#poseidon(derogatory)

[punkeropercyjackson]

I cannot fucking get over how the Pjo fandom depunkified(for lack of a better term)Percy.Keyword being 'how'-Because in canon,Percy is an actual punk.He grew up poor,getting bullied for being neurodivergent and with an abusive stepdad due to his birth dad abandoning him so that lead to him developing an attitude as a coping mechanism and hating rich people and other privilged groups because he knows from experience how awful they are most of the time but another thing it did to him was making him incredibly kind to minorities especially and a Team Parent to the ones younger than him(those being Nico and Hazel in his case).And i know for a fact that if Rick didn't hate Perachel almost as much as the fandom does,he would've written him as also going to protests and doing charity work with Rachel

But the fandom dosen't ONLY pretend that none of those are traits of his but also says he's punk for headcanons that are either not canon or straight up contradicted by it.He dosen't want to be a god and finds the thought actively distressing because he's scared of his powers and hates authority.The only reasons he treated Nico badly in Hoo and wasn't the Team Mom of the Seven instead of Hazel was that Rick retconned how much he loved him as a brother in the og series because he wanted to torment his first gay character and to adultify his first darkskin black fem mc.He's not a stereotypical guy,he thinks hypermasculinity is gross and weird(see his descriptions of and interactions with Ares)and has a deep respect for all the different women in the franchise,which includes gnc ones.He dosen't dress grunge,he barely got outfit descriptions in the books and when he did,they were just normal clothes.And he's not even a skater boy,him skating was mentioned exactly once in the entire saga and it was in Sea of Monsters,when he was 13 and that book came out over ten years ago,and Piper saying he looks like one dosen't count for jackshit because she also thought she was straight at the time and it showed in her ideas of gender as shown by the Jasiper vs Jeyna fiasco

How'd y'all take a canon punk protagonist and throw away the traits that make them punk to go 'No,actually,they're punk because of these things i THINK are what punk is because i've never read up on it's history and headcanon them to have!!!'.It's making me go fucking insane,my Percy stan ass who's been exactly like him since i was a kid should ask y'all for reperatitions over this(Also:When i say fake punk traits,i'm including being a Harry Potter/Marauder's Era fan and a Switfie,that's like the basics of Poser Punk)

@desi-pluto @jelmet @jellyjays @leo-thecactus @moonage-gaydream @insomniac-jay @julieemarine @floof-ghostie @honeypotsworld @cottoncandyteeth @biandbored @mik3stuff

[zambomarti]

If you write a derogatory tag under my posally posts I block you😊

(I didn't understand why you reblog them if you don't like it)

[sayoneee]

☆ AND I KNOW IT’S OVER (STILL I CLING)

percy jackson, who never seems to know when to quit, keeps coming back. (2.9k)

contains: percy jackson x daughter of minor god! reader. post tlo (alt universe - everyone lives). book percy descriptions. apollo (derogatory).

kashaf’s note: book percy descriptions bc that was my first love. (sry if i get some of the words wrong, english isnt my first language pls be patient!!)

SUMMER BURNS. at camp half-blood, the scorching heat has dwindled to soft caresses, from the heat of the fire during sing-alongs where your cabin joins hands and toasts marshmallows to the cool breeze balming the sun’s glare at its zenith in the sprawling strawberry fields. at home, the scorching heat leaves marks — the biker with flames for pupils who clutched an openly bleeding wound as he thrust a first-aid kit at you, and the girl not much older than yourself with tears marring her face as she handed you a pregnancy test to ring up, avoiding your curious (sympathetic) gaze.

however, despite it all — you stand infallible, much like your grandfather’s part convenience store and part pharmacy, a poor man’s family heirloom.

you stand idly, flipping through an edition of seventeen when the rusty door swings open to admit a familiar face — with unruly black hair and an equally reckless grin (you know exactly who it is from the ba-dum of your heartbeat), the infamous son of poseidon (with the same smile as shawn hunter from boy meets world) is easily recognizable.

you glance at the crimson blooming around the crevices of his knuckles, tightly gripping a faded and worn-out skateboard, his scruffy converse squeaking across the tiled floor, raising an eyebrow as you coolly say, “band-aids are in the back, on the right.”

jackson laughs, an all-consuming sound (the wind-blown half-blood hill where apollo seemed to smile down at you, the laughter, like the memory, evanescent), “thanks, doc.”

you discreetly watch him perusing the aisles, before stopping in front of the ancient fridge — your grandfather’s store was something of an 80s pompeii with the peeling posters of back to the future and motley crue and the antiquated maroon and cream color scheme — and pulling out an arizona green tea.

when he finally goes to look for band-aids, you attempt to fix your attention back on the magazine in your hands, but like a moth driven to a flame, percy jackson was unbelievably hard to look away from (a magnet among mortals and immortals alike). 

jackson’s hands are on his hips, his tupac t-shirt creasing, thick brows furrowed as he decides between different types of candy with the same intensity as a single mother with two children and a nine-to-five (even in the mortal world, there is something else entirely about him, something that made it so that you could never truly write him off).

when he approaches the register again, it’s hard not to look up and watch his ascent. when he finally does come to a stop in front of you, he looks the same as he did the last summer, though the tiny silver trident earring is new, the camp beads resting peacefully atop his collarbones aren’t.

you ring up his items: a box of band-aids, the arizona green tea, and a pack of blue gummy sharks, looking away from him all the while.

“good to see ya, doc,” jackson says, a wry grin on his face, and his eyes are so green — as green as they were at twelve.

“it’s never good to see you, jackson,” you snark back, reciting his total, “four ninety-five, by the way.”

he laughs again (your heart goes ba-dum again), and hands you a five dollar bill, shoving his things into the seemingly bottomless pockets of his baggy jeans, with a salute on his way out (his turning back was a sight far more innocuous than the last time).

the next time jackson breaks whatever tacit agreement lies between the two of you, your hands are similarly stained. reds and purples line your palms, much like the burgundy seemingly permanently staining your grandmother’s fingertips; the culprit (the bowl of pomegranate seeds) sits innocently beside you. 

“back again?” you say, glancing at the familiar scarlet stains adorning jackson’s hands (a familiar blue friendship bracelet sits on his wrist, edges frayed with five years of wear, and there’s a lump in your throat). 

“why, did you miss me?” jackson asks, again with that wry grin of his, skateboard in hand. 

“you’re the one who came back,” you say, crossing your arms across your chest, willing the constricting feeling to disappear.

“doc, i’m sorry to have to be the one that has to break this to you,” he sighs sympathetically, putting a bleeding hand over his heart, “but the sun doesn’t revolve around you.”

“actually, jackson, the sun kind of does revolve around me, ‘cause y’know apollo, the sun god apollo? my grandpa apollo? my grandpa, the sun god, apollo?” 

“going by your logic, that would mean time revolves around me, ‘cause y’know kronos, the time titan kronos? my grandpa kronos? my grandpa, the time titan, kronos?” jackson says, a shit-eating grin on his face as he sets down another band-aid box, an arizona green tea, and a pack of blue gummy sharks on the counter.

“y’know, if you cared this much, you might’ve passed greek,” you say, referring to the progress report cards you were handed at the end of summer.

he shrugged, handing you another five dollar bill, and proceeding to shove everything into his black holes of jean pockets, “yeah, well — wait, are those pomegranates?”

“yeah,” you say, “i peeled them myself — do you want some?” 

(your father liked these, your grandmother had said earlier this afternoon, your mother liked to peel them for him, as i peeled them for her, and your grandfather.)

jackson suddenly looked bashful, fidgeting with the hem of his a tribe called quest t-shirt, “i’ve never had pomegranates before,” he confessed.

you blinked, taken aback, “you’re seventeen years old and you’ve never eaten a pomegranate before?” you pushed the china bowl toward him, “now you have to eat it.”

“my mom liked telling me the myths when i was younger,” he begins, setting down his skateboard, and reaching for the spoon before halting, like he was shocked, “she told me about persephone —”

“jackson,” you say, sardonically, leaning over the register to look him in the eye (there was always a storm brewing in his eyes), “i promise you, hades won’t come out of the ground and drag you to the underworld if you eat the pomegranate seeds i peeled.”

“i know what my next sleep paralysis demon is gonna be — thanks to you,” jackson says, looking down at the bowl and its floral blue pattern around the edges, playing with the spoon, and shifting the seeds from side to side.

“percy jackson, i swear to asclepius, you’re missing out on pomegranates,” you say, coming out from behind the register, and looking percy in the eye again, and there is something so earnest, so raw about your next sentence that his breath catches, “and, i swear on the styx, if hades does somehow come out of the ground to drag you down to the underworld, i’ll come down myself to drag you out, even if it’s tartarus.”

a rumble of thunder can be heard overhead despite the clear sky and scalding sun; percy blinks, before breaking out into a slow grin (your stomach seems to grow wings of its own, on the verge of flight.)

“invoking your dad, huh, doc? these pomegranates must be serious,” percy says, finally taking a bite — stepping around the bomb you just dropped.

you watch him intently, studying him as you studied tennyson and homer, “they are that serious.” there is something innocent about the way he eats, starved like every other teenage boy with black holes for stomachs. 

“y’know, i can put that into a tupperware container and you can take it with you, right?” you offer. 

“really?” percy asks through a mouthful of seeds, looking up from the bowl at you, “won’t you think i’ll steal it or something?”

