also think if anybody is Percy's cosmically intertwined soulmate it's not any s/os but Nico and Hazel and by that i mean in a found siblings with him also being their pseudo-parent way.All their dynamics are interesting and richen their characters and they're from different time periods which only adds to how special their bond is

And on Annabeth's end.......She kinda straight up hates his existense.She's always talking about how stupid he is and that he's useless without her and i get that Rick tried to sell it as affectionate teasing but she's angered by it so often it's obvious it's just Rick being a cishet nt white old man.She gets angered by finding him attractive too?????This trope can be good but Percy never actually does anything,he's literally just existing and that includes not actively pursuing her back since he dosen't want her even half as much as she thinks she wants him.It's rare compared to her mean-spirited comments he explicitly never consented to and finds unnecessary and one of the many thing's he wishes she wasn't and he never returns her physical assaults so 'they're demigods and it's normal!' excuse dosen't add up

Yeah,they're dating in canon and gonna get married.Percy's also gonna not only go to college but a demigod college when again and again and AGAIN he says he dosen't want to be a half-blood and he's only going so he can live out a traditional lifestyle with Annabeth so so much for 'his thether to his mortal side' i guess.Annabeth never got any shit from Poseidon like Percy did Athena or terrorizing like Aphrodite does everybody else she talks to and Percy was forced to narratively forgive Luke,again,only because of Annabeth when he groomed him for a bit and abused him tons too and it's so vile to gaslight us into thinking Luke was anything but a serial pedophile and beyond far right to Percy's lifelong outcasthood and anarchy and Annabeth as a direct victim of his sick sexual 'interests' in plausible deniability font due to being a pg series.Percabeth is the peak cishet romance norms taken up to 12 like the Olympians and it's embarrasingly obvious nobody saying they're t4t has ever been in a transmasc4transfem relathionship

That's why this moment is so fucking depressing.She knows him and she dosen't like any of what he is and he dosen't say it outloud because he's scared of the truth,that he ended up with the wrong person,that he fucked up again and she's hollower whenever she's around him because she exists FOR him and for almost nothing else.They weren't eachother's choice,they were eachother's destiny decided by everyone but themselves.This fucks up my autistic ass so much man,no wonder i only ever liked that lesbian!Percabeth au with transfemme Percy and butch Annabeth that was popular when i was a kid,that's deadass the only way you can make it work,they'd need an entire rehaul but at this point i don't care to try because the shippers don't deserve it after how demonic they've been since the 2000s.Percabeth was never a good ship,you were just a tween

[rlqfpdl]

How not to lose a brother, no glue no borax

Hermes!fem!reader x Hermes cabin

Summary: luke betrays camp and you don’t know what to do or how to feel anymore. Luckily your siblings seem to be there for you.

Contains: pure angst!!, hermes sibling dynamics, SPOILERS for last Olympian, takes place during the titans curse/battle of the labyrinth. Not really a happy ending? Character death.

A/N: hi guys this is my first ff on tumblr hope you like it. Slightly (or mostly) inspired by the ‘no glue no borax trend’ on tik tok.

Word count: 1.2K

You would think that a cabin like cabin 11 always felt alive and full of people, yet you couldn't help but feel like the loneliest girl in that there. The dull brown walls felt suffocating, but the thought of leaving them seemed even more terrifying.

 “Come on sis you’ve got to leave your bed someday,” said Connor, carrying a tray of food. He sat on the footer of the bed and looked up at the girl. Being the closest in age–just one year apart– Connor was your rock and your partner in crime. 

You slowly sat up and grabbed the small bowl of strawberries from the tray. “Maybe Hypnos is my dad,” you said sarcastically while wrapping a blanket around yourself. Maybe Connor was right. It was time to touch the grass and wash up a bit. 

“That would be a shame, I can't afford to lose another–'' he cut himself off before messing up big time. You shifted in your seat uncomfortably, eyes getting watery with the thought of him again. The old Hermes cabin counselor. 

You were there that day when the iris message arrived in camp. Luke, your older brother, confessing to poisoning Thalia's tree and betraying camp. It wasn't as if the news only affected you; every single one of your half-siblings couldn't believe it. It had explained why he didn't arrive at camp that year or why Chris wasn't there to annoy you like always. Oh wait, that meant Chris also left. You were never the same again.

you were merely 10 years old when you first arrived, being claimed by your father as soon as you stepped foot into camp. Connecting with your other siblings in an instant, especially with Luke. You looked up to him; he was the older brother you never had growing up as an only child. He taught you how to use a sword and how to utilize your abilities to their full potential. It was fun to steal the camp store with your siblings, a weird bonding experience for sure.  Being a year-rounder also meant spending more time at camp, which also meant getting to know Luke better than most of your other siblings. 

Truly, nothing prepared you for such a harsh reality check. You blame yourself for not seeing the signs after his quest; the constant waking up in the middle of the night screaming in fear. the sudden harshness towards others, slowly disconnecting from camp. Sadly, you started to blame your father for everything–how he treated Luke, how he treated you, and how he seemed to not care for the pain you felt. 

“Y/N Travis told me not to tell you but they found Chris, He's alive.” Your eyes widened with shock, you knew Chris wasn't dead, but the thought that he was no longer with Luke made you worry even more. At least if he was with the enemy, he was still with his brother. 

“Where is he?” you said, getting up, ready to travel to the depths of Tartarus just to see him again. 

“Wooh, hold your horses, he was brought back to camp but, he's not in the condition you want to see him in,” Connor said, a slight shakiness to his words as if he had seen Chris, as if he was hiding something. 

“What do you mean by that? I don't care about that I just want to see him again” You were starting to get angry. You weren't the same immature 10-year-old from before. You could handle this, or at least you wanted to believe you could. 

Connor got annoyed. He knew better than to go against his brother's wishes, but he thought this news could bring a smile to your face, a smile long forgotten. “Travis was right; I shouldn't have told you,” He said, getting up from your bed, about to leave the cabin. He couldn't afford to dwell on these things. He now had to be head counselor, thinking about the course of action the camp would take.

 But you ran, catching up to him, grabbing his arm. You felt compelled to know this information; he was your brother. “You and Travis can't keep hiding things from me. I am not a child anymore. Don't you think it hurts me every day how I lost my brothers or how I might lose more in war " Tears were threatening to spill out your eyes, your legs felt weak from not walking in such a long time and your emotions could no longer be contained.

"See Y/N, that's the thing. You're so blinded by your pain. Don't you see the rest of us grieving? Don't you see how Julia and Alice have stopped with their pranks? How me and Travis have to be in charge of this damn cabin with no guidance.” you had never seen Connor actually get angry before, He was the camp clown he played pranks on people, he made people laugh, he didn't make them cry. 

“You're not the only one hurting, Y/N, Understand that '' he finished off pulling his arm away from your grip. The tears you held on to finally started to spill, It was true you could be selfish at times, but you couldn't afford to fight with your siblings; it was the only thing left in your life. Alexa, one of your sisters was the one to bring you food that night, not seeing Connor until after the campfire, very clearly annoyed and avoiding you after your little spat. 

You knew tension was high in the cabin but you didn't stop to think it was this bad. You were so caught up in your own agenda that you didn't see how you could all fight at a time like this. You had to have each other's backs. Everybody a camp loved Luke; that was a fact, but nobody felt the true betrayal of a sibling like you guys did.

It had been a year now, and you and your siblings found yourselves on Mount Olympus embracing each other and sobbing as you saw your poor brother die. “He died a hero,'' they said but that still didn't stop the pain. It was enough to see him betray camp, witness so many demigods die in battle, see Chris go mad from his days in the labyrinth, see camp slowly dying. Now there was a dagger still inside of Luke. 

You missed the times you played poker in cabin 11 or made chocolate chip cookies (his and your favorite), sword fighting, everything. You've only met your father a few times; you couldn't help but blame him for so much. Yet here he was with you guys equally as sad, Travis swore he saw the old man shed a tear or two. It made you laugh slightly when he told you that, not that it was something to laugh at,  just the thought of a god showing emotions seemed foreign. 

It was funny how grief brought you all together, more united than before. But still, that didn't mean you could look past Luke's actions and the pain you felt. Maybe someday in the future, you would understand where he was coming from, but for now, you couldn't help but cry those feelings and thoughts away. 

[starfanatic]

Crafting the most controversial ranking of the olympians (including Hestia and Hades)

DISCLAIMER: THIS POST WAS INSPIRED BY @wanderingmind867

APOLLO: He's just fucking AWESOME???!!! What can I say? He's such a easy to like god when you don't let the stupid retellings poison you. He's the god of writing and music (both topics that I love) and just SO much more. I can't even grasp how much the greeks fucking loved this guy and so do I. In a more fanon-y way, in my head he's the best possible protagonist out of all the olympians for a story. There's so much nuance with him, and I just love psychoanalyzing him. I also think his relationships with other gods and every mortals is so INVESTING and intense if you think about it in the right way. Also I love blondes. Blondes are hot.

ARES: The more people hate him, the more I defend him. He gets so much undeserved bullshit, he should've been the Hades of our modern generation, he deserves it way more imo. He's a great father, a great lover, and he dances! DANCES! He's probably the god with the most misinformation besides maybe Hades. Ares kind of gives me the underdog affect? Yes he's this big huge god, but he loses FAR too much to be considered the "bully" like the myths advertise. And I get that it's supposed to be a message "brain over brawn" but quite frankly I could care less. Ares is treated bad by his parents, he just deserves so much more I love this guy. I love paralleling him with other gods too like Athena or Apollo or Zeus. He's just so fun to write.

APHRODITE: I feel the exact same way for her as I feel for Ares. I used to hate her SO MUCH, until I realized how misled I was. APHRODITE IS FUN. The only thing is that I'd defend her wrongs because I don't give a shit. "Aphrodite was petty" IDC!!!! I hate how authors (Rick.) write her. She's SO much more then what she's reduced too. She's SO powerful. I think the only reason she's not equal to Ares because I don't know a lot of her myths. She's serving cunt ALWAYS.

POSEIDON: Poseidon being so high is probably a disservice to society. BUT HES SO COOL AND SO POWERFUL????!!! Yes he does shitty stuff I'm not gonna pretend he doesn't, but seeing him in stories is just so entertaining. I typically like reading fanfics with him during the titanomachy or just fanfics where he's being a great uncle (so... super not accurate but it's entertaining). Ngl I giggled when he asked Apollo to fight him during the trojan war and Apollo said "nah im good". Poseidon is a BEAST in the fight with cool ass powers and a BEAST in bed (um.. when it's consentual... fuck I hate greek mythology sometimes). STORMBRINGER (i hope that's Poseidon and not Zeus???) GOD OF THE SEAS

HERMES: Hermes is kind of low, but NOT BECAUSE I DONT LOVE HIM. I tend to like gods who are a bit... violent if it wasn't obvious by the top 4? And even though I know Hermes can be violent I never see him BE violent. He just seems too perfect for me? Name one flaw he has that the other gods don't also have. HOWEVER he's so fun to read about, I don't like Percy Jackson but when I saw Hermes in the tv show I jumped out of my seat. I really like him with Apollo though, it brings a level of complexity that I LOVE.

zeus... I can explain. OKAY SO, I LOVE COMPLEX CHARACTER RIGHT AND GUESS WHO IS A VERY NUANCED GOD IN MYTHOLOGY??? ZEUS! I specifically like him from the titanomachy, because I like to think he was just... different when he was younger. Kind of like one of the typical heroes until the power he has changes him over time. I wish someone wrote a retelling because I'd love to see Zeus and Rhea or Zeus and Cronos interactions during the war. Disclaimer, I'm aware he does shitty shit but so does everyone on this list besides like Hestia and...that's it.

DIONYSUS: His low ranking is more to do with the lack of knowledge but also I'm not too interested in the domains he involves himself with. Never went to a party, never did drugs, never drunk alcohol, etc. HOWEVER I love when Dionysus is completely unhinged. God of MADNESS GUYS!!! ITS IMPORTANT! I love the myths where he's genuinely just being scary as fuck, I love how powerful but underestimated he is.

HERA: She deserves better. If I was her I'd do worse, but like... not to innocent children and women. That's all.

ATHENA: I don't find her that interesting. She just kind of reminds me of that one girl in the class who reminds the teacher they have homework. I am aware that I AM biased though, my top 4 gods consisted of 2 gods that are at odds with her. I just don't like how biased the myths were in her favor, it kind of makes her boring. If Ares or Athena lost equally I wouldn't mind her, but she wins every single time. Even when she loses, Zeus doesn't care and let's her get away with it anyway. Athena, for me, absolutely requires other gods to add complexity to her character.

DEMETER: I like her out of spite because I don't like Hades x Persephone shippers from modern retellings. In particular I don't like the Hades x Persephone shippers that hate on Demeter as if they know anything about her. She's only low because I like a lot of other gods better and I just feel like I'd never be able to write anything with her as a main character because I've never "psychoanalyzed" her like I did the other gods.

HESTIA: *shrug* I don't know her that well, and she doesn't seem to really have any myths to jump off from. The lack of myths and personality puts her low on the list. Though I do love how sweet she is.

HEPHAESTUS: ...he bores me. He doesn't offer anything to me whatsoever. I don't necessarily feel bad for him for the Aphrodite situation either, and I hate when a lot of people who like Hephaestus ignore VERY IMPORTANT details on the myths to serve their purpose. The majority of it is just plain boredom, but I hate how everyone villainized Aphrodite and Ares.

HADES: ...sigh. He's a bit of a unfair one. I'm not someone who can seperate the god from the people who like the god. A lot of Hades fans tend to just piss me off based off the most obvious misinformation in the entire world. I HATE how they try to hate on the other Olympians as if Hades is somehow better then him? He has no myths that doesn't make him better, we just don't have a lot of him. I don't find him necessarily interesting, and I desperately wish for the retellings for him to end. It's not really fair because it's less the god and more the "fans" but whatever it is what it is.

[iwannascreameurekaa]

I don't understand how any of the seven get so much hate. They all have amazing characteristics, designs, personalities, backgrounds, etc. 

so I'm gonna explain why they're all amazing

Yay

Percy

Percy is the main character to the first five books so he has the most information shown about him than the seven since we read from his point of view in pjo and the Olympians. His whole thing of loyalty is incredible and the things he risked to save people he barely knew made him an amazing protagonist. 

Annabeth

Hello??? I know she's smart but that's not her only characteristic. She's blinded by her own powers and doesn't know how to handle things thrown at her when she can only rely on her emotions which is amazing cause ME TOO GIRLY she's a badass who also went through so much during HOO 

Leo

Built a whole ass ship, was manipulated and controlled into KILLING HIS OWN MOTHER OMGS MY HEART, was always singled out and felt like he didn't belong, SACRIFICED HIMSELF FOR HIS FRIENDS, and so much more!!!