“not really,” you shrugged, “i trust ms. jackson.”

percy nods solemnly — sally jackson is sally jackson after all, a queen among women, and an achilles of sorts, with her soft smile and steely eyes. 

steeling your nerves, this is already the longest conversation you’ve had (ignoring the forever-ago late-night debriefs under a firmament of stars), you step up to the plate and take a swing, “how is she, by the way, haven’t seen her in a while.”

percy swallowed, eyebrows furrowing, “great — oh, wait, did i tell you she was seeing someone new now?”

“no way, really? good for her, honestly. i know, poseidon’s a god and all, but like, she’s always deserved just, so much more.” (you manage to make contact with the change-up thrown your way.)

there is something so sincere about your words, that percy can’t help but grin back, finally reaching the depths of his sea-green eyes, and there is something still so boyish about him, that you can hardly believe any time has passed at all, and that somewhere within this demigod who successfully defeated kronos, while saving luke, there is still a semblance of your percy. 

“yeah, the guy, paul blofis, he’s an english teacher — absolutely worships the ground she walks on.”

“sounds perfect for her.”

“you should come over some time — see her, meet paul, y’know,” percy offers, still funneling spoonfuls of pomegranates, meeting your gaze head-on (this is the home run you were waiting on).

you grinned, a slow smile overtaking your face, pushing your hands in the pockets of your jeans, “might just take you up on that, before you change your mind.” (you’re leaving the ball in his hands now; it’s up to him to tag you out or let you reach home base safely.)

“nah, i won’t change my mind, unlike someone else i know.”

you ignore the jab (a smaller, suppressed part of you itches to shoot a reply back), instead choosing to focus on the hesitant hand of friendship being offered — as your father liked to say, keep moving forward.

you shrugged, and you swear, for a second you think the intensity of his gaze has lessened, almost as if disappointed. almost as if mentally shaking it off, percy hands you the china bowl back, empty, running a hand through his shaggy hair with a sheepish grin.

you smiled wryly, glancing down at the bowl and back to his face. “fatass,” you say, affectionately, and then almost freezing, wondering if you somehow overstepped the invisible lines constricting you. 

percy laughs — a green light. 

“lucky for you, though,” you say, disappearing behind the register for a moment before reappearing with a tupperware container filled with peeled pomegranates, “i peeled more.”

you hold it out to him, and he glances down at your outstretched hand, then at your face, before seemingly making up his mind, and accepting the olive branch, “you’re really committed to seeing my mom, huh?”

“well, obviously — the other alternative would be seeing you, wouldn’t it?”

“aw, c’mon, doc, i know you missed me,” percy says, a bit smug, picking up his skateboard, the tupperware container in his other hand (the one he still wears your bracelet on).

“in your dreams, jackson.” there is a peal of odd laughter in your voice as if you were unused to this kind of jocularity when fumbling over his name.

“in my dreams, we do more than just argue,” percy says, with one last smug smile and salute, before walking out the door, leaving you behind in the worst state of confusion you’ve possibly suffered (percy jackson: 1, you: 0).

(your grandmother admonishes you later that evening as you stand beside her stooped figure at your kitchen counter, peeling pomegranates, you gave the rest of it to that boy, didn’t you? her voice is not scolding, but you feel like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar once more. your immortal grandfather, the nuisance that he is, stands in the doorway, hands in an 80s leather jacket and matching sunglasses, waiting to be welcomed in. in contrast, his son — your father — brushes past him, grumbling, and takes on your grandmother’s burden.)

the analog clock reads ten fifty-five as you start mopping the floor, yawning when the front door swings open with a jingling bell, and a sharp metallic smell wafts into the store.

you whirl around, gripping the mop in your hand as a baseball bat, immediately alert as your demigod reflexes come into play. you physically relax at the sight of percy clutching his side, crimson pooling on the edges of his white t-shirt. 

“of course you would attack a man when he’s injured,” percy says with a grin, blood dripping from a gash over his eye (luke had returned to camp some years ago, with a similar scar), and a split lip, collecting like rust on his t-shirt collar. 

you scowled, dropping the mop and immediately rushing toward him, your healing instincts kicking in. lifting one of his arms and letting it curl around you, you shouldered him to the register, cringing with every audible wince percy let out.

“what the fuck is wrong with you?” you asked, as you sat him on your stool, reaching for the ambrosia and nectar you kept hidden under the counter for emergencies (one could never be too careful).

percy grinned — it came out more of a grimace, “what isn’t wrong with me — that’s the question you should be asking, doc.” he nodded to himself, and then immediately cringed at the action.

you glared at him, shoving an ambrosia square in his mouth, before turning away from him to put antiseptic on cotton pads. “does ms. jackson know you’re here?”

“no?” percy says. you walk over to the fridge, grab a water bottle, unscrew the cap, and drench the part of his t-shirt covered in blood.

“ow? in case you forgot, i’m still injured here, doc?” percy clutches at his side.

“you dumbfuck, your mom is probably worried out of her mind right now,” you say, scowling, stepping closer to percy (he still towers over you, even when sitting down).

“i iris messaged her,” he shrugs, looking at you as you shift even closer to him, cotton pad in your hand, “she just knows i’m with you — pretty relieved at that, dunno why.”

reaching out to grasp his jaw in your hand, you begin dabbing at the bruises on his cheekbones, his eyes fluttering shut as you try to ignore the way his hot breath is fanning across your face right now. “you didn’t tell her what happened?”

percy opened his eyes, staring at you. “no, how could i?” he says, slowly, “you were her favorite — still are, by the way.”

you don’t say anything for a moment — after all, how could you? (sally jackson’s homemade cookies drift to the front of your treacherous mind — the sunny afternoons with her kind voice, and percy’s loutish laughter.)

“you didn’t come to see her,” percy says, the statement not accusatory, his eyes fluttering shut again (you try not to let the way his eyelashes sit so prettily distract you) as you dab at the gash over his eye.

“i didn’t think i was welcome,” you say gruffly, turning away to grab bandages. “after everything.”

while the deeper wounds have eased into far easier, superficial ones, you still make sure to wrap and bandage everything — percy had a penchant for getting into trouble (one that you knew all too well), so it was the least you could do.

“i just told you that you were welcome, last time i was here, didn’t i?” percy says, an accusation.

“yeah, well, it was hardly an invitation was it?” you say, turning away from him, packing your supplies up. 

“doc, you didn’t even come to take your tupperware back.”

you ignore him, moving to walk away when his hand is enclosed around your wrist (the hand that wears your blue friendship bracelet), tugging you around to face him. 

percy’s standing up now, his green eyes looking more like a swirling storm with each passing second — he still hasn’t let your wrist go.

“what do you want from me?” you ask, trying to snatch your hand back from him, to no avail — his grip is ironclad.

“i can’t let you walk away with your back turned to me again,” he says (the dim, lantern-lit night comes back into focus, and you wonder if you were too consumed by your own pride, if you had just turned around, if you had just stayed).

you realize too late that tears are pricking in the corners of your eyes, and you manage to successfully wrench your hand out of his grasp, a watery, sarcastic laugh escaping, “you’re a couple years too late, asshole.”

“i know that,” percy says, earnest, reaching out to cup your cheek, and wipe a stray tear (the action stuns you into paralysis), “but i miss you, and my mom misses you, and she hasn’t gotten off my case about you, yet.”

the thought of tender-hearted sally jackson scolding percy is an amusing one, and draws a laugh out of you against your will (percy’s smile grows a little brighter, and asclepius knows you’ve never been able to resist that smile of his), “i’ll come over for ms. jackson, not you.”

percy’s smile is even wider now (his hand is still ghosting your cheek), “same thing.”

“shut up,” you say swatting at his shoulder, trying to duck out from under his arms. 

percy avoids your attempts to escape him, instead latching onto your hand, and pulling you out of the store. “c’mon, she’s expecting us for dinner.”

you let out an incredulous laugh, and let yourself be dragged out anyway (you would follow this boy anywhere, even to the depths of tartarus). 

(your grandmother watches from the apartment window above the store, a soft smile gracing her lined features.)

[manzanamarim]

Been replaying Hades obsessively (as you do) and I love how almost every character addresses Zagreus differently? it's so small but it adds to their charm

Long-ish post and some small spoilers for characters and relationships!

Meg and Than call you both Zagreus and Zag. your partners!

Hades calls you Boy (derogatory) and only later does he call you by name occasionally

Nyx calls you child or my child. She is mother of many

Achilles calls you lad, in a gentle way, your mentor

Dusa calls you Prince, and later as she gets more comfortable also calls you by name

Cerberus... none of his heads posses the gift and curse of speech.

Skelly goes BOYO! I love him

Hypnos I noticed never calls you by anything, usually just goes "you"

Persephone calls you my son, as well as Zagreus of course

Charon calls you hhhrrrgggghhhhhhh...

Sysiphus calls you Prince Z. very casual, he's your buddy!

Alecto calls you redblood (derogatory), or uh. trash god. very sweet of her

Tis goes murrdererrrrrrrrr (and zagreus!)

Chaos says O Son of Hades. I love how they speak

Orpheus calls you friend or my friend, in that melancholic way of his

Eurydice calls you Your Royal Majesty and such, all very playful though!