Jason

This is where ima start defending for my life bc people who say Jason is boring don't understand his story. He was taken from his home, raised by wolves until he was around 2/3, raised the rest of his life until his was 16 in a camp where he was trained to be an actual child soldier, kidnapped and had his memory erased, watched his best friend DIE, and died for his other best friend !!! WHAT MORE DO YOU PEOPLE WANT????? OFC HES GOING TO BE BORING HE DIDNT KNOW WHO HE WAS OR WHAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE

Piper

I will hold you by the shoulders and stare directly into your soul until you give me a good reason to hate Piper bc she did nothing wrong. She just wanted her father's love and she never got it so what happened? She was sent or a wilderness camp where she was also manipulated into believing a random boy was her bf which entirely messed her up and it took her MONTHS ALMOST A YEAR to realize that she didn't have the feelings she was lead to believe. THEN SHE SAW HER EX HER BSF DIE IN FRONT OF HER????? I WOULD BE RUINED AFTER THAT OMGS 

Hazel

Excuse me, didn't she DIE in the 1940s to prevent the world from ending, came back, only to have to save the world AGAIN??? Not to mention that fact that she was bullied and harassed all her life before and after her death. Before her death she was always treated like the devil bc of her curse, even by her own mother. Her mom even neglected Hazel which is something NO ONE SEEMS TO TALK ABOUT. Then she has an unknown brother save her from the underworld and have to completely rebuild her life from scratch. At new rome she still wasn't treated right and was left out and made out to be a weird girl just like her old life. Tbh if that was me I wouldn't be shaking crying every time I saw someone. Also she learned how to control the mist which is pretty fricking cool okay I love her 

Frank

Let's just point out the obvious first. The reason Frank is not one of the most loved characters is because he is/was chubby. I'll say it, that is the reason. If he was skinny/fit more people would love him. That's probably why Rick did the transformation thingy thing where Frank got all buff. Which sucks because Frank is incredible and having one of the only character that's not skinny or muscly or as conventionally attractive have to change to those things just to be slightly more popular is STUPID!!!! I'm not hating on Rick I'm honestly hating on the fans who didn't love Frank because of the fact that he was chubby, whether they knew that was the reason they didn't like him as much as the other seven or not. His story is incredible. His mom going to war and her dying made my heart break while reading. his entire life force being attached to a piece of wood, so easy to be burned to nothingness, is SO GOOD. His awkwardness is so refreshing to see when characters are often portrayed as nonchalant and cool when in reality we're all losers 😭 

Really, there's no real reasons to hate any of the seven. You can have favorites, I have my favorites of course, but putting the other seven down doesn't do anything. You're just an asshole. 

[frozenrose20]

One-shot title : His Face

Characters: Will Solace and Artemis

Description: When spending her night with her hunters Artemis runs into a face she hasn't seen in years.

Word count :1,723

Note: this is the first oneshot I have ever written so it may not be the best. If you all like it though let me know I may write more in the future I have an idea for a sequel to this one-shot featuring both Apollo and Leto so let me know if you all would be interested in that as well. <3

In her thousand years of living she always found the nights of quiet to be the most impactful. After all it was a serene night like this one when she found her  lieutenant Zoe. Her poor Zoe, she was such a broken girl back then once filled with so much love only for it to be shattered by a monstrous man. She couldn’t  help but snarl at the thought of that brute.

  She was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the noise of whimpering. She looked over at the tents full of her hunters but they were all seemingly asleep. The noise couldn't be from one of them so she looked out into the trees to find the intruder. She summoned her bow ready to strike the creature. Happily ready to kill the man or monster who dared to approach her camp, who dared to disrespect the goddess of the moon and hunt. Drawing her bow she hid behind a tree to shock the creature and once she heard the snap of a twig she jumped out to shoot the creature down.

 She stopped before she could shoot however because she saw a sight she would have never expected. She was met with a face she hadn't seen in centuries. Before moving to America, before the Trojan war, before she was even an Olympian. She couldn't help but hold her breath because staring straight at her was the face of her baby  brother Apollo, with his. Short curly hair that glowed like a halo in the sun, his blue eyes that shone with the knowledge of the future,and his tan skin as if he had been touched by midas himself,but that was impossible. Her brother hadn't taken this form since he first left Delos. She couldn’t help the ache in her heart at the thought, back then it was just them and their mother hiding from the Hera and the rest of the gods. They were so young and joyful a content family, but then her brother left swearing vengeance on the snake that chased their mother across the earth. He left their  life on Delos  as a sweet and innocent child and came back a silent yet shaken man. It was the last she ever saw of this face.  In the years since Apollo has changed his form thousands of times his curly hair was now straight to match with  what he claimed to be America's beauty standards, his eyes while blue didn't shine like they did in their  youth now constantly covered in whatever sunglasses were quote  ‘in at the moment.’

How could his face be staring straight at her? She began looking over  his form and noticing the slight differences. The freckles that painted his round checks like the stars in the night sky and the fear in his eyes. Apollo never looked at her with true fear, maybe a look of wariness when he realized she was angry but never true fear. It looked wrong on his face. It tarnished the face she had kept so close with her. She noticed, In her shock, that her bow was still drawn and with a painful twist in my heart she realized she was the one he was scared of. quickly, she dropped her bow and got on her knees to be eye to eye with the boy.

The boy who couldn't have been her brother yet had his face couldn't be any older than 5 years old. She began to search his essence to figure out who he was. She discovered her brother's essence mixed with another, a mortal. He was a demigod that wasn't too special. Her brother had many lovers over the years, plenty of which sired children but, if they ever took after him they looked like the form he had taken when he met their mortal parent never did the kids look like his first form. She used to be happy about this. It was something special between her brother, mother, and she. It was something that Olympus and the fates could never take, yet this child was wearing a face he didn't deserve. She felt rage at the fates to steal such a precious memory from her,but at the same time she wished for nothing more than to take him away and cherish him with her mother watching his face grow up into what Apollo could have been. The life Apollo had taken from him. To be the big sister she failed to be. This child had so much potential yet the other gods would look at him and see nothing special, only another pawn for their game. This face would change. She wasn't her brother so she couldn't see to what extent. Would he have scars running across his face ruining his freckles? Maybe, his eyes will lose their brightness like his father or, Perhaps, he would have a frown permanently etched into his skin traumatized by the Horrors of this world.

She was drawn out of her thoughts at the sounds of whimpering. How long had she been staring at him? She tried smiling at him but she could still tell he was scared of her. It occurred to her  he must have been lost after all the forests were no place for a five year old boy so she asked him.

“Hello little one, what are you doing out here?” He looked at her with a calculating look, the same one her brother would have when trying to determine whether or not our. Half-brother ,Hermes, was being truthful to him or playing another trick. It's a look he will give often in the future when his life's on the line a voice whispers in the back of her head but she shakes it away. After a pregnant pause of silence filled only with the ambient noise of the forest he mumbles his response.

“I was at my mama's concert but then I saw a deer. I tried following it but I got lost.” His voice was sweet  like a bird's morning call or a crickets nightly tune yet it only cemented how he wasn't her brother. The boy's voice was  that of  a soft melody while her brother even as a child was one full of power, a ballad that could move mountains,a lullaby that could bring long dead constellations to tears. She thought it ironic that her own animal brought him to her. Perhaps the deer knew and wanted to lead him to her. But at the mention of his mother she knew she must have been looking for him. Apollo always fell for the  most kind hearted of mortals. It reminded her of her own mother ,Leto, how she would stay up at night worrying for her brother after he left or how she would worry when he was turned mortal. Despite her desire to give this boy the life the fates stole from her brother she could bear the idea of having a woman feel the anguish her mother felt.