Patroclus calls you stranger, keeping his distance even though really you aren't a stranger anymore

Theseus calls you all sorts of things of course. Deamon, fiend, blackguard, etc. very extra

Asterius calls you short one. ouch but fair I guess

Zeus calls you nephew,

while Poseidon also calls you Little Hades which is cute ngl

Athena calls you Noble Cousin, very fancy

Ares calls you my kin, he is very into all this fighting huh

Aphrodite calls you little godling (<3)

Dyonisus calls you man, and sometimes Zag, he's chill like that

Artemis calls you "you" mostly, sometimes by your name. she is more introverted and awkward

Hermes calls you Coz. No time to say the full word

Demeter calls you little sprout. very cute actually

And I think that's all, hopefully! if I missed anyone I'll add em later but do you see what I mean? I bet you could hear all of these in their respective voices too, they all have so much personality

[11queensupreme11]

Is daddyseidon straight but not the derogatory kind? We know he's racist, sexist and misogynist but is he phobic too? 😭😭😭😭this god is making me work overtime tryna defend my ship but issokay he already commits genocide for breakfast i can take a few more hits 😭😭

homosexuality in ancient greece is nothing like what we know in modern times. it's not like ancient greeks were going around saying 'love is love 🥰🏳️‍🌈'. they weren't homophobic like people are nowadays, but again, homosexuality was perceived very differently back then. there was actually no concept of it, just the concept of being masculine and being feminine.

homosexuality between males was okay-ish. it was seen as okay as long as it pertained to dominance. it was very common and normal for older men to lay with younger boys because of the "power play" (older man is dominant whereas the younger boy is submissive). however, a guy taking the submissive role was usually looked down on if people knew about it, ESPECIALLY if they knew he was also being penetrated. also, a man laying with a man around the same age group might have been considered weird back then (and even taboo) but i think there's only like two sources i could find saying that, so i'm not actually sure.

homosexuality between females? absolutely not. there were probably many lesbians back then (sappho??) but the idea of a woman finding sexual pleasure from another woman and not a man was unbelievable and weird to them.

sooo for poseidon, let's say he finds out his son is with another dude. he wouldn't care about it UNLESS he finds out that his son is taking the submissive role. he'd call his son a "kinaidos" which is basically the ancient greek equivalent of the f-slur 💀 (it was used to call men/boys who were the ones being penetrated/submissive). he'd probably kill him for it too, imagine it coming out that the son of poseidon was a kinaidos?? absolutely not. he cannot let anyone find out

and even if his son was the dominant role??? he would be okay with that UNLESS his son would actually wanted to get married to the other guy. gay marriage was absolutely not allowed in ancient greece, marriage back then wasn't about who you loved but about ensuring children and the passing down a legacy, power, etc. he'd only be okay with a passing relationship or a one-time thing, but not marriage

same goes if his daughter was into another girl. he'd just look at her with a blank face and say "don't be ridiculous, either marry a man or become a virgin goddess 😐🔱"

so in modern terms, yes he'd definitely be seen as homophobic 😭 thankfully! the other yanderes would be a lot more lenient/accepting about it!!!

[endmeenby]

I like to give my *Hades* builds fun little names

Demeter, Zeus, Dionysus, Ares: Team "Said some not cool shit during Christmas dinner"

Demeter, Dionysus, Ares, Poseidon: Team "Was once kicked out of a Walmart"

Demeter, Zeus, Athena: Team "Overachiver (derogatory)"

[percabeth4life]

do people not know how annoying it is to have Egyptian mythology mix in with Greek there no Zeus equivalent there different gods the Romans (derogatory) are the worse cause they started that shit as if Egypt doesn’t have a rich history of it own I hope Rick stays far away from India or I’m Polynesian and I ever hear him compare Poseidon to Kanaloa I will scream cause no just no

I mean, the Greeks and Egyptians also have a long history of trading back and forth. So yeah they did often do comparisons of their Gods, and even traded some of them.

Like they don't necessarily have exact equivalents... But they did compare their Gods often enough.

[tsarinatorment]

Bonjour ;) so you mentioned in your analysis of Nico & Apollo’s relationship that there’s reason to believe Apollo and Artemis knew about Nico and Bianca being Hades’ children right from the start and… I was wondering if you’d be willing to elaborate 👀

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to elaborate" says the person who listens to me talk their ear off about this and various other theories in the toa discord all the time ahaha. Of course I'm willing to elaborate, I just gotta get my thoughts into some sort of conceivable order here because there is. A Lot. This is, as always with my theory essays, quite long.

So, I'm just gonna broadly title this the Twin Archers and the di Angelos, because that's as narrowed down as this is gonna get, and we will be having some side appearances from Thalia as well because she's not unrelated to this whole thing, either.

So, what is my theory? In a nutshell, it is that Apollo and Artemis know who Bianca and Nico's father is right from the start, but there's a lot of nuance to this. There's a few places I could start this, but I'll begin with the emergence of the di Angelos from the Lotus Casino (we'll go back in time a little later, because the 1930s will be relevant!).

But first, before we even get as far as the di Angelos on the scene at all, I want to talk about the Great Prophecy and Big Three Kids - specifically Big Three Daughters. I did briefly go over this in the Nico&Apollo post I made a while back, but this time I'll go more in depth. The great prophecy explicitly states a half-blood of the eldest gods, shall reach sixteen against all odds. Now, while this could literally mean about half the pantheon (Aphrodite is stated in HOO to be older than the Big Three, Hestia, Demeter and Hera are also the same generation as their brothers - and Demeter has demigod children), for presumably reasons only Apollo has any hope of understanding, this is known to be specifically referencing a Big Three Kid. This means Big Three Kids basically have a lovely prophecy about death hanging over their heads, and we know Apollo and Artemis don't like demigods dying (their domains are literally about protecting children, it goes against who they are to let kids die no matter what lies Apollo tried to get us to believe at the start of TOA).

Obviously, the Oath is in place to stop this happening, but firstly I don't think anyone believed the rather promiscuous Zeus or Poseidon was ever going to be able to keep that for eternity, even if Hades might, and secondly, it's a Great Prophecy. At some point, it's coming true, whether they like it or not, which means at some point there will be some more Big Three Kids around.

Quite frankly, the sons of the Big Three are straight out of luck. They're either going to die young, or they're going to turn sixteen and, according to the prophecy, die then. There's very little that Apollo or Artemis can do to help the sons (although Apollo clearly tries - see fsinger's own essay on how Apollo is responsible for demigod dreams, especially Percy's). Artemis even says this:

"Bianca, this is crazy," I said. "What about your brother? Nico can't be a Hunter." "Certainly not," Artemis agreed. "He will go to camp. Unfortunately, that's the best boys can do."

It's phrased as being derogatory (not helped by Percy taking it that way), but taking away the anti-boy bias and reading it as a statement of fact - the safest place for boys is Camp Half-Blood, while girls have the option of functional immortality, if they want to take it.

The daughters, however... that's another kettle of fish entirely. Daughters have an opt-out clause, and it's called joining the Hunters of Artemis. As we see with Thalia, this stops their aging process for the purposes of the prophecy, neatly keeping them alive and also skipping the prophecy.

Looking at it this way, suddenly the Hunt's attempts to recruit Thalia back before she reached CHB, despite her having the sorts of attachments that frankly make her unsuitable to be a Hunter (her close relationship with Luke) and would normally mean she was never on their radar, makes sense - if Thalia joins the Hunt, she escapes the prophecy (which she eventually does).

"The Hunters tried to recruit you," I guessed. Her eyes got dangerously bright. I thought she was going to zap me out of the Mercedes, but she just sighed. I almost joined them," she admitted. "Luke, Annabeth, and I ran into them once, and Zoe tried to convince me. She almost did, but…" "But?" Thalia's fingers gripped the wheel. "I would've had to leave Luke."

Note that Artemis specifically says about her Hunters being before they 'go astray' aka get boy-obsessed.

"I could appear as a grown woman, or a blazing fire, or anything else I want, but this is what I prefer. This is the average age of my Hunters, and all young maidens for whom I am patron, before they go astray." "Go astray?" I asked. "Grow up. Become smitten with boys. Become silly, preoccupied, insecure. Forget themselves."

This being Artemis' reasoning behind her recruitment drive of Thalia also explains why she's so happy to accept Thalia into the Hunt at the end of TTC, despite Thalia's reasoning being very clearly the selfish need to escape the prophecy. Yes, there's the Luke backdrop to it, too, but Thalia is not subtle about her reasoning, and this is the sort of self-centredness that ordinarily would not fly with Artemis, because Thalia is using the Hunt for her own gain.

"Father," she said. "I will not turn sixteen tomorrow. I will never turn sixteen. I won't let this prophecy be mine. I stand with my sister Artemis. Kronos will never tempt me again."

She explicitly says she refuses to be the child of prophecy and wants to stop aging, and yet Artemis still welcomes her in with open arms.

So, with one Big Three Daughter out of the way, let's talk about the other one. Bianca di Angelo, who is on Artemis' radar for at least a while before she introduces herself.

How do we know this? Firstly, the Hunters have been hanging around the general vicinity for a while - they make gentle advances towards Annabeth (I say gentle because Annabeth only had a pamphlet and clearly hadn't either been snapped up instantly or pressured so much she was turned off the idea like Thalia was) - and they are very quick to show up once Dr Thorn makes his move. Fast enough, actually, that there's some confusion from the characters about how they happened to be there in time (Grover ends up suggesting it was because they were trailing Annabeth, but that doesn't feel like a solid reason for them to be in the area when Annabeth clearly isn't a priority of theirs).