She smiled at him and said, ”tell me about her.”  she began walking to the edge of the forest hoping he knew to follow. He did and he began to animatedly tell her about his mother.  He rambled on about her caring hand and calming voice how she always knew how to fix a problem like a good mother would. His voice held a tone of admiration as if she was his divine parent rather than her brother. A tone both her and her brother used often when speaking of their mother as if she were queen of the gods and not Hera. The others will return him to her in a shroud the voice snarled in her head. She pushed it down though as she realized they were nearing the edge of the forest.  Their time while short had to come to an end as he was a Demigod boy and she was the goddess of the hunt, not a nephew and an Aunt. They will likely never see eachother again much like the sun and moon in different worlds only meeting once in an eclipse every few millennia. She turned to him and smiled.

“It looks like our time together is coming to an end. I do not know if we will cross paths again little to one but know if you are lost look to the sun and the moon to guide you and you will be safe.” he looked confused at first but then he nodded with a look of understanding you wouldn't expect from a child perhaps he held her brothers gifts of prophecy and knowledge unlike her or perhaps he was simply a trusting child  who had yet to see the horrors their world will bring to him. They began walking again. After a while she heard the voice of a woman calling for a Will; it must have been the boy's name. No, not the boy, her nephew, Will. As soon as he heard the woman's voice he smiled and broke out into a run. She  laughed. At his enthusiasm she followed him and watched as he leaped into his mothers arms. She had tears in her eyes and began telling him to never scare her like that again. The mother  looked at  the goddess and met her eyes. In the mother's eyes was a look of recognition. She knew who she was either she was a clear sighted mortal or her brother had told her who he was. it didn't matter to her. She looked down at her nephew. While she did not know what the fates had in store for him she could keep this moment with her and remember the look of joy or both her brother and her nephews face.  She decided that whatever the fates had planned for him had earned him her brother's  face. She met his mother's eyes once again, smiled and ran back into the forest to her hunters.

~

Years from now the boy will be lost again he will finally discover what the fates had in store for him when gifting him his face but there will be no sun or moon to guide him like the woman once promised for not even the gods would dare go into the pit.

[astrronomemes]

PERCY JACKSON AND THE LAST OLYMPIAN: STARTERS

a collection of quotes, phrases, and sayings from the 2009 Rick Riordan novel, Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian. change & alter as needed.

"He's trying to be nice to me, which is almost worse."

"So, hypothetically, if these two people liked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?"

"So I guess you guys have to go save the world now."

"You can't count on friends. They will always let you down."

"They don't show you stuff like that in The Little Mermaid."

"He's a pretty nice guy, but you should always keep one hand on your wallet when he's around, and do not, under any circumstances, give him access to shaving cream unless you want to find your sleeping bag full of it."

"If I die, I die. I can't worry about that, right?"

"Are you still having bad dreams? Headaches?"

"I should never have told you about that."

"You run away from things when you're scared."

"You could honor [name]'s memory by fighting with us."

"You can't prevent a prophecy."

"[Name], at least be safe. Promise me you'll be safe."

"If you ever need a warm place to sit and a home-cooked meal, you are welcome to visit."

"You are a good hero, [full name]. Not too proud. I like that. But you have much to learn."

"They don't serve very good enchiladas in the wilderness."

"As I recall, in the old times we almost died a lot."

"Excuse me, but if you're going to kill me, could you just get on with it?"

"With great power comes great need to take a nap. Wake me up later."

"You'll do well, [name]. Just remember your strengths, and beware your weaknesses."

"My family hates me. They don't want me. I ran away."

"I tell you what, [name] — you're pretty fierce. We could use a fighter like you."

"Knives are only for the bravest and quickest fighters. They don't have the reach or power of a sword, but they're easy to conceal and they can find weak spots in your enemy's armor. It takes a clever warrior to use a knife. I have a feeling you're pretty clever."

"You're part of our family now. And I promise I won't let anything hurt you."

"Can we go back to the battle now? I want to do laser mode again. That was fun."

"You should've saved him when you had the chance. You're the only one who could have."

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?!"

"[Name], this is serious! You are not going to loot a candy store in the middle of a war!"

"Just be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you. ...I mean, because we need you for the battle."

"Are you trying to get yourself killed, kid? Or are you just extra stupid?"

"Don't I get a kiss for luck? It's kind of a tradition, right?"

"Didn't I kill you already?"

"You're cute when you're worried. Your eyebrows get all scrunched together."

"You are not going to die while I owe you a favor."

"You would have done the same for me."

"And just what do you think you're doing?"

"We'll have to work on your bunny phobia later."

"Oh, demons aren't so bad. You just have to keep them well-fed."

"Your courage does you credit, [full name]."

"The children of the gods must find their own way."

"So it was for my own good? Growing up on the streets, fending for myself, fighting monsters?"

"If I know anything, I know that you must walk your own path, even though it tears my heart."

"I'll bonk him on the head harder next time."

"I don't want him to hurt you anymore."

"And you'll understand if I keep hoping there's a chance you're wrong."

"I didn't know you could fly a helicopter."

"Everybody keeps telling me to sleep. I don't need sleep."

"You know what would help this boy? Farming. Six months behind a plow. Excellent character-building."

"On second thought, I'll be inside."

"That's what I do. I help my friends."

"He promised I was saving lives. Fewer people would get hurt."

"Well... sure good to be together again. Arguing. Almost dying. Abject terror."

"You and me, that wasn't part of it. Our fates aren't intertwined. I think you've always known that, deep down."

"Is it too late to join the party?"

"Do you love death so much you wish to experience it?"

"I hope that was a monster I just killed."

"I survive all those battles, and I get defeated by a stupid chunk of rock?!"

"You were like a brother to me, [name]. But I didn't love you."

"I hope... I hope you know I'm really proud to  be your friend."

"No hero is above fear, [name]. And you have risen above every hero."

"Nobody's planning to kill us so far."

"Make us a city for the ages."

"It's just... I've got a lot of life left to live. I'd hate to peak in my sophomore year."

"[Full name], I have had my doubts about you, but perhaps... perhaps I was mistaken."

"[Full name], you might just teach us a thing or two."

[blade-liger-4ever]

Just saw this last night, and HOO-BOY, I LOVED IT!

So, I won't really get into the plot, at least for now, because I just gotta get the cast talked about first.

The casting of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is perfect! Pierce Brosnen nailed Chiron, and I get the feeling he would have stolen more scenes if he'd had more screentime (the moment he said "Are you kidding? This is the best part", he became one of my favorite background characters.) The kid doing Percy made me really like the character; I never read the books until recently, and even then I skipped straight to the second arc where the Romans are involved, but even with this current book where Percy is a POV character, I did and do not care for him as much as Movie Percy. Kid was great, ten outta ten acting.

Annabeth struck me as far more interesting in the movie than the books. Heck, even before I read from her viewpoint she didn't interest me at all; in the movie, she's rather arrogant and snobbish, but it works in the character's favor and makes her far more compelling. The actress did great, and props to her for endearing Annabeth to me: that was a feat.

Grover was THE BEST of the trio, I will not take criticism. He protected Percy, took everything in stride, and figured out what they were dealing with on the fly easily - all without being Mr. Perfect and still being humorous (e.g. when they leave Medusa's severed and sunglasses-laden head in the hotel sink, Grover responds, "Guys, really? I cannot pee with her staring at me." Top notch comedy, I need more films with this actor.)

Sean Bean was good as Zeus. I don't have much to say about his part, honestly; he wasn't there much, but 1 he made Zeus tolerable, and 2 he had the most presence out of all the actors, with Kevin McKidd being a close, and I mean close, runner up.

Speaking of, Kevin McKidd, AKA Fenn Rau from Star Wars Rebels (and the big draw of this film for me), was. Absolutely. AWESOME.