Secondly, there's this little exchange between Artemis and Nico:

Artemis considered the boy. "Perhaps you can show Grover how to play that card game you enjoy. I'm sure Grover would be happy to entertain you for a while… as a favor to me?"

If she's literally just met Nico, how does she know it's a card game? Yes, he's been gushing at her about it, but he never mentions cards (in fact, from the way he describes it with movement and stuff, it sounds more like a board game than anything else), yet Artemis knows exactly what it is. Mythomagic doesn't seem like the sort of thing that'd really be on her radar, though.

Other, less explicit hints include the implication that they haven't been attacked all year, but were attacked on the streets before that, "last summer".

Bianca di Angelo shivered. "That explains… Nico, you remember last summer, those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in DC?" "And that bus driver," Nico said. "The one with the ram's horns. I told you that was real."

Even Dr Thorn couldn't pick them out until the other demigods appeared and started showing interest in them, despite being powerful (and them also having a powerful scent), but before they were in the school, things were hunting them down pretty easily (although failing to do any actual damage, it seems). There's an implication there that they were being somehow shielded while at the school, and while Hades would be the obvious answer... if that was the case, why wasn't he shielding them on the streets?

(Remember that Artemis is the protector of young maidens and Apollo is the protector of the young.)

Even the fact that Artemis instructs the Hunters to get Nico's stuff as well as Bianca's, despite the Hunters under Zoe being very anti-boy and wanting nothing to do with any of them, implies that she, at least, is remembering Nico's existence.

Then we have the recruitment drive from Artemis and Zoe, which is really very heavy-handed. Artemis intentionally and immediately separates Bianca from the others before they can start extolling Camp Half-Blood to her and manipulates a confused and upset Bianca into joining the Hunt. It's harsh, not at all fair on any of the characters (Bianca was in no mental position to make that sort of decision, Nico didn't deserve to have his sister torn away from him like that), but the one thing it does for certain is takes Bianca out of the running for the Great Prophecy before any of the rest of the characters realised she was in the running for it at all.

So, that's Artemis' actions making a lot more sense all of a sudden. Now for Apollo.

I went into Apollo's interactions with Nico in great depth in a previous essay so I won't rehash that here. The only part of that that's directly relevant is Apollo's refusal to let Nico drive the chariot, despite Nico being very eager to do so, and yes, the fact that he is a ten year old child is a factor in that, but also Zeus would be super-mad if a son of Hades started controlling the sun chariot (even though the sun chariot is technically Apollo's domain and not Zeus', although we know Zeus doesn't care about that - look at the way he's muscled Apollo completely out of any jurisdiction over CHB, despite Apollo being its patron god, something else I will gladly talk about at some point if there's interest!).

But. Let's look at the whole sun chariot thing, shall we, because Apollo's sheer insistence that Thalia drive also makes a lot more sense under this theory. Yes, on the surface it looks like Apollo being obnoxious and not taking no for an answer the way gods tend to do, but when we look a little deeper (especially with TOA under our belts, where we have a much better understanding of how Apollo works), there's a couple of things that stand out.

Firstly, there are four Big Three Kids in that sun chariot. Four of them, and Zeus wants all of them dead aside from his own daughter (and even Thalia is not safe from Zeus if he decides otherwise... see him throwing the lightning bolt at them later in TTC, presumably as a warning for her to not turn against him in Zeus' typical rule-through-fear method). Quite frankly, Apollo was no doubt absolutely terrified at that many Big Three Kids in the chariot - Zeus has proven in the past that he can and will blast it from the sky if he wants.

"Don't sweat it! Maine to Long Island is a really short trip, and don't worry about what happened to the last kid I trained. You're Zeus's daughter. He's not going to blast you out of the sky."

Apollo even makes a point of this, so we know it was on his mind.

Second, the implication here is that Apollo himself isn't certain the chariot won't be struck if he's the one driving, despite it being his own domain - and considering Zeus' paranoia surrounding Apollo and the fact he's clearly watching for Apollo to do something that makes him seem like he's rebelling (proven by how quickly he slams the blame for the events of HOO straight onto Apollo even though everything he punishes Apollo for, with the exception of talking to Octavian, wasn't Apollo's doing at all), Apollo probably isn't wrong about that. Gathering so many powerful kids into his chariot would have Zeus' paranoia sky-high, so to speak.

So, his solution? Put Thalia in the driving seat. Thalia is a daughter of Zeus, and Zeus always treats his daughters better (see Artemis and Athena vs Apollo), and it also forces Zeus to choose, because if he does blast the sun chariot while Thalia is driving, it clearly looks like it's Thalia he's punishing, not Apollo (or even the other Big Three Kids). It's a clever little bit of manipulation by Apollo, albeit with the downside of Thalia's height phobia (and did Apollo know about that? Honestly, he might have done, and while it does feel unusually cruel of rr!Apollo to do that, when his option is make Thalia face her fear or all the mortals (plus Artemis' Hunters) get killed by Zeus... it's very much the lesser evil).

The Twins' actions during the start of the book are heavily geared towards the protection of the di Angelos - Artemis takes Bianca into her Hunt, while Apollo personally escorts Nico straight to Camp, which is something it's implied very few demigods get (by which I mean any actual godly escort; this is the only known case where they're not just escorted by a satyr). Could this all have been Artemis' planning without Apollo involved? Theoretically I suppose that could be argued, but my personal view is no, no it could not. Firstly, the Twins seem to be in each other's radar a lot, to the point where Artemis striking out alone seems to necessitate her telling Apollo she's going alone:

Artemis grit her teeth. "I need a favor. I have some hunting to do, alone. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood."

Yes, Apollo says just before this: "What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!", and seems to roll with it just fine, but this is where some of the TOA characterisation comes into play. Apollo is a pathological liar when the situation calls for it, and as already stated, Zeus is paranoid and has his eye on Apollo - which Apollo knows. He can't admit out loud anywhere that he might actually be planning things with Artemis - also, note that he never says that he hasn't seen her recently. It's implied, but that's how Apollo constructs his best lies, by dancing around the truth (it's not like Artemis needs to call or write if she's seeing him regularly, anyway!). It's more likely that he's talking about the fact that he knows she's planning something but she hasn't shared what - that is what is likely actually worrying him, if the declaration of worry is genuine underneath the façade (add in Artemis' next words that she's going hunting alone and it makes it sound like her not working with Apollo is a rarity).

Secondly, we're never shown her actually calling Apollo; the whole encounter feels less spur-of-the-moment and more planned in advance. Yes, she claims she's summoning a ride from him, but all we're shown is her looking east expectantly, complaining about Apollo being lazy in winter, and knowing that dawn (and therefore her brother) is on the way. No, she hasn't told Apollo what she's up to next, which Apollo makes a point to complain about, but the "get the demigods to camp" part of this seems pre-arranged.

Once Nico is at CHB, he's as safe as he can be, and most importantly, he's on the radar of Chiron, Dionysus, and several demigods. Zeus might have been able to zap him if he was alone and unknown without being caught, but now he's been drawn fully into the demigod world, Nico has been protected from Zeus finishing what he started way back when. (This protection extends even after TTC, when Nico runs off, because Nico spends most of his time either in the Underworld or the Labyrinth, which are both areas outside of Zeus' direct influence, and also because he's getting on the radar of more and more gods. Zeus' window of opportunity to quietly finish off the di Angelos without inciting any major backlash has been slammed shut by the Twins' actions, leaving them in the same tentative security that Percy has.)

So, there's the why of this theory, based on canon. But what about the how?

There are two hows in question here. How #1 is how did Apollo and Artemis know they were Hades' children, and How #2 is how did they know before the rest of the gods (which they must have done in able to get them to safety before Zeus intervened).

I'll start with How #1: How did the Twins know they were Hades' kids?

There are a couple of answers to this question. The first, and most obvious one, is that they recognised them as such on sight. Nico is known to look similar to Hades, and while the likes of Percy can be forgiven for not putting two and two together because he's only met Hades the once, other characters, like the gods, would see the resemblance.

Alternatively, they remembered them from the 1930s/40s. The timeline is somewhat inconsistent on exactly when the di Angelos ended up in the Lotus Casino, and the only concrete information we have is that it was contemporary with WWII, but that's still less than a century and to gods, that's no time at all. Apollo himself tells us in TOA that he has perfect recall, which makes sense being the god of knowledge, so the Twins recognising these children as the same children of Hades who disappeared (at the same time the pythia of Delphi was cursed, no less) is more likely than not. In fact, I'd go as far as to argue that it would make no sense for them not to recognise them.

But, why would they know the di Angelo kids in the first place? It's not like the gods pay attention to demigods prior to their arrival at CHB (and even then, it's only barely), and them being known seems unlikely as a general rule, but there are some key points to recall. First is that they are Big Three Kids. They're more powerful than regular demigods (Grover helpfully tells us this when they're first introduced, even though they still didn't twig until the end of the book about their parentage), and more likely to be on the other gods' radar. Second is the time period - we know that WWII, in Riordanverse, was a war between Big Three Kids, so the gods would be actively looking out for other Big Three Kids, especially children of Hades, as his son (presumably Hitler and other high-ranking associates, although I don't recall him ever being explicitly named, just that a few of Hades' children were leaders of the bad guys) is the antagonist. From the way Hades talks in TLO, it seems like the di Angelo siblings are his only children younger than sixteen at the time:

"When you and your sister were young, it was a bad time to be children of Hades. World War II was brewing. A few of my, ah, other children were leading the losing side. I thought it best to put you two out of harm's way."

They were certainly on Zeus' radar (after all, Zeus is the one who tried to kill them, and did kill Maria), but there's also another god who had to know, and that's Apollo.

"I warned you," a new voice said. Hades turned. A girl in a multicolored dress stood by the smoldering remains of the sofa. She had short black hair and sad eyes. She was no more than twelve. I didn't know her, but she looked strangely familiar. "You dare come here?" Hades growled. "I should blast you to dust!" "You cannot," the girl said. "The power of Delphi protects me." With a chill, I realized I was looking at the Oracle of Delphi, back when she was alive and young. Somehow, seeing her like this was even spookier than seeing her as a mummy. "You've killed the woman I loved!" Hades roared. "Your prophecy brought us to this.'" He loomed over the girl, but she didn't flinch. "Zeus ordained the explosion to destroy the children," she said, "because you defied his will. I had nothing to do with it. And I did warn you to hide them sooner."

While Apollo himself is never mentioned by name in relation to this scene, the pythia of Delphi - his Oracle - makes an appearance, not for the first time, apparently. She went out off her way to warn Hades specifically about protecting Bianca and Nico earlier; there is no feasible way that she could have known about the di Angelos if Apollo didn't (in fact, it wouldn't be out of the question to consider that Apollo saw the danger to the di Angelos and sent her himself, after all we know Apollo doesn't like demigod deaths), which means that Apollo had to know of their existence.

And if Apollo knew, Artemis probably did, too.

So, that's how they knew who the di Angelos were. Now, onto How #2: how did they know before the rest of the gods (or at least, Zeus), when they emerged from the Lotus Casino?

There are two possibilities for this. One is that Apollo happened to see Alecto retrieving them from the sun chariot - in fact, I'd argue that this would have been the case regardless of whether or not option two is also true, because Apollo can see everything from there, and that would give him the exact timing.

Two is that Apollo foresaw their re-emergence. We don't know the exact limits of Apollo's foresight. He doesn't give us any straight answers on that during TOA at all; the closest we get is this, which is also so early on in the narration that the truthfulness of it is somewhat up in the air (I am inclined to believe him because of his knowledge and prophecy domains, but the potential for a lie or exaggeration is certainly there):

Had I been my usual omniscient self, I could have gleaned Meg’s destiny. I could have looked into her soul and seen all I needed to know about her godly parentage, her powers, her motives and secrets.

There's also a lot of hints towards this in TTC, around the sun chariot ride:

Apollo studied me, but he didn't say anything, which I found a little creepy. "Well!" he said at last.

and

He winked at me. "Watch out for those prophecies, Percy. I'll see you soon." "What do you mean?" Instead of answering, he hopped back in the bus. "Later, Thalia," he called. "And, uh, be good!" He gave her a wicked smile, as if he knew something she didn't.

as well as later on in the book:

Apollo chuckled. "Fast enough. Unfortunately, we're running out of time. It's almost sunset. But I imagine we'll get you across a good chunk of America, at least." "But where is Artemis?" His face darkened. "I know a lot, and I see a lot. But even I don't know that. She's… clouded from me. I don't like it."

The implications are there that Apollo really does see a lot, more than I think we could actually properly comprehend as mere mortals who only see the here and now (I know my mind breaks when I try and conceptualise how much Apollo might actually know but hasn't happened yet, or might happen, or might have happened but didn't because there's a degree of fluidity and change in the future because nothing is set in stone until it happens), which means it is well within all likelihood that he saw the di Angelos leaving the Lotus Casino with enough warning to come up with a plan to protect them once they did. Add in the fact that Nico, at least, is intrinsically tied to the Great Prophecy, and it would make a lot of sense for Apollo to see a major point in his life like this one.

And Nico is intrinsically tied. Right from the end of TTC, it's blatant. Percy claimed the prophecy for his own because he refused to pass it on to Nico, in a parallel to Thalia, who blatantly dodged it and tossed the baton straight at Percy.

"I don't need forever," I said. "Just two years. Until I'm sixteen." Annabeth paled. "But, Percy, this means the prophecy might not be about you. It might be about Nico. We have to—" "No," I said. "I choose the prophecy. It will be about me." "Why are you saying that?" she cried. "You want to be responsible for the whole world?" It was the last thing I wanted, but I didn't say that. I knew I had to step up and claim it. "I can't let Nico be in any more danger," I said. "I owe that much to his sister. I… let them both down. I'm not going to let that poor kid suffer any more."

Then, of course, we have the Curse of Achilles, which is what kept Percy alive long enough to make the choice - that was Nico's idea and Nico's doing - and Nico being the one to convince Hades to join the fight to save Olympus. Nico was not the prophecy child, although Annabeth (and Hades, in TLO) is right to say that he could have been, but he still made major decisions and influenced Percy dramatically, which had a direct knock-on effect to the resolution of the prophecy when it happened.

With this in mind, it seems that if there's any character that Apollo would have a front-row seat to the possible destiny (or destinies) of, it's Nico di Angelo.

So, there you have it. That's why I think the Twins knew about the di Angelos' parentage right from the start, and also the logistics behind them knowing in the first place. It puts their canon actions in a whole new, and frankly far more realistic, light when we look at it this way - or at least, I think so.

[awkwardexxodus]

an interesting thing about reading percy jackson in portuguese as a child is that, working my way through the books, hades seemed friendlier. not that hes a good guy™️, certified ally or anything, he just sounded... tamer. and i never understood why until i saw a picture of the the underground throne scene in the lightning thief, where he calls percy 'god's spawn'.

the thing is, it is an accurate term! he is, in fact, the spawn of a god, thats what the whole series was built around! but what isn't (and at the same time is) accurate is how they translated it.

filhote de deus.

when hades called percy god's spawn, he meant it as an offense. percy's no more than his father's son and that's why they are in this mess to begin with.

but it can also mean a whole new different thing when in portuguese.

see, 'filhote' means baby. an animal's baby, to be more specific. with that in mind, we can assume that his intention was to compare percy (and, by association, poseidon) to an animal. not how you usually treat 12 year olds you just met, but i dont think he meets a lot of those, so it makes sense.

however, we need to take into account that at the time i read it for the first time, i was around eight, nine years old. a literal child! so, as children are to do, i COMPLETELY misunderstood the intent of what was being said! because, to me, filhote was good.

y'know how i said it means animal's baby? well, it is also an affectionate term! i grew up hearing my dad call me 'filhota'; my older brother's number is still named that, on my mom's phone. to me, that word means 'parental affection' and that's it. as a 9 year old, that was the only way you could call a child by something like that, at least in my eyes.

yeah, terms with 'filhote' in it CAN be derogatory, an exemple being 'filhote de cruz-credo', (used to describe someone or something that is so ugly it hurts.) but it is different because the ONLY thing that makes the term offensive is the 'cruz-credo', an expression used to portray repulsed shock. it means that, when by itself, 'filhote' is completely harmless!

so, even though the use of the word filhote WAS accurate, it seemed out of place in that dialogue. hades' tone was NOT meant to be affectionate in any way, but, as a nine year old who was reading the book for the first time (a whole decade ago!) that was what my initial vision of him was.

yes, it was an impression that was proved wrong very quickly, but still! its a bit funny, now that i'm looking back at it. the guy was giving his all to be a total asshole to a child and all he managed was to come across as caring to little me. karma, ig.

TLDR: hades' bitch boy act got defeated by my childhood petname and elementary school level text interpretation skills

[jasontoddssuper]

I think "poseidon(derogatory)" is one of my favorite tags of yours and also you should know I'm so bad at spelling his name my phone can't spell it and I had to look it up

Thank u bestie!!!💙💙💙And big mood,that's me with a lot of words😭😭😭

[punkeropercyjackson]

Percy's version of lingerie would be a sports bra. A tank top even. She strikes me as a practical girl first and foremost. Percy doesn't strike me as a person who really cares for delicate fancy things - especially considering her upbringing. She likes girly stuff, but I don't her enjoying too much lingerie. It's like how she loves the sea, but wouldn't particularly want to decorate herself in it. I'm not sure how to put it into words, but Percy appreciates the sea and it's power - similar to how Piper feels about love, and its power.

YES YOU'RE SO RIGHT AS ALWAYS YOUR PJO TAKES ARE SO GOOD And the comparison is perfect too,because Piper and Aphrodite's feelings on eachother parallel Percy and Poseidon's!And for Percy's brand of femininity,i want to add on that she's the specific kind of femme who subverts cishet people's idea of femininity.Blues instead of pinks,punk instead of traditional with the exception of loving her afro-dominican heritage,Team Mom instead of an 'overbearing no fun nag' stereotype,interests in kiddy and cutesy things instead of focusing on what's 'normal',high standards for men because she knows her self-worth and a very low interest in anything sexual or romantic.She's autistic and giving aroaceflux bi vibes and the closest thing to a standard girl thing she has is liking being called 'Doll' and even then she lets exactly two people call her that and it's Sally and her boyfriend(who varies depending on my mood).Oh and before i forget,i should note that i'm almost certain the person who suggested her in that corset didn't even headcanon her as transfem like we do😭This is not invalidating your points but me saying it's wild asf how the fandom will feminize Percy to be horny about her but balks at her actually being a woman

[writerssnippets]

Fortunate Souls

Seal The Deal - Part 7

[find the other parts here]

The dome encapsulating the Basin could be seen from miles away. It was larger than the city Caspian had grown up in, and contained the entire capital of the merkingdom; tall pearlescent towers with spiralling staircases, stacks upon stacks of reefs dotted with homes of all sizes, stretches of wide land cultivated with all sorts of marine plants, and gallons upon gallons of water. It was a fully independent ecosystem of its own, set into the ocean floor like a forgotten pearl half-buried in the sand.