And he only really had ten minutes in the film!

Seriously though, he played Poseidon so well. You could tell he was thousands of years old, still in his prime, and resisting every instinct to run over, hug Percy, and never let him go when they were within a hundred feet of each other. Even when all you could get from him in the movie was his voice, the care and urgency for his son's safety carried through beautifully.

The other actors - Hades, Persephone, the mortal actors in the background - they were all equally great. They made the characters likable, despicable, or somewhere in between. Bravo, people!

And then there's the second draw of this film for me: Jake Abel as Luke, son of Hermes, and the true lightning thief.

If there was ever anything that showed how much wasted potential the writers of Supernatural had when consistently throwing Jake Abel out the window after having him appear like six times in the show, this film was it.

He made Luke funny, likable, and mischievous, garnering the love of the audience, and then broke the hearts of those who liked him when he turned around and revealed he was an angry, hurt young man who wanted to overthrow the Olympians and take over in their stead in order to "right" their wrongs of being neglectful jerks (the only one who wasn't actually completely neglectful on purpose was Poseidon. My guy was trying his hardest to stay in touch with Percy and did everything he could to help him out.)

Jake Abel, I'm sincerely sorry you never got the next four films that should have come after Sea of Monsters, and even more sorry that you got so dissed in Supernatural. Consider this post of mine a letter of apology.

Okay, plot discussion time - well, at least the gushing of how it was handled.

So, setting up the whole war between the Olympians actually doesn't strike me as horribly handled. Yes yes, there's more "concrete" reasons for it in the book, but for the public who have never heard of these books, it's not all that farfetched. I mean, public opinion of Hades is always bad (I'm sorry Hades, you really don't deserve that rep), Poseidon doesn't particularly care for drama, and his mood tends to switch on a dime, and Zeus? Please, we all know how much of a jerk-butt he is. Be honest: Is it really all that hard to believe Zeus declaring war if his master bolt isn't returned in two weeks? And as for him jumping to the conclusion of Poseidon's son stealing it - just look at the opening scene of the film. The way Poseidon got physical that fast, and moments before was practically spitting venom at Zeus for banning him from seeing his son, it's no wonder Zeus thought Poseidon would've done something to make Percy steal it from him.

Now before you come at me, let me put it this way.

Think of yourself in Zeus' mindset. You're a capricious jerk, who won't take the blame, don't care for your offspring at all, and are constantly at odds with your brothers over power/territory struggles. Using your kid is gonna be as natural as breathing to you, so why wouldn't you assume your brothers would do the same? Hmm?

Now, the family and school drama was done excellently as well, especially that moment where one of the kids at the school grabs another and slams him against a locker while Percy and Grover make tracks. Gabe was perfectly detestable, and it was immensely satisfying to see Grover wallop his butt. The race to Camp Half-Blood was done well, although the Chevelle didn't deserve that fate (I will, however, accept the obvious fact that it only got dinged up and lost the hood. A modern day car would have exploded on impact with the ground and sent shrapnel everywhere.)

The scenes with the camp were good, especially how it was quickly yet subtly established that everyone there had lived there for some years and were already pros at combat and other physical activities. Hades' entrance was great, the progression across the country was well-paced, and Luke's help throughout was done neatly and in a manner where the audience only got a glimmer of resentment from him before the bolt was found in the shield.

Speaking of, the scene in the Underworld is severely underappreciated. The effects were grand, the acting well-done, and the positioning of the Underworld in Hollywood is genius on many levels.

The fight scene in Manhatten was good, though I confess Luke's aerial combat was a bit spotty at the beginning. Otherwise it was great, and the first show of Percy's powers was magnificent. No joke, that CGI and other effects are gonna hold up for another thousand years.

Olympus was beautiful, quite honestly, and I love 1 the sheer difference in scale they showed between the humans and the Olympians, and 2 how Poseidon "sheds" water to shrink and appear more normal. More effects that are spectacular and underrated.

The last scene - the return to camp and training - not much to say, other than that it felt really organic, natural, and beautiful. All in all, a great film that's unfairly hated on.

Okay, now for some personal gushing on my part.

So, I'm sure you guessed by now that I was here for Kevin McKidd, mostly because I knew him first in Star Wars Rebels. This is my first time watching him onscreen, but it was amazing and captivating on his part. Not only did he make me believe that he was the Greek god of the seas, but he made me feel Poseidon's pain of not being with Percy and his desire to connect with him, and he certainly made me believe that Poseidon would do anything in his power to help Percy, no matter what loophole abuse he had to commit lest raising Zeus' ire.

As for the dynamic itself, I'm so so happy.

I love how Poseidon risked so much to physically be at the museum while Percy was across the street from him, just to make sure that he could both warn Percy completely and see him in case something went wrong. And although it's a sore spot for the fans, I love how Chiron shows Percy his own little home at Camp Half-Blood, and outright states that Poseidon built it for him. Just Percy, no one else; that's like a father making a specific room for his son, and the fact that they allowed Poseidon to be shown to love Percy more than anything through little things like that is enough to make me burst in happiness.

I loved how Poseidon guided Percy to the water to heal him and give him a second wind in Capture the Flag, and that he woke up Percy and refused to let him be lulled back into the Lotus Eaters' trap until he was sure Percy was back to his senses and able to get out on his own. And when Percy's in the hall of Olympus, Poseidon is practically begging Zeus, his younger brother, to let him speak with Percy, because he knows a chance like this won't arise again for a while. And the sheer relief in his face when Zeus allows it, man, I could've died at that.

The talk between father and son, it was beautiful. It makes sense that Percy has some remaining resentment toward Poseidon for leaving, for not kicking out his stepfather, and the fact that Poseidon doesn't even hold it against him is wonderful. The moment he explains why he couldn't see Percy, and the second Percy realizes the law forbidding the Olympians from seeing their children had been passed because Poseidon loved him so much he was abandoning his duties is golden. And Poseidon telling him that he was always watching Percy and helping him as best he could, and how he promised to always be there for Percy, even in his thoughts and dreams - beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

And the icing on the cake? You remember that I mentioned a training round at camp at the end? It's between Percy and Annabeth, and they're on a hill, but guess what can be seen below the hill?

The lake.

Where Poseidon can watch his son training, and has an easier time of making contact with him.

This movie is a masterpiece, and if you're not a fan of the books and have never seen it before, please, go give Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief a watch! You won't regret it!

[chireikiden]

Do you think there's any reason for Hecatia being one of the strongest characters in the series? Someone from a religion that isn't believed in anymore being powerful, doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the series. If someone from a dead religion showed up in Touhou, the first question should be how they're even still alive.

I'm sure you could reverse-engineer some headcanon excuses, but my personal guess is that rather than any particular in-universe justification, once ZUN decided that he wanted to have a powerful, "independent" Hell goddess (outside the Ministry's hierarchy), it wasn't a long leap - if a leap at all - to "Okay, so let's make her more powerful than the Ministry".

I mean, I don't know what led him to go for specifically Hecate/Hecatia in the first place, so we don't really have any first principles to start from.

She didn't have to be especially powerful just to be an independent Hell goddess; could've just been someone from the middle or bottom of the pecking order. But the story of LoLK is about her and Junko clowning on the Moon, so the tone is pretty different depending on whether she's super powerful or some scrappy underdog (and DDC had just come out). I'm sure that like any other writer, a lot of the time ZUN just does things because the end result is what he wants, rather than every step following naturally from the previous one. Or hecc, maybe the only Greek goddess in the series just had some exotic prestige in his eyes that Japanese gods don't, I don't know.

If you really get into some weird... comparative mythology, you could make a decent argument for Hecate the pre-Olympian titan-killer (cherrypicking the best of all versions, as one does) to be more powerful than most of the gods we see in Touhou, but cross-mythological power level debates are probably even less fruitful than Touhou ones. The very question of characters that in human belief predate humanity and how they might come into being "retroactively", and what that actually means for their backstories or power levels, is a whole swamp I'm not gonna wade into. (This may include some Lunarians, but it's hard to say which - humans just kinda appear unannounced in Japanese mythology. In the Kojiki, they already seem to exist by the time of Izanami's death.)

Somehow the matter of fading faith and belief has never come up in relation to any characters outside Earth and Gensokyo, that I can remember. I can easily imagine that the afterlife itself and maybe the oni there still have enough belief in the present day for it to not be a problem, or that ZUN as the writer simply has other things to talk about whenever those characters appear. But whether the otherworlders are actually protected somehow or ZUN just doesn't bring it up, faith or lack thereof has never seemed relevant there on a meta level.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Season One of Percy Jackson and the Olympians is FINE

All and all, I'd say it's a fine adaptation of the first book.

The spirit is very much in place. The story's sense of humor and light drama is present and well balanced through the show. One moment you have a gripping discussion of Sally explaining she fell in love with a god, and it's followed by Percy asking if she found Jesus. It's a funny line that doesn't undercut the drama because that's exactly what a kid like Percy would ask. Even some bits that WEREN'T in the book that very well could have been, like Mr. D lying to Percy about being his father for some cheap booze or the gosh dang Consensus Song. Moments like that show me that the people behind this show are HUGE FANS of the books and wanted to make something that's faithful but still provides something new to enjoy.

And there are SOME changes to the story, a lot of them I don't really mind. I like that they made Sally more sassy and Grover more proactive. I like that Medusa's made more as a tragic villain instead of a monstrous one. I REALLY like that we got to see Poseidon early. That last one takes the punch out of the dramatic weight of seeing him in Book Four, but seeing him now really helps cement the idea that this version DOES love Percy and Sally, something that I didn't really get in the books. Which might have been the intention, but the show is trying to be something different, and I respect it for it.

When it comes to the action, it's pretty good. Stuff like the Minotaur fight and the battle with Ares wasn't as long or epic as it was mapped out in my head, but I can understand it. These are big fights involving little kids and CGI is expensive (Even though you wouldn't have this problem if the show was ANIMATED, but I digress). Despite the limitations, the show did will and provided some kickass moments.

As for the actors, frickin' round of applause across the board. Nearly everyone they got does GREAT in their role, fitting the changes the show is going for and the spirit of the book everything is based on. Some particular standouts for me are Adam Copeland as the perfect D-Bag that is Ares and Walter Scobell who IS Percy Jackson. It's the kid especially that impressed me the most, as he nails the sarcastic, angry, endearing, idiotic, and loyal to a fault hero that makes Percy the best. If there's any actor who I think is struggling it's probably Leah Jeffries as Annabeth, who seems a bit too standoffish and closed off, as if she's holding back a lot of personality that the character has. However, to be fair...

A. Annabeth was more or less the same in the first book, so I'll allow it. Just as long as she has more of a wit to match Percy's. It's what made Percabeth amazing.

B. This is a child actor we're talking about. Even Walter, who is PITCH PERFECT casting, manages to have some awkwardness and stiffness to his performance at times too. I'm sure that as more time goes on, these kids will get better and better each season.

And, yeah, I'd say that this is enough to make Percy Jackson and the Olympians a FINE TV show...But there's some things that hold it back from being good or even GREAT.

Firstly, there's the pacing. The pacing in this show is off a lot of the time, and this is mainly a problem with most straight to streaming shows nowadays. We can have long, extensive TV shows anymore as networks and services are demanding shorter and shorter seasons, to the point where its less of a season of television and more of a long movie. It's no different here as we're forced to fly by past plot point after plot point, all while trying to be more episodic AND while setting up future stuff. It makes you appreciate the moments when the show DOES slow down and let moments settle, but there's not enough of that.

Then there's the way moments are told out of order or are condensed. Like how Percy and Annabeth have their heart-to-heart on the train instead of on the animal truck. Or how Annabeth starts calling Percy Seaweed Brain when the journey's almost over instead of doing it right away. Or how Luke sparred with Percy near the END of the season, not the beginning. I'm not exactly an accuracy purist. I find changes are fine as long as the spirit is in tact, which it very much is. And if I wanted the story told exactly as it was, I would have just read the book. But changes like that make me feel like they're missing the point. Like, that zoo truck wasn't great, but it will be a happy memory between Percy and Annabeth as a time when they REALLY talked. Annabeth calling Percy Seaweed Brain was a straight up insult that Percy hated but grew to accept as something only SHE can call him as it later turns into a sort of petname for him. And interrupting Percy's battle with Ares with Percy sparring with Luke spoonfeeds us information, when showing them do that in the beginning would have benefited in making that scene act as a set up with a pay off. Besides, we spend so little time with Luke anyway that when we get to that BIG REVEAL, it's not as impactful because he was barely a character. Again, I don't mind changes, but if you're going to do them, make sure the story doesn't suffer.

But while we're on the topic of changes, let's talk about the ones that REALLY bother me.

I don't like that some other gods are introduced too early. It takes the impact out of Ares and Hades being big, intimidating figures when there are other gods that the characters can just chat and reason with.

I don't like that Annabeth's fear of spiders is just glossed over. Not only does it SHOW US (instead of telling us) that a strong-willed character like Annabeth can be emotionally shaken by something as small as a spider, but leads to a sense of tragedy of her past and her being a child of Athena. To gloss over it is a huge disservice to Annabeth as a character and it doesn't feel right.

And I REALLY don't like that the movie did the Lotus Casino better than the show. Because if the movie that the author loves to shit on managed to be more faithful than the SHOW...it messed up.

So...the show is a mess at times. I still enjoyed it and I hope we get a season two. But if this series wants to get past The Sea of Monsters, it'll need to focus on what makes it GREAT instead of using more of what holds it back as just FINE.

[fearlessinger]

How does Athena foil Apollo?

oh in so many ways… Love that you picked her. (Granted Athena herself, like all the gods who aren't Apollo, has had a relatively low amount of screentime in the rrverse so far, but I believe there's enough to paint a pretty complete picture if you read between the lines, and take into account what other characters - mainly Apollo and her children - say/imply of her. So.)

Athena is Zeus's favorite, I would argue even above Artemis, because she's the only one out of all the gods who never feels the need to resort to going behind his back in the course of the three pentalogies. She's the only member of the Olympian council that we know he actively seeks the advice of.

Apollo on the other hand, is possibly the least favored of Zeus' progeny in the present day. In Apollo’s own words, Zeus “hasn’t trusted [Apollo] for millennia”. By the time we meet him, Apollo has been left by his father barely any room to maneuver even within his own domains, as demonstrated by the fact that he can’t even independently choose to cede the reins of the sun chariot to anyone that Zeus might not approve of. He is the one Zeus immediately points to when he needs a scapegoat. He gets hit with a punishment so harsh it's quite literally a miracle he survived, to the point that we find ourselves wondering, in the end, if he was actually meant to.

But it wasn't always like this. Once upon a time Apollo too enjoyed Zeus' favor. He and Athena both used to be Zeus' main enforcers and right hand people. We still see evidence of this in the kind of relationship they seem to have. 