It even gave off light, battling the misty darkness of the Abyssal Plains with a gentle glow from millions of lights and lanterns. Inside the Basin it was bright enough to simulate day, and the light that spilled out of the dome was enough to fuel various kinds of wild seaweed to grow on the hard soil, creating a sort of natural forest to shield it from the shadows of the greater ocean.

It was from within the midst of one of those kelp jungles that Caspian heard the noise.

He had been travelling across the Plains for a few days now, and aside from his increasing agility in manouvering through the water, he had also steadily grown accustomed to the sounds of the sea. The sound in question was a new one, as it had been a while since he had crossed paths with greenery— foliage was rare in the Abyssal Plains, the lack of light making photosynthesis nigh impossible. So at first, the seal-tailed traveller dismissed the distant rustling of leaves in the water as some other creature making its way through the seaweed, or perhaps simply the currents. As he swam closer, however, other sounds carried to his ears as well. The soft grunts of someone trying to accomplish something in vain, accompanied by the expectable strings of curses, most of which invoked either Poseidon, Neptune, Pisces, or apparently “the Grystil”, which Caspian was starting to believe to be a term synonymous to “sealfolk”. From what he’d gathered from the dolphins and turtles, there were an awful lot of different terms for the seal-tailed people, including amongst others “seadogs”, “sealkith” and “Grystil”— the last of which was supposedly derogatory? He wasn’t entirely sure why that was the case, but it appeared the sealfolk had quite the reputation.

From the fact that various of said curses were spoken in a language Caspian could understand, he concluded that this must be some kind of sentient being, and that they probably needed help. He figured it couldn’t hurt to get extra confirmation that he was at the right gigantic domed city (after all, who knew how many of those there were hidden beneath the oceans?) so he altered his course into the direction of the noise.

The sight he was met with was an interesting one, to say the least. Suspended some way off the ground hung a mermaid, her black tail entangled in a mess of kelp and knotted fishing nets. She was trying desperately to reach for the sword that lay in the sand below her, but it was mere inches out of her reach, much to her chagrin.

As she noticed him from her upside-down position, her attitude shifted instantly from desperate to defensive, a scowl crossing her face as she made a shooing gesture with her hands.

“Get outta here tramp, stay away from me! Go find some other person to bother!”

Caspian huffed softly, ignoring her protests as he moved closer to see what he could do about the mess the mermaid had gotten herself into. However, the mermaid in question did not take kindly to that, clenching her hands into fists threateningly and feigning a few punches in warning.

“Didn’t you hear me? Back off! I’m a shadowtail, I could take you with my hands tied behind my back!”

Good for you, because they almost already are, Caspian thought to himself sarcastically, but he raised his hands in surrender regardless to show that he had no ill intent. The mermaid seemed to relax slightly at this, although her fists remained tightly clenched and her gaze fixed on him unfalteringly. He moved slowly and clearly as though approaching a spooked animal, inspecting the tangled weed. He pursed his lips in disapproval, realizing he’d need something sharp to cut her free— just his bare hands would never be enough.

Of course, he could’ve just picked the mermaid’s sword up out of the sand, but that was when he remembered his daggers.

At the time of his transformation, Caspian had been carrying his usual two daggers with him on a strap over his shoulder. In recent years he’d taken to wearing it under his shirt, since most circles of society he found himself in were not appreciative of the bearing of arms, especially the “less noble” weapons such as small yet deadly daggers. Force of habit dictated that he could not allow himself to be entirely unarmed either, so he’d worn them secretly, the double sheath at his hip giving him a feeling of security that no amount of reassurances from an amiable host could equal.

When Edgar’s potion had begun taking effect, Caspian’s trousers had dematerialized into his tail, but the strap had remained slung diagonally over his chest, although significantly more... green than it had been before, as though woven out of seagrass or kelp rather than leather. The two daggers had also remained, resting at his side weightlessly in the altered gravity of the water. He’d noticed them earlier, but in the same half-conscious sort of way one would notice the other guests at a party— you’d seen them, certainly, but if asked to recall any of their appearances your mind would instantly blank.

He remembered them now, however, and automatically unsheathed the twin blades. After a moment’s inspection, he spun them around on his fingers, flipping them with the dextrous elegance that can only be attained by years of experience. Even despite his expertise he almost lost his grip on the spinning blades due to the the unexpected increased resistance that the water provided, but once he had taken a moment to recalibrate his perception of their weight he handled them almost as deftly as he would have on land.

Above him the mermaid had grown restless once more at the sight of shining metal, and tried desperately to snatch the daggers out of his hands. Caspian only frowned disapprovingly and dodged out of her reach, swimming up above her and circling her tail once before flipping his dagger in his hand, slashing at the coiling kelp and ropes with swift precision. The mermaid winced and squeezed her eyes shut as she saw the flashing movement of the blades, before opening them again hesitantly as she realized that she was uninjured. She found herself drifting slowly towards the ocean floor, the loose shreds of rope landing beside her blade on the sand below as she was freed from the tangled mess.

You’re welcome, Caspian thought to himself as he resheathed his daggers, incredibly disappointed that he couldn’t deliver the line with the appropriate lathering of sarcasm. It seemed that his judgemental gaze carried the message well enough, as the mermaid’s cheeks flushed an embarrassed red as she realized her hostility towards her rescuer. She cleared her throat, her expression a feigned façade of dignity as she raised her chin.

“Thank you, sealkith, your assistance is appreciated. You may be on your way.”

Caspian stared at her disbelievingly for a moment, but then shook his head, deciding not to dwell on the matter. He’d find someone else to ask about the Basin. Someone whose crippling hubris didn’t prevent them from associating with sealfolk.

Perhaps it was his proximity to civilization, or simply a stroke of luck, but it didn’t take long before Caspian encountered other merfolk. Once again, sound was the first thing to alert him to their presence— various overlapping voices, apparently engaged in an argument.

“Do something, then!” The high-pitched voice bounced off the rocks around him, making it hard to pinpoint the exact direction it was coming from.

“Like what?” a second voice countered, almost rivalling the first in panicked pitch, “it’s a whole swarm, ma��am, we can’t just swim in.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right,” a third voice weighed into the conversation, “there’s not much we can do.”

“What if you were quick? And careful?” a fourth voice chimed in pensively, but he was instantly vetoed by the others.

“Quick and careful make horrid companions,” one pointed out wisely, “and besides, why take that chance?”

It was around then that Caspian rounded the corner of the jagged rocks that had thusfar obscured his vision, and laid eyes on the scene that had caused such a— well, such a scene.

The ground beyond the rough rocks was fairly smooth, sloping downwards towards the still distant city. The ocean floor here consisted largely of sand, dotted with some patches of greenery and the occasional rounded boulder covered in crabs and coral. It was beside such boulder that a small merchild crouched, pressed against the stone, clutching his shimmering blue tail to his chest. Despite the distance between them, Caspian could read the fear in the young one’s face, and it didn’t take much to understand what had caused it.

The merboy was completely surrounded by a swarm of jellyfish.

The spineless blobs of gelatinous death floated around idly, bobbing up and down with the careless attitude of, say, a monarch who has all the food in the kingdom to his disposal. In other words, they had not a care in the world, and showed no intent of bobbing their way over a couple hundred metres to the left so the poor child could swim away safely.

In a different situation, the plethora of electric lightbulbs drifting on the currents might have been a beautiful sight, perhaps even stunning. The only kind of stunning it was now, however, was the incapacitating kind. And that was not the kind of stunning that the four merpeople at the opposite end of the bloom of translucent doom were eager to experience.

“We’ll just have to wait until they move,” one of them, a grey-tailed merman, commented reluctantly, “we don’t really have another option.”

“Just stay still, sweetie!” a white-tailed mermaid, whose voice Caspian recognized as the first speaker, cried out to the little merboy, “if you don’t move, they won’t hurt you!”

The other two grey-tailed merpeople (who looked almost entirely identical from this distance) remained silent, their tails swishing in anxious tandem as they sought for another plan, another solution, but found nothing.

Caspian hesitated, assessing the situation from his own angle. The field of jellyfish, spanning almost a hundred metres across, was also blocking his path to what he assumed to be the Basin. He could backtrack and take a detour around the swarm, but it would cost time, and he’d be leaving the merfolk here to their fate. Not that it was any of his business, but seeing a young helpless merchild... well he couldn’t just leave, could he? What if it had been Thames down there? He wouldn’t have hesitated a second.

Besides... he squinted at the jellyfish carefully, weighing options in his mind as he studied their odd shape and pale glow. He was fairly certain this was a breed of jellyfish that wasn’t lethal to humans. But did that apply to merfolk— and more importantly, sealfolk— as well? He had no way of knowing, except perhaps from experience, and he wasn’t too eager about trying those odds. If he just played it safe, however, and avoided the jellyfish...?

He took a deep breath, silently berating himself for the idiotic decision he was about to make, but well enough aware of his own mind to know that he would never be able to turn back in good conscience. His hands drifted towards his daggers, but he changed his mind, instead keeping his hands at his sides for maximum streamlining.

And then he dived into the swarm of jellyfish.

He moved like an acrobat, twisting and turning adroitly as he weaved his way through the bloom, dodging around the pulsing jellyfish as though he had been doing it all his life. The distant cries of alarm from the merfolk opposite were but muted background noise as he focused entirely on his itinerary, and for a moment it was like he could sense the jellyfish around him, miniscule vibrations in the water alerting him to their movements as he swerved from left to right, just barely missing the long tentacles of a particularly large specimen. It was like a choreographed dance, every twist and turn in sync with some unheard beat as he manouvred his way through the shifting maze. As he approached the boulder at the centre of the swarm he grew momentarily overconfident, and would’ve brushed his shoulder against one of the diaphanous fringes of a jellyfish if not for the fact that the jellyfish in question drifted benevolently to the side. Caspian frowned in surprise, his gaze lingering momentarily on the jellyfish in question as if to decipher whether its intent had been magnanimous or if it had merely avoided him by sheer coincidence. Before he could form a conclusion, the swarm around him continued to shift towards him and threatened to entangle him in their electrical threads, forcing him to abandon the train of thought and continue onward.

By some miracle, he made it to the boulder in the centre of the swarm unscathed. The little merboy looked up at him in awe, wonder sparkling in his eyes as he breathed a quiet “wooooow”. Caspian chuckled noiselessly, holding out his hand towards the boy and gesturing with his head towards the group of anxious merfolk clamouring at the edge of the cloud of static death.

“Are you a Grystil?” the merboy enquired curiously, and Caspian raised his eyebrows at the term, but nodded. The boy’s awe seemed only to increase, and he took Caspian’s hand bravely. “I didn’t know you still existed!” the small merchild continued enthusiastically, “that’s so cool!”

Caspian smiled, scooping the child up into his arms so as to minimize the chances of the merboy accidentally touching any of the jellyfish. After casting one last glance at the safety of the boulder, he continued his path through the swarm, heading towards the merfolk gathered impatiently on the other side. As he drew closer he could hear their gasps and cries of anguished anxiety steadily grow louder, his every movement a source of momentary panic for the concerned audience. Yet once again he made it past the flotilla of bobbing booby-traps unharmed, emerging from the swarm to be instantly crowded by the four older merfolk.

“Oh Lough, are you all right?” the worried white-tailed mermaid exclaimed as Caspian gently handed the merboy to her, her eyes shimmering in trepidation as she checked the child for any sign of harm. A sigh of relief sounded from her lips as she found none, the distress making place for a maternal gratitude as she met Caspian’s gaze. “Thank you, sir, thank you so much—”

Caspian signed a “you’re welcome” back, and the mermaid’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “You speak sign—? Wait a minute, Galljon, you understand sign, right?”

“Indeed,” the shortest of the company (the merboy excluded, although not by much) responded, adjusting his spectacles. Now that he was closer, Caspian was able to study them all more easily; the small fellowship consisted of the pearlescent-tailed mermaid, two equally tall grey-tailed merfolk who seemed almost identical aside from the fact that one had a stubbly beard, while the other sported somewhat more feminine features, and last but not least there was a short grey-tailed merman with wired glasses that didn’t seem to have any actual glass in them. It was the bespectacled merman Galljon that claimed to comprehend sign language, although Caspian could only hope that that would extend to his garbled mixture of sand-sign and oceanic-sign.

“Well then, what’d he say?”

Galljon’s gaze shifted to Caspian, who patiently repeated the gesture.

“He says you’re welcome,” Galljon stated proudly, as though he had just deciphered a fragment of the Rosetta Stone. The merwoman smiled broadly, curtseying lightly to Caspain. “Your assistance was very much appreciated, I don’t know what we’d have done without you.”

“Wait it out, probably,” one of the twins muttered under their breath. 

Caspian suppressed an amused roll of his eyes, facing towards Galljon as he continued his attempts at communicating. He phrased a request at directions to the Basin, having to spell out the name of the city since he wasn’t sure what the correct sign would be. Galljon nodded understandingly, showing him the mercity’s sign for future reference before pointing to the magical dome that Caspian had been steadily navigating towards. The merwoman and her son watched in fascination, while the twins made no efforts to conceal their boredom. Eventually Caspian nodded, signing his thanks and goodbyes before heading towards the dome. The little merboy cried out an enthusiastic goodbye in return, Galljon and the mother both waving good-naturedly as he vanished from their sight. And with that he moved onward on his journey, now finally knowing for sure that he was approaching the correct city.

While the Plains around the Basin were largely flat and easily crossed despite their darkness, the areas closer to the mercity itself were more irregular and rugged, the strange rocks creating an almost labyrinthical path. Often Caspian found his way obstructed by dead ends and unexpected curves, but he dared not swim over the maze entirely for fear of what might lurk above. A few shadows had crossed overhead on occasion, and while the merfolk had few natural predators, Caspian feared that that would not extend to the sealkith as fully. So he stayed low, burning time but playing it safe as he manouevred his way towards the dome. After some time, he made it into the open once more, at last approaching the two marble pillars that formed the Gates.

A singular guard hovered outside the Gates, a lax gray-tailed individual whose eyes seemed more focused on the interior of the magical barrier than any threat from outside. Perhaps that was why the green-tailed mermaid was able to approach so easily, her dagger raised ready above her head as she prepare to strike. Caspian’s gaze flitted from the attacker to the soon-to-be-victim, before darting forwards to intercept the strike.

What followed was a series of events that occurred almost simultaneously, but in favour of avoiding obfuscation I'll go over them one by one.

The first of these events was the one that Caspian was most in control of; his quick movement to stand between the guard and his attacker, followed by his grabbing the green-tailed mermaid’s wrist to stop the dagger from connecting with its intended target. He successfully halted the attack, and the mermaid let go of the dagger with a cry of alarm, allowing it to drift to the floor.

In that same second, however, the mermaid recovered from her shocked surprise, using her other hand to take ahold of Caspian’s wrist, leaving them in a strange standoff. The half-seal’s expression contorted into one of confusion, just in time for the third event to kick in.

The guard spun around at the sudden noise, a startled yelp sounding from his throat. He laid eyes on the duo just in time to watch the mermaid theatrically jerk her arm out of Caspian’s grasp, a faux expression of horror on her face.

“What’s going on here?” the guard demanded sharply, and the mermaid’s lip trembled in fake dismay.

“He was trying to kill you!” she whined, pointing a finger to Caspian. The latter’s expression contorted into one of utter disbelief, but expressions alone would not be enough to defend him. The guard’s eyebrows lowered into a looming scowl, his glare locking fiercely onto Caspian’s rapidly panicking countenance. The half-seal raised his hands defensively, angrily gesturing towards the mermaid. In response she only scoffed, crossing her arms before flicking the dagger in the sand with her tail.

“Oh please, don’t try accusing me— look, it’s literally his dagger here in the sand; he has two more in that sheath at his side.”

Exactly, I have all my daggers in my sheaths, so CLEARLY this isn’t mine! Caspian stumbled through various signs in vain, trying to voice his thoughts, but the guard seemed to have already made up his mind.

“Don’t worry ma’am, I believe you— sealkith have never been good for anything but locking up.” He turned towards Caspian with a sneer, his hand moving towards the curved blade sheathed at his hip. “You’re going to regret coming out of whatever hole it is you seal-filth are hiding in.”

With the practised thoughtlessness of years of experience, Caspian’s own hand drifted to his daggers, mirroring the merman’s movement cautiously. Before either of them could draw their blades, however, a new voice rang out behind them.

“What’s going on here?”

Caspian and the guard spun around in tandem to face the newcomer, a black-tailed mermaid who seemed extremely displeased with the situation. The once-human instantly recognized her as the shadowtail he had “rescued” from the tangled weeds that same morning, and a hopeful beat fluttered in his chest.

“Sh-shadowtail!” the guard stammered, saluting nervously, “I didn’t see you there, ma’am. I was just arresting this Grys— this sealkith, ma’am.”

“On what charges, Froth?” the shadowtail raised her eyebrows questioningly.

The guard shifted from left to right, casting a sideways glance to Caspian. “Uhm— attempted murder?”

“You saw him try to kill someone?” the inktailed mermaid repeated calmly, and the guard squirmed under her unwavering gaze.

“I mean— no, not technically, but—“

“Hey look mom, it’s the Grystil!” Lough’s voice carried to the small gathering as the family of merfolk arrived. The shadowtail’s gaze automatically shifted to the new group, greeting them with a polite nod. “You know this sealkith?”

Galljon mirrored her nod in an affirmative. “Oh yes— he saved Lough from the biggest bloom of jellyfish I’ve seen in ten years.”

“You’re overreacting,” one of the twins scoffed, “but it is true, we saw him earlier today.”

The black-tailed mermaid’s gaze shifted triumphantly back to the poor guard, who was starting to crumble beneath her judgement.