Athena is the only one of Apollo’s family members whose counsel he explicitly wishes he could ask during his trials, as opposed to his wishing for material help from most of everybody else. She is the only one of the gods to openly speak against Apollo’s punishment, right in front of Zeus too. She words her disapproval carefully enough that she retains plausible deniability, but just barely. And she alone bets on Apollo’s survival in Hermes’ pool. In that last council scene, she and Apollo are able to silently communicate with just a glance. It’s clear that they share some deep camaraderie, an old well established ease with each other that the recent distance between them has not diminished. 

We’re never given the full explanation, but it’s not hard to figure out how their paths must have diverged. It’s not even hard to figure out why. Apollo’s ruled by his heart, while Athena can’t fathom following anything but her brain. As Apollo started more and more chafing under their father's rules, more and more refusing compliance, Athena clearly made the opposite choice. Nowadays they play opposite roles: the beautiful fool and the dutiful lieutenant. Everything about the way Apollo chooses to present himself is a middle finger to his father, whereas Athena is the staunchest of Zeus loyalists. 

And yet it looks like they still have a lot of respect for each other. Which isn’t surprising because they have some significant similarities despite their very different characters. Firstly: they share a similar sense of responsibility. It’s undeniable that Athena takes their job very seriously, and much as it may seem that Apollo has the opposite attitude on the surface, we know, having reached the end of TOA, that that was never the truth. Secondly, they are both extremely intelligent and acutely aware of it. They both expect to be the smartest person in the room at any given time. And they are right except of course for when they are wrong bc their intelligence most definitely does not prevent them from being also incredibly dumb. You may be wondering how can I so confidently make this latter assertion, since we never get a peek into Athena’s head, but I think Annabeth saying that the first lesson Athena’s kids must learn is that “mom is always right and don’t you ever dare suggest otherwise” backs me up here.

On this note, it’s interesting to observe that Athena’s children and Apollo’s children both display a strikingly unusual amount of faith/confidence in their divine parents, compared to… basically all the other demigods. 

Annabeth won’t ever stop singing Athena’s praises/boasting about being her daughter, even as she makes comments like the one I cited above. And Will famously stood in front of the army that was about to raze CHB to the ground in Apollo’s name and called bullshit on the idea that his father would ever approve of such a thing with enough conviction that the matter was considered settled and nobody even for a second thought of doubting Apollo afterwards. 

And yet “dad is always right” is very obviously not an idea that has ever entered the mind of any of Apollo’s children. They show absolutely no reverence, let alone fear, toward their father. Will doesn’t hesitate to legit SCOLD Apollo in front of the whole camp in THO. The loyalty that Apollo’s children have toward their father is nothing like that of the Athena kids toward their mother. In this too it seems like Athena has chosen to stick to the path traced by Zeus, while Apollo has rejected it.

But their divisions aren’t irreconcilable, and that little secret nod she gives Apollo at the end of TON proves it. Remember when I said Athena is the only one out of all the gods who never feels the need to resort to doing stuff behind Zeus’ back? That changes here. For the very first time, we see her take initiative without her father’s knowledge or consent.

[godsofhumanity]

Ok can I ask what Demeter's relationship with the other gods would be?

I saw the other asks and now I must know

hee hee sure ^-^

ZEUS

i think generally, Demeter does not get along with any of her brothers, but i believe that she gets along with Zeus the best.

as the goddess of the harvest, i think she has to work with Zeus a lot (i mean, he's the king, he's like the manager, everyone reports to him, so she has to come face-to-face with him regularly).

in their youth, i think they got along better.

because Demeter and Hera have always been close, i like the idea that Zeus goes to Demeter for advice on how to get Hera's attention because Hera isn't easily charmed by him.

i don't think there ever was a romantic relationship between Zeus and Demeter, i mean, i think what happened with Persephone was just an accidental fling or something idk.

anyways, Zeus, in my head, is such a dad-- i do think he loves all of his children abundantly, and that includes Persephone. however, when Demeter makes it clear that she doesn't want Persephone to be in Olympus, he respects that and lets her go.

but that doesn't mean he stops being a father to her. and i think of course, that sort of sentiment is exactly the reason why he allows and even encourages Hades to pursue Persephone as a wife, because the paternal side of Zeus knows that Hades could care for Persephone and that she'd want for nothing with him, so he's like "yeah ok i'll give you my blessing".

this, naturally, doesn't go well with Demeter, and i do think she perceives that Zeus has overstepped his boundaries by doing this, because while Zeus sees himself as Persephone's father, Demeter doesn't. Demeter is a sole-parent, and she only accepts Zeus' word because he's the King, not because he's Persephone's father.

HERA

read here!

tl;dr = they are besties.

HESTIA

Hestia is the older sister, right, so i think Demeter and Hestia have a good, solid relationship.

i don't think they're as tight as Hera and Demeter, but they have no beef.

i like the idea of Demeter and Hestia inventing food and recipes together, Demeter bringing the ingredients and Hestia bringing the fire.

i actually have a little scene in my Hephaestus x Aphrodite story where Demeter and Hestia invent popcorn together and all the younger Olympians are like "holy shittttttt this is awesome".

i think perhaps where Demeter and Hestia fall out is Hestia's refusal to take sides. i mean, i think she never ever actively takes one sibling's side-- she always says, "well, think about this from their perspective".

now, both Demeter and Hera are pretty headstrong characters so i think that kind of logic doesn't go down well with them, and i think while Demeter would go to Hestia for a rant, when it came to needing an actual heart-to-heart, Demeter would go to Hera first.

POSEIDON

ok. this one's complicated. i haven't really figured out for myself where Demeter and Poseidon stand, but in my hc's they dislike each other. well, Demeter at the very least, cannot stand Poseidon.

Demeter and Poseidon do have a son, the horse Arion, and i like the idea of Demeter loving Arion as she would love any of her children of course, but the exact circumstances that brought about Arion's birth are.. unspoken to me. in my hc's, no one really knows, Demeter doesn't talk about it, Poseidon doesn't talk about it. Zeus and Hera probably know but aren't telling.

so idk. but i know for sure in my mind that they do not get along at all.

HADES

ah. i think they originally would have had a relationship like Demeter and Hestia, but after Persephone, that relationship breaks down entirely.

i do agree with the general consensus that, in his youth, Hades probably wasn't as much of a "playboy" as Poseidon and Zeus, and i think that made him a little more trustworthy in Demeter's eyes, so while she'd never have approved of Hades and Persephone even if her permission had been sought, i do think they were on good terms.

however, after Hades breaks Demeter's trust by "kidnapping" her daughter, i think the relationship is pretty much irreparable.

i do like the idea that after some time, Persephone does find love in Hades, but i don't think Persephone's present happiness is enough to erase Demeter's past heartbreak and pain at losing her daughter, the apple of her eye... nor would she ever forget that the only reason why she still sees even 3x months of Persephone is because she fought tooth and nail for those "visitation rights", and if she hadn't, she'd probably only see Persephone at Olympian meetings.

for Persephone's sake, and especially under Zeus' watch, Demeter remains civil to Hades when they meet. and she doesn't bring up the past. to Hades' credit, i don't think he's the type of character to flaunt his "successful marriage" of Persephone to Demeter, nor does he try to apologise or suck-up to her (because he knows that that would only piss Demeter off more). so yeah, they remain professional.

PERSEPHONE

do i even need to say? Demeter loves Persephone. she's her daughter. she adores her. Demeter loves all of her children.

when Persephone leaves her to go to the Underworld, i think she's really shocked and sad. i mean of course she is, that's what the myths say. and i think originally, she might even feel a tinge of betrayal that Persephone doesn't want to simply stay with her forever and be a harvest goddess like her (in my hc's, after much deliberation, Persephone eats the seeds willingly, im sorry, Hades couldn't be redeemed if he forced her so yeah)... and i do think this is where Hera becomes a really strong pillar of support who encourages Demeter to understand Persephone's perspective, and helps Demeter to accept Persephone's fate.