“Interesting,” the mermaid mused sarcastically, “why would someone who has saved a youngster and freed a shadowtail want to harm a useless Royal Guard?”

“L-listen,” the guard stammered, “I didn’t see it, but she said he was trying to kill me, so I believed her!”

He pointed behind him to where the green-tailed mermaid had been, but she had already vanished. The guard’s shoulders sagged in anxious realization, and the shadowtail sighed, rubbing her temples.

“So basically, you’re telling me that you believed whoever yelled the loudest, and then let the culprit escape?”

The guard reddened, desperately searching for an excuse. Caspian, meanwhile, reached down and picked up the dagger that had fallen into the sand below, dusting it off before handing it to the shadowtail. The mermaid accepted it with a small nod, turning the dagger over in her hands as she inspected it, before holding it up to the guard.

“I recognize this dagger,” she spoke evenly, “it’s Lentic’s— she’s always sharpening it when we do the Vortex patrols.” Noticing the confusion in the guard’s eyes, she elaborated. “Lotic’s sister.”

“Lotic?” the guard repeated incredulously, “black-heart blacker-hair Lotic? Prime suspect of the so-called rebel insurgence Lotic? Nautilyn’s husband Lotic?”

Caspian mouthed an “I’m sorry what?”, but it went unnoticed by the surrounding merfolk.

“Yes, that Lotic,” the shadowtail responded unfazed, “so I’m sure you can imagine why his sister would have the motives to shank a city guard.”

The guard’s shoulders sank. “Yes, that does make some sense.”

“In which case I believe you owe this sealkith here an apology,” the mermaid stated, crossing her arms decisively. The guard turned to face Caspian, gesturing apologetically with his arms before faltering awkwardly.

“I uhm… I’m sorry.”

For a moment, Caspian considered rejecting his apology, but since his ability to verbally formulate a sarcastic retort was still sorely lacking, he decided against it. Instead he dismissed it with a forgiving wave of his hand. It was probably wiser not to anger the Royal Guard anyway.

Silence befell the small gathering as everyone’s gazes instinctively turned to the shadowtail, an unspoken question lingering in their eyes as they awaited her instructions as to how to continue. The black-tailed mermaid had pursed her lips pensively, regarding Caspian with a curiosity of her own.

“What’s your name, sealkith?”

Caspian spelled out his name in sign, and Galljon graciously translated for the shadowtail.

“Caspian, hmm?” the shadowtail mused, intrigue visible in her expression as she canted her head, “a fascinating name, I don't believe I'm familiar with it's origin. Although I suppose sealkith don’t follow the same naming conventions as we merfolk do. Very well, Caspian, I have a question for you.”

Caspian raised his eyebrows curiously, gesturing for her to proceed.

“You seem like a capable individual,” the shadowtail continued, humming softly to herself, “could I interest you in a position in the Royal Guard?”

The half-seal’s eyes widened in surprise. A Royal Guardsman—? That would mean status and authority, surely, although it would be paid for in responsibilities and rules. But perhaps most importantly, it would be an unequivocal reason for him to be in the Basin. If anyone questioned any of his actions during his search for Nautilyn, it could be excused as his duties as the Royal Guard.

He nodded firmly, and the shadowtail smiled broadly. “Perfect.”

She extended her hand towards him, and he shook it as he reflected her smile.

"Welcome to the Basin, Caspian."

[weppy]

Decided to work on the Poseidon request and it’s going terribly

[i-was-bored-so-this-happened]

[cracks knuckles] OKAY. This is just how my brain works, if I don’t know a Name I will Assign one many. God knows how coherent this is

We have Goodsir, of course. Bestsir. Better-not-die-sir. Self-Sacrificial-Sir. The Only Valid Man On These Ships. Curly. Doc. Detectivesir. Goodsir my Beloved 

Rat [derogatory] I literally never refer to this man by his first name and very rarely by his second. I do also refer to him as Oh No, Rank, Bastard [derogatory] Gay, Ratty my Detested and Shortarse

Rat [poodle edition] Donald Billy Gibson. I know his name’s Billy but he just has really strong Donald vibes. Curly [2nd edition] and Gay [2nd edition]

That One Guy That Reminds Me Of Josh Gad/Jack Black. The Guy I Got In That One Quiz. Colin? Is it Harry or Colin?

Francis. Only ever call him Francis, I blame Fitzjames for that. Speaking of, I honestly thought Francis’ surname was Fitzjames for the first three episodes. I also say he’s Valid-ish. He’s Right Goddamnit. Fwanthith. Hozier. Bastard [affectionate] 

Snape. Fitzjimmy. Jezza

Sir James Franklin. Leggy the First. Reverend Franklin. For The Love Of The Wee Man Listen To Francis. Okay, We Get It, You’re ~Religious~ I did think his surname was Ross and now I’m wondering where I got that from...

Blanky, Blanket, Blankety-Blank, Leggy the Second, Self-Sacrifice, Forky

Burning Man Festival 1846. I also call him Stanley, but I don’t think that’s actually his name, he just has strong Stanley Vibes. I Swear I’ve Seen This Guy Before. Pudding

That One Guy That Keeps Trying To Preach The Gay Out Of The Rat

The Lady. I...feel like her actual name is going to sound like the word Silence. Something along the lines of Selene or Silna. Lady Silence my Beloved

Jopson. Sonjop. Nospoj

Little. That...that’s all I’ve got, I know his name is Something Little. Stewart Little. EDWARD

Morfin. Morphine. Morphone. Morfin Gaunt. How The Fuck Are You Still Alive. Are You Also Gay?? Death’s Doorstep

Tuunbaq. Sports-Model Bandersnatch. Toon Town. TuunBach. Bear. Demon Bear [affectionate]

How The Hell Is He Still Alive His BrAIN IS HANGING OUT. Brian

Guy In Red Jacket. Oh Wait There Are Several Guys In Red Jackets

Monke. Jack-Jack. Oh No The Monkey’s Dead

Poseidon. Puppy. Puppy Poseidon. Yeah I know he’s called Neptune, that’s why I’m calling him Poseidon. Captain Neptune

Sophia the First. There’s Romance In This Bitch? [by Bitch I mean the show, not Sophia]

These Three Guys Look Exactly The Same

He’s Dead, Jim [x17]

[11queensupreme11]

You're close lol but I was thinking freaky for Loki since shapeshifting and he'll get pregnant too he has no line he can't cross.

And Beel is the anything goes he's not choosy one, no one comes near him willingly so a woman, man, animal or whatever who will love him I think he'll fall in love with. He's an evil but pathetic lil baby in my eyes.

Yes I see Hades as our straight but not derogatory king! That's our king right there, unless it's different for your plans in story? Hehe.

And Poseidon is definitely our straight but derogatory... bastard 🤪🤪🤪🤪

ok so i got 3/5 at least!! 😅

[sleepycatspirit]

Hey I just want to say, I’m 22 and I feel like I’m a bit older on tumblr lol but back in the Day everyone thought Ice Poseidon’s whole streams where scripted. This was like well accepted. Chad Robberts who used to live with him talked about it in detail but like for the first month he was there he didn’t even know it was all real. Ice literally torchered a guy that lived with them and it was so extreme no one thought it could be real.It wasn’t like he seemed to specifically target minority groups, he fucked with literally everyone he came across. This all happened in 2016, the peak of Idubbbz and Edgy culture. I’m not some wildly in love underage fan girl, I follow the smp really only cause of Quackity but I think what is happening to Karl is totally unfair. It should have just been like a minor call out and a move on. Even 5 years ago the internet was very ignorant and many people said offensive things without really understanding the intent behind them because even though they knew the world was wrong, they didn’t really understand why. It’s hard to explain to users who weren’t really old enough to remember but it was about a three year period and it was completely a wild time. It was so intense. I know lots of people say they remember but if you were under 16 in 2015, you probably weren’t old enough to fully grasp the scale of it all. Especially with so many minority creators using Derogatory terms towards themselves and saying “it’s okay you can have a few pass”. I’m not saying it was right and it was okay and it should ever happen again but there should be a rule on the internet - if it happened in 2017 or before take it with a grain of salt and really look in to how that creator has behaved since. If they have changed. Obviously there are some exceptions to this but generally speaking for like a couple of offensive tweets.

Because realistically, everyone who was on the internet in 2016 is probably looking at cancelation apart from beauty you tubers or like, Homestuck fandom. Sorry if my English is bad it’s not my first language.

22 certainly isn’t old, so don’t feel like that (and your English is good!)

but YES this is exactly what I mean when I saw these situations have a lot of nuances that others don’t grasp

I actually talked to someone on twitter who was an older watcher of ice and explained this a little bit to me but got gave me more insight! I’ve never seen even a clip of this ice dude, but I know how the internet was back then. I was only like 13 in 2015 but I had unrestricted internet access so I pretty much saw everything 😅 around that time was the peak of “cringe sjw” if I remember correctly

This offensive rhetoric was hidden under the name of “just jokes”, the culture online was a vastly different landscape that let these people get away with it.

Karl probably got sucked into believing it was ok like many normal people did. The difference is he’s a content creator now, so people put him to a higher standard

And of course your right, there are expectations, but Karl isn’t a raging bigot so people need to approach this situation differently

Thank you some much for your input :0 I might consider posting this to my twitter if that’s ok? I want this to reach other people as well