Persephone, of course, loves her mother to no end. i know some people have the hc that Persephone wanted to get free of Demeter because she was "controlling" -- i disagree, i think that when Persephone went to the Underworld, her eyes were opened to another possible future for herself and she simply chose to pursue something a bit more ambitious- but it had nothing to do with Demeter "suffocating" her or anything like that, she simply wanted to carve her own path.

ATHENA

they don't interact too much.

i do like the idea of Athena weaving blankets and baskets and other things for Demeter, so they're on good terms-- they're more than acquaintances, less than an aunt-and-niece. they're like, two people who live in the same building and say good morning to each other when they pass on the stairwell, and like. that's it.

ARTEMIS

again, as i said in Artemis' hcs, they don't interact too much. they're respectful of each other, but other than that, they don't think too much about each other.

APOLLO

same as Artemis.

HERMES

no one is immune to Hermes.

he's a little fruit fly that comes and goes, and when he's in your house, you can't get rid of him.

as such, Hermes is one of the few Olympians who actually does appear on Demeter's farm fairly regularly because he has to deliver messages and reports and summons.

Hermes has a bit of a childish mischievousness about him, and this makes him quite likeable. he can be a suck-up sometimes, but because he's got that childlike innocence about him (not that he is innocent! he's just good at pretending to be hee hee), although Demeter doesn't care for flattery, it's cute when it comes from Hermes, so she can forgive it.

ARES

i think Demeter does adopt an "aunt"-type role with all of Hera's children.

so with Ares, she definitely sees him as her nephew, and i think Ares would be allowed on her little farm. i could see Demeter taking care of Hera's kids whenever Oceanus and Tethys are too far.

Ares is considered to be brash and violent, but i don't think this bothers Demeter... she thinks in her mind that he's just like Zeus.

HEPHAESTUS

again, same with Ares, he's Demeter's nephew.

i like the idea of Hephaestus making all of Demeter's farming tools.

before Hephaestus was born, i have a hc that Demeter may have made may of her own tools by herself so that she wouldn't have to leave her farm or ask any other god for the favour, but when Hephaestus was growing up and showed an interest in being a blacksmith, Demeter showed Hephaestus some of her own craft and how she could make crude tools... so of course, Hephaestus honours that memory of Demeter by creating more refined, more beautiful, and more sturdy tools for her to use.

DIONYSUS

it's complicated. there are like 3 versions of Dionysus, i swear-- in my timeline, i think the first incarnation of Dionysus is as Demeter's son, and Persephone, being his older sister, may have taken care of him a lot, thus causing her to be recorded as his mother instead in myth... and then somewhere along, he dies, and then he gets born as Semele's son.. IDK. i haven't figured it out.

anyways, either way, Dionysus would have a good relationship with Demeter, just like Hermes.

Dionysus would use Demeter's grain to make drinks, and her grapes to make wine, and they would invent fun new flavours and ways to cultivate the fruit.

APHRODITE

many goddesses appear to get "jealous" of Aphrodite, but i don't think Demeter is one of them. she literally just does not care.

i think Demeter and Aphrodite would have a cordial relationship- i like the idea of Aphrodite and Persephone having a good friendship-rivalry, so if she's cool with Persephone, she's cool with Demeter.

but yeah, other than that, they probably don't interact all that much.

[yyyyanyan]

Book Club: The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan

part 2 of my Camp Halfblood Chronicles binge!

It had suchhh a strong start with The Lost Hero. I love all three of them to bits (especially Jason but also ALL of them are my babies I'm holding them in my palms). The Roman/Greek split blew my mind when I first read this book years ago and honestly I'm still kind of processing it LOL. I'm obsessed with how Piper works on her charmspeak and getting comfortable in her own skin and Leo and his relationship with his fire powers??? god amazing!! And Jason I always felt like was such a strong stern type and I'm just attached to him. I think specifically he came off super perfect at first (especially with how Piper had her crush on him) and it was so pleasant to see him failing.

I like The Son of Neptune slightly less but not for any specific reason I can pinpoint--I think I just really vibed with the Jason-Piper-Leo trio. I did think it was absolutely sick that we got to see Percy is utterly insanely powerful and Hazel's backstory had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I also have a soft spot for Frank since he's Chinese-Canadian (one nitpick: what is his Chinese name Fai supposed to be?).

Unfortunately, I really lost my drive by the third and fourth books ToT I think there was just too many POVs and every time I was getting in the swing of things it was time for a new character in a new situation. And I'm sorry but Tartarus was such a drag for me!! I feel like I didn't get enough of a sense of just how miserable and horrible it was and honestly I just felt sad for Bob/Iaepetus all the time. The one positive of the variety of perspectives was, again, seeing Percy being a madlad from outsider POV <3

Anyways once once I finished Book 4 and went to the last book (Blood of Olympus) it went way faster--I was so excited about reading from Reyna's and Nico's perspectives! Reyna and Nico are sooo good together they're my #1 brotp (maybe). Honestly though once I got to this point I was kind of like, "seven halfbloods" answering the call feels so arbitrary to me? Both Reyna and Nico play such critical roles--especially Nico--that I feel kind of robbed that they're not officially listed as people in the prophecy. This is also the place where I say: ngl I think Annabeth being one of the seven was totally lame LOL (I like Annabeth though!) I feel like she had more of a supporting role and her Athena prophecy could have been a quest that was helping this big one (also 'cause it wasn't listed in this one). However this is definitely also my Nico bias talking because Nico is definitely one of my top blorbos in PJO

Anyways it's been like maybe two or three weeks since I finished the whole series and I have to say the ending was really underwhelming to me. I'm literally not even sure I could tell you what happened in Blood of Olympus in detail. I was so sure it was going to be even more epic and even grander and it kind of totally missed the mark? I remember being so moved and feeling the battles in The Last Olympian so vividly and this one felt so weak. I also thought that Gaea would be like... more prominent I guess? I literally think Tartarus ended up being more scary and he featured so much less. The final defeat was so underwhelming lmao :'D

Kind of related to the above is: I also felt more and more as the series went on that Leo really was a seventh wheel, in the sense that he just didn't seem as close to everyone else. I wish his relationship with Frank had been less prickly especially after the main point of their antagonism was resolved (like why did Leo ALWAYS have to make Frank the butt of the joke?), and I also wish the weird almost-Hazel/Leo thing just didn't happen? I feel like at that point she already liked Frank and neither she nor he really got invested in the sort-of-romance and I feel like if they had just settled into just being friends after the whole revelation thing then it would have made sense. It was exciting that Leo was the key to winning the battle, but I felt like it lacked emotional impact because he felt so separate from them all. Calypso and Leo ARE the cutest though and I was/am rooting so hard for them

The last thing is, I feel like there were a lot of like... plot points that didn't go anywhere? I can't tell if they were put in so they would get resolved in the third series but I'm kind of disappointed that they weren't dealt with in this series. So the ones that I picked up/am really interested in are:

Percy getting more violent/merciless and being scared of it

Jason's sort of... struggle between Roman and Greek? Specifically I feel like in the first book he was so Roman and then suddenly it became that he had a conflict(??) and felt more Greek. I guess with this one it's less that it was unresolved but more it came out of nowhere for me and I kind of wish it had been laid out more from the beginning. I will continue my salt in my ramblings of the sequel series btw

Hazel coming back from the dead?? Did Nico just see her and go "I'm taking her" and that was it lol or was there something else...